DIY Rock Aquarium Background – part 2

by Chuckmeister on Apr.29, 2007, under DIY Ideas

Now this is where it all starts coming together. You will need to grab one of your cans of spray foam and start joining everything together. Do everywhere….top,underneath down the joins and seams everywhere. It will look fairly ugly and you will think that you have taken a step backwards or done something wrong. Dont worry about it because the cement stage pulls everything together. As you can see in some images, I had foam drip by accident onto the piece. Just let it as they just look like small rocks when the concrete goes on. In fact I added small blobs onto the back and base just to add more texture.

This is where I found my mistake that the two halves did not fit. I had to get an old bread knife,heat it on the BBQ and cut it so that I had quarters. It was a silly mistake caused from too many bevvies in the planning stage
Anyway before I got onto the burning stage I cut and test fit into my tank to check for the final fit…

After the fit comes the burn..
I had 50mm foam so I had a bit to play with. If you have thinner foam, a little caution is needed as it melts quickly. Dont be shy though and burn in indentations etc. The ledges will shrink and twist a little and by the time you have finished the background looks considerably different to the perfection you had initially built. Again dont worry too much. In fact I burnt a few holes on the top of the base. I consider these a benefit as now my fish will not only be able to swim between the caves but also up through them as well. Just don’t make the holes too big and you also dont want to burn any holes in the actual backing. Definitely don’t want to see the back of the tank….

Now that is done, its time for the final cementing. This is the most time consuming though I guess for a smaller tank its not so bad.
Just on a note about the concrete mixing for anyone interested. I mixed a 4 to 1 ratio of sand(4) and cement (1),mixed in the binder/sealer into the water and made a fairly sloppy mix but not too thin as to make it watery.
The binder is not needed if you don’t want too and in fact I dont know if there will be any repercussions yet.
You can also put in a few drops of dish washing liquid into the mix. This will help make a more creamy mixture like a render.
There is no set way to apply the cement though a little playing around will soon show what you like. I stippled all my coats and this gave quite a textured finish. Brushing it on will give a smoother finish.

I put on three coats of cement all up leaving half a day to dry between coats. The second coat I lightened the colour somewhat to hopefully resemble more closely the Woomera red rock that will be used forward of the background. You may tint up your cement lighter or darker if you want to add shadows and features but personally after viewing other peoples I dont think it makes much difference after the establishment of algae etc but hey its your creation, do as you will

The toned up colour

And a final shot with the Woomera rock that I will use..

also just on a final note that the back of the background facing the glass is not cemented or sealed. I hope that you guys are not daunted by this if you are interested. It really is extremely simple and a background the size of mine only takes a couple of days at most. I’d like to see other peoples as its a bit of fun and takes away some of the seriousness that can sometimes consume the hobby.
and just quickly on Price…. the foam cost me around 100 dollars though I had half a sheet left over and the materials cost maybe around 150 dollars. All up around 250 bucks for a fairly kick butt background and a bit of fun making it.

Chuckmeister

Update…

Here are a couple of pictures of the tank complete and running. It has been occupied for some months now. The first image is the latest shot with the other two being taken shortly after the background was installed.

31 Comments for this entry

Borres5
May 27th, 2007 on 2:45 pm
Hey Chuckmeister, Awsome effort, any chance of some established picks. left me hanging a bit…I think I’ll have a go, did it end up pretty heavy?
Chuckmeister
May 27th, 2007 on 3:19 pm
Thanks for the comment
I can only guess as to the weight of it… although it is quite a large background, I’d be guessing that it weighs around the 50 kilo mark give or take a little. For how easy they are to make I’d say have a shot but remember that the background has to be silconed into place so make sure you are happy both with a permanent backing and one you think is awesome as it aint gonna come out in a hurry.
Lol I have been meaning to get around to adding some finished shots…guess now is a good time
rodney jordon
August 21st, 2007 on 10:16 pm
do you make them to sell. If you do call me at -edited-
Joe
November 22nd, 2007 on 12:35 pm
I really like this, would like to build it for myself but on a smaller scale. Does any of the oxides, foam, cement etc. alter the water quality (ph, hardness etc)?
Chuckmeister
November 22nd, 2007 on 4:30 pm
Hi Joe

It is supposed to send your PH through the roof but I’ve seen varying discussions about it.
When I built mine, I lost patience with wanting to set it up so I did 3 full water changes over 3 days, set the tank up added filtration and then through in the fish. I had no losses at all but I guess it depends on what type of fish you have and their water parameters.
I’ve heard of people doing 1/2 water changes every day over a fortnight or more but like I said, I had no issues after a few days. I guess how cautious you want to be is up to the individual

Chuck
Nathan
December 12th, 2007 on 12:31 pm
Hey Joe

Nice Job, You are a freak if that background took you only a couple of days.

Have you had any trouble with white stuff (possibly salt) leaching out through your cement yet. Also how thick did you coat your cement and could you tell me what the PH in your tank stabilised at.

The reason i ask is that I created a similar DIY Styro/Cement background 3 months ago and after 100% weekly water changes my PH stays at 10, way to high for any fish life even cichlids.
Nathan
December 14th, 2007 on 10:02 am
Sorry previous post was meant for Chuckmeister not Joe.
Chuckmeister
December 29th, 2007 on 11:25 pm
Hi Nathan, sorry for the late reply… the past few months have been quite hectic..

Mate, I have never had any leaching of anything. Also I have never tested for PH. I put my fish in fairly quickly because I was impatient to see my tank finished. I have seen many discussions about DIY backgrounds and PH but all I can say is I had mine in within a week or 2 and have not had any issues with my fish. I did add a cement sealer into the mix when I made mine so maybe that helped somewhat.
Yes mate a weekend… friday night after work and it was finished and drying by sunday. It did take the whole weekend though
Chuckmeister
December 29th, 2007 on 11:28 pm
I do however have problems with my Orange Spot Bristlenose eating all the cement…. not much fibre there I don’t think

12 months on and I am considering my need to drain the tank as much as I can and touching it all up
Darren
January 17th, 2008 on 4:20 pm
Chuckmeister,

Man would you be able supply some specs on the type of colour or sand you used , I have had a go after seeing yours but didn’t get the colour right
although my friend has it in his tank (but still i dont like the colour) I like the red colour in yours
Thanking you in advance
Chuckmeister
January 17th, 2008 on 4:50 pm
Hi Darren I just used red oxide cement pigment to make my colour. You can put in more or less pigment depending on the shade desired. In hindsight I would have lightened it up a shade or two though. When you have made the background and everything is dry, wet it before you put it in the tank to show the true colour. I find mine to be a little too dark but I guess its a matter of personal opinion. I may end up highlighting under the darker area with a lighter colour and see how it looks in future. Nice to see you have given it a go because it really is easy
Dan Murray
April 21st, 2008 on 1:13 pm
I have created my masterpiece thanks to your idea and coated it in cement, two coats about 3mm thick but it has dried with cracks in it so will try another coat. Is there a cement hardener or something flexiable I can add to the cement? If it is this fragile I am concerned about when I have to clean the tank. To creat my colour I was thinking of dusting the oxide over the wet cement to get a contrast of colours and then seal the lot with pondseal. Do you think this will work ?
Steve
May 17th, 2008 on 1:12 am
Dan,
I’m in the process of building my third cement aquascape. To answer your question about the cracks; I used quickcrete bonding cement to build mine. This has fiberglass strands for reinforcement and makes it VERY strong even at the thickness you mentioned. The only drawback is that it is far more time consuming versus using the traditional cement method as you have to “brush” out any of the pesky little strands that might stick out.
I bought three cement colours; buff, red and charcoal for tinting the base coat. Takes a bit of experimentation to get the colour you want.
I would mix up tiny batches (teaspoon) at a time and add colorant in different ratios ( a pipette comes in handy for this) while writing down what I used. Then I let them dry on a piece of styrofoam to see what the finished colour would look like.
The final tinting process was accomplished by mixing up a colour and using a small hand sprayer to mist down certain areas of the rock while it was still not fully cured. This really fades in the dififferent hues very well.
Keep in mind that most cements need to be misted down for several days to cure properly before immersing in water. There are also acrylic additives that you can add to the cement to improve it’s waterproofing characteristics.
Having said that; if you can locate the bonding cement I mentioned, you do not need to use any and it really does work well.
Patty
May 31st, 2008 on 6:54 pm
hey man, great stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you did a very cool job! bye bye from italy
stuart reid
July 31st, 2008 on 3:25 pm
looks awesome but i think ill just buy one instead way to tricky
Mick
September 26th, 2008 on 11:56 am
Looks great, might give it a go. Did you find that any of the materials affected your water chemistry?
Chuckmeister
September 28th, 2008 on 8:19 am
Mick as mentioned in the article, the PH will go through the roof. You will have to be careful of this. Several days of water changes will likely be needed BEFORE any fish get put in.
Cory1
October 8th, 2008 on 5:38 pm
What an amazing job you have done…you inspire the artist in all of us amateurs well done.
IVAN
October 27th, 2008 on 12:13 am
Hi have you patented your ideas or are they taken from other people I will try to build the whit comercial porpouses.
Regards
CC
November 2nd, 2008 on 7:51 pm
Hi, do you cement the sides where foam halves meet? Or do you just leave them foam surface and join them together?
westy
November 8th, 2008 on 2:20 pm
ok chuckmeister i love this background mate brilliant job i got two questions im going to make mine today but need to know

1. what type of cement did you use is it just normal building cement with normal building sand.

2. what was the binder/sealer you used.

these are only two things im worry about apart from that good job on your loving it please get back to me email me if you can on stuwestgate@yahoo.com and il show you some pictures of mine when its fisnished thanks

westy
Chuckmeister
November 8th, 2008 on 5:23 pm
G’day Westy Yes the cement is just regular cement mixed with yellow brickie sand.
As far as the sealer is concerned I cannot remember the brand I used. A quick question or 2 to the hardware assistant will put you on the right track though.
Best of luck with it and why not post up in the forum and show everyone Its a quiet forum but I will look
mark
February 21st, 2009 on 7:55 pm
hi im looking at making a background
so take it this is just any quick setting ciment and you will have to do alot of water changes to get the ph down and after that it should be fine as im thinking also making mine so the heater are hiden in background
thanks for your time mark
JESMOND
May 13th, 2009 on 3:27 pm
HELLO , I’M IMPRESSED BY YOUR WORK , AND I DONE ONE FOR 6 FT TANK. IT IS READY WITH 2 COTES. THE ONLY PROB I HAVE IS THAT I HAVE MIXED THE SAND AND OILWELL CEMENT IN THE WATER AND HAVENT ADED ANY SEALER. IS THAT WRONG FOR FISH>> IF YESS I CAN STILL DO THE 3RD COAT WITH SEALER?
Chuckmeister
May 13th, 2009 on 4:12 pm
Hi Jesmond. It is ok to put in sealer for your 3rd coat. You could in fact leave out the sealer all together but without a sealer I could not say if your ph values will stay high for a longer time.
albo
June 12th, 2009 on 5:22 pm
that looks amazing i am wanting to do 1 of these im in the uk my aquarium is only 48″ x 18″ x 12″ so is quite narrow and im keeping south american cichlids im after a natural smooth rock effect any tips as im wanting to bring the top of the background proud compared to the bottom almost as if its a cave so minimal lighting is getting to the bottom of the tank apart from the centre were im gonna have a straight drop but as i say the tank is very narrow cheers for any help
glen
September 16th, 2009 on 6:25 pm
hi with wat material did u do that ?
thomas
November 10th, 2009 on 1:48 am
i like your i deal and im wanting to do the, is there any way you could take a side view of the tank.
jared
December 23rd, 2009 on 4:07 am
cool must try
Aquariumsoul
January 15th, 2010 on 12:48 pm
I have that exact same aquarium so i can relate to trying to fit it in the little slits in the top of the aquarium.
Pamela
February 5th, 2010 on 5:03 am
That is so so awsome, wanting to have a go too. Do you think i could use pond seal or some thing and cover it with sand and crushed coral? Coulldn’t get to sleep last night was excited. Now just where to find the sheets of foam (hmm). Thanks so much for the time and effot it took to put this up for everyone to see.

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