DIY Homemade Aquarium Tank Background

by Chuck on Sep.27, 2007, under DIY Ideas

Just thought i would share this

Wanted to make a background for my new(secondhand) 6×2x2.5

Had a look at a few different ways of doing it and ended up mixing some ideas from backgrounds that have been made

Got some poly from the WIZ for free Thanks Mate

What do you all think?

Step 1 cut poly to size of tank

cut random pieces of poly to make rock shapes and glue on top of each other with a small blob of silicone

Step 2 go over all the edges with expanding foam The stuff that comes in a pressure pack

Spray random foam over back ground to make other features

Step3 melt away poly to make caves note spray foam will not melt
smooth down foam with a wood rasp/file
Then when you are happy with the shape cut into sections to fit in tank
openings

Step4 render all over with premix cream mortar

Step 5 add some colour to next coat (cement Oxide) and do some more use different colours to get the shade you want i only used two
Black & sand stone all done using a brush

Step 6 seal with pond sealer i sprayed it but you can also brush it on

Step 7 Silicone to back of tank
render up the joins and seal with a brush
Leave for 7 days before filling with water

HAVE FUN

Regards Cobby

8 Comments for this entry

james
January 4th, 2008 on 6:27 am
It looks great. Well done. You make it sound to easy. Is it expensive to put to gether??
dave
January 12th, 2008 on 3:03 am
is the expanding foam safe
M. Carter
January 20th, 2008 on 8:19 am
Is there something more common that I can use as a substitute for the pond sealer because I’ve a lot of places and its hard to find. Can you email me back at :
LEEKLIVE@TMAIL.COM
Jesse
June 1st, 2008 on 1:13 pm
I live in the U.S. and i am unable to get pond sealer here is there anyone that can ship to me i have everything made and need to seal backround could you please help!! Thanks hope to hear good news.
chris
July 11th, 2008 on 9:26 am
hey guys .. did you seal the back as well before you put in the tank.
also jesse .. you should have some kind of pond sealer there in home depot .. ask in there or a plumbing store.
chris
September 7th, 2008 on 5:37 pm
hey guys was wondering .. i did this and its been running about a week now and the back ground has gone white in places i take it its from the pond sealer .. will this go away>?
steve
December 27th, 2009 on 12:11 pm
hey chuck, looks great. im just about to purchase a 6ft tank and im going to have a go at building a background was just wondering though whether the pond sealer is enough protection, as other people say you should epoxy it. have you had any trouble. if you could e-mail me that would be great. thanks steve
Chuckmeister
December 27th, 2009 on 2:12 pm
Hey Steve, I never had any problems with mine. I only flushed the water through a couple of times and had fish in it within week. I never tested the water hardness but the fish (africans) went in fine and never displayed any distress. Some people like to be over cautious…sometimes I can be a little impatient lol.
In any case I still had no issues. I would recommend doing regular partial water changes for at least the first few week though.
Good luck with the background and hope you have as much fun with it as I did. Finally filling the tank is a joy