Wood For Use In A Tank Background

[One_Trick_Pony]

Hello guys,

I have drawn a complete blank trying to track down a sheet of Perspex or acrylic, at a reasonable price, so my thoughts have turned to using wood to make the background,

are any of the commonly available "sheet" woods suitable for use Inside the tank? I’m thinking along the lines of Ply wood hard board chip board mdf etc, and I’m sadly expecting that they will all come apart when wet? And thus be unusable.

Basically my idea is to use Aquarium safe silicon to glue thin pieces of slate to a backboard and using this is the background for my tank, is there anything lese you can suggest the backboard could be made out of?

OTP

 

[nicelights]

I would suggest that you try and find something similar to an estate agent's sign or the plastic signs they use in garden centres...then you can silicon glue the slate to that...?

I wouldn't use wood, particularly not MDF, for the reasons you described and the fact that MDF has Formaldehyde in it, along with other chems...MDF is actually banned in many countries for this very reason.

Cheers

G

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

I had though of a for sale sign,

do you think i will need to cover up the hoels along each side? fill tehm with silcon? or will it be fine with teh holes?

OTP

 

[nicelights]

I had though of a for sale sign,

do you think i will need to cover up the hoels along each side? fill tehm with silcon? or will it be fine with teh holes?

OTP

Hmmm....You are discussing this with Mr. Bodgit from 'bodge it and scarper', that well known builders firm! I would say given the cost of silicon, running a bead of silicon along each of the edges with the corrugations will be ok...if you thumb it down into the edge you will be fine.
My main concern would be that it was clean and free of any nastiness from the outside world...

 

[BigIan]

i`m assuming your wanting to use something similar to roofing slates for the background???

if so simply cut the slates to size and then use the off cuts and silicone them to the slates to hold them ridgid

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

Not roofing slates as such,

basically a lump of slate, that has been repeatdly split until its in lots of thin peices, i had though about simply gluing the pieces together, but im not sure it it will work without soemthing at the back?

 

[BigIan]

why not try some roofing slates?

they`re inert and fairly cheap, and as most comercial timber is treated with some nasty chems its probably the better option aswell as if you leave any gaps in the slate your breaking up it will still addto the effect

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! i have manged to find a sheet of plastic, and in case anyone coems to this again with a simerlar question, i found it on a cheap pictuer frame, the kind where you clip the 'glass' to the back borad trapping what you want to frame!

the cheap ones of these dont use glass but a sheet of perspex!

OTP