My Practice Diy Bg

I am finally done with my background. I cured it in water softener salt for 7 days. for the first 4 days i did a 100% water changes. i then cured it 3 more in the same solution. next i flushed it with freshwater 3 times, followed by 3 more days of soaking in freshwater and last a final 100% water change before cycling. since i used mortar instead of concrete the thinner layers of mortar had exposed some of the styrofoam. I used Quikrete Hydraulic Water Stop to patch these up. It stops water flow in 3 minutes, and will setup completely under water after about 30-60 minutes of drying time. it is also darker so i used it to add some color as well. i am going to make some rocks out of mortar for the foreground, but for now the lava and stick will have to fill in. without further delay here is the final product fish and all.

Without Flash
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Flash for detail
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i also made a 2 videos of the fish, one in their first few minutes in their environment. and another later in the night. in the first video they are real shy of the bg, but in the second video i didnt even see the fish except one at the end. the 2nd vid is more of a panaramic to show the details of the bg.

First Few Minutes in their new home
Seem to be a bit more comfortable now

now all i need is more fish. any stocking suggestions? it is a 20 gallon wide and currently has (2) lake malawi Auratus and a snow white socolofi. as well as a common pleco.
 
That cant be only 20gallons mine is 75 and yours seems much bigger...

Looks pretty cool, abit like a deralict building thats been coated in volcanic ash or something.

looks nice.
 
yep, its a only 20 gallon. it is a 20 wide though, so that may be where the dimensions get distorted.
 
This a really intersting thread, is it hard to clean out the nooks and crannies?
 
well, i have not had it in there long enough to have to clean it. but its a 20 gallon running an emperor 400, which is 400GPH? i think. so there is not a whole lot of any buildup yet, the algae is starting to grow bright green and it is starting to look pretty interesting.

i am actually about to begin building the background for my 55 gallon. after that is done, i will be moving my cichlids over to there for an mbuna tank! i cant wait.
 
sounds good man, keep us posted on that one too. B)
 

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