Making a custom background for your tank

**Kristen** · 27th Apr 2008, 16:11

Recently, I got myself a large tank that was to be the 'tank of my dreams' (yes, I have been to therapy, thank you). When reading up online about possible aquascaping ideas, I decided to embark on a custom background. I did this for several reasons.

1) My tank is tall and I knew I needed to add some element of terracing to use the height of the tank to its fullest. I didn't want to just get huge plants to dump into the water.

2) It seemed like a fun project and I was, as we say, 'itchy backside' to embark on this [Note for foreigners and other aliens: no, my butt didn't literally itch. It's a local phrase to mean taking on unnecessary effort.].

So I looked up two pretty interesting tutorials. This one and this one. Despite the fact that both were for cichlids, I thought it would be fun to make one for a planted tank.

I kind of neglected to take pictures of the steps I took, but I can share my learning points with you guys if you do decide to embark on this. To start off, here's my tank with my dogfish:

Learning Point 1: Styrofoam is available all the time except when you want it.

I hunted high and low for styrofoam - from cooler boxes (NUTC was out of stock) to unwanted vegetable foam boxes from the wet market (they threw them away already) to foam boards I used to use for my P4 social studies projects (Popular was out of stock). Seriously, dear merchant princes of Singapore. Bloody stock this shit, would you? Why bring in stock on Mondays when people shop on weekends? Honestly!

However, I think God was just messing around with me because I found the pieces I wanted that very day under my void deck, thrown away with a wrapper of chee cheong fun and smeared in black sauce. Oh well, providential or not, I would have appreciated foam that didn't smell of breakfast. Oh, and I got my foam board from this shop in Bukit Batok called Very Good Photocopy.

Any styrofoam will do, but I find that packing styrofoam from television sets and what not are more densely pressed than the styrofoam boards you buy from popular. This means less flying balls of whiten, greater details when carving and less hassle dabbing cement into little nooks.

Learning Point 2: Styrofoam carving is therapeutic and messy.

For carving the styrofoam, I used my mother's paring knife. She wasn't too pleased, but since I'd already used it, no amount of complaining would de-styrofoam the knife so it is now, therefore, mine. It's a messy job, with foam bits flying everywhere and sticking to your skin, but it's also strangely therapeutic. There's something peaceful about cutting things up after a long day of school. Just make sure there's a vac nearby to suck up the mess. Also, you might want to try to carve your foam to make it look as much like rock as possible and use sandpaper on any smooth surfaces you have left over.

Learning Point 3: There's no need to blast the foam with heat.

In other tutorials, I read that you needed to heat the foam with a hairdryer. This isn't necessary. In fact, I hated the heated piece I used so much I didn't even use it. It made the foam look like it were covered in warts like a disease - which I found repulsive and threw away.

Learning Point 4: Sand down Great Stuff Foam if you happen to use it.

I used this to give my background some semblance of the texture of rocks and 3 dimensionality. However, this stuff isn't all that great. Firstly, if it touches your skin, there's no way you can get it off quickly. I still have a bit stuck to my nail that I haven't bothered to buff off yet. Secondly, it expands when it dries, forming a kind of yellow sickly tube. Like vomit sausages. The nice thing is you can cut these tubes into the jagged shapes you're really looking for, which is what I did. Thirdly, if you don't cut away the outer layer for whatever reason, you NEED to sand it down. Cement will flow right off it like water, and you get white round bits that look like ripe pimples ready to be burst.

(I know, I have an overactive imagination)

Learning Point 5: Mixing cement with the right consistency for various coats.

I've never mixed cement in my life, and it's a mystery to me until my dad showed me how. Starting off, when you're satisfied with your piece, paint on a thin layer of cement. To get into every nook you've carved, your mix needs to be on the watery side. Use a paint brush to kind of dab the cement into the nooks.

I painted on two thin layers which I had no trouble drying. My third layer was the one where I sculpted the structure with cement. Note: Cement will dry your hands. In order to fill in the gaps and make the structure look rocky, you need a thicker mix of cement. Also, when using your brush, you do need to stipple the cement onto the structure just as the tutorial says. It looks fake when you paint it on.

You might want to begin mixing only a little water into your container of cement, stirring it in. Continue adding more water in small amounts, stirring constantly, until it resembles rather thick campbells soup. Add less water for thicker mixes.

Learning Point 6: Don't dry thick layers of cement too fast.

You need to dry the cement slowly now or it'll crack. I had to put on a fourth layer because I'd left the background in the open air and cracks developed. I closed the cracks with more cement and added a bit more detail, repainted over with a thin layer and then proceeded to dry the cement.

The tutorial says to spray the cement with water, and another advises to just wrap the top of your tank with glad wrap. I couldn't do either, so I sprayed it down, put a wet rag under the structure, and wrapped the whole thing in glad wrap. Thankfully, my mother was away so she didn't see the blatant waste of her supplies. I let the structure dry for over 48 hours before it was as hard as a rock.

Learning Point 7: Make sure to silicone the bottom of your background.

In my defense, the stench of the silicone was so nauseating I wanted to get this step over and done with quickly so I forgot to silicone the bottom. While the background sits in my tank nicely, when I fill it with water, the bottom will rise up a centimeter from the bottom and you can kind of see white underneath. Ugh. Hopefully the weight of the gravel will reduce any stress on the background stuck to the tank.

After a long two weeks, the background was done at last.

It was actually really enjoyable doing this, but sometimes downright frustrating. I know I made some mistakes but it looks alright. I hope to have a nice cover of green algae tinting the structure a nice shade of green. Right now, the cement is buffering my water to pH10, so I need to change the water every 3 days to cure the cement completely. Still a long way to go... must hang in there! If any of you decide to do a custom background, you won't regret it! At least now I know I have a truly unique tank and my work looks more realistic than any overpriced mass-produced background poo Qian Hu tries to foist off on me.

Hope these learning points help!

**comet** · 27th Apr 2008, 21:42

I really really enjoy reading your article. very enjoying. I like the concept of dog fish. haha. Plus, the dog have a blur look. The result turn out really nice and does look interesting. Nice concept!

**Jervis** · 27th Apr 2008, 21:54

Interesting terrace concept... good luck and hopefully you can bring down your ph to at least 7.0 soon

**Merviso** · 28th Apr 2008, 00:24

Wow, very good effort! Will look forward to see your fully planted masterpiece...

**aquanatix** · 28th Apr 2008, 01:49

Love the dogfish,loving the DIY backdrop even more!
Looks pretty good,the future algae growth will add nice realistic touch to it.
Do update with more pictures soon!

**bossteck** · 29th Apr 2008, 12:17

Hi,

Nice! Too bad no photos of the process.
Your tank is 3feet tall? You must have long arms

You've made the 'mistake' of posting this in Aquascaping rather than the DIY section, what this means is, you have to follow up with loads of writeup and pictures of the eventual planted setup.

On a more serious note, I don't think your lights will be sufficient for such a tall tank, but then, it depends on your choice of plants of course.

Cheers!

**bryan** · 29th Apr 2008, 16:29

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...frican+biotope

Here's an old thread that is pretty inspiring. Frankly I would not have gone so hardcore as to use cement.It's pretty hard to condition. I'd have use eggcrates (the white plastic grates you see at the fishshop) and the cheaper, no brand styrofoam backgrounds from C328 or Keong Seong. But this is a great effort that commands applause.

By the way, that's a pretty deep tank, do you need a mask and snorkel? My buddy runs a dive shop, I can get you a discount.

**Kristen** · 29th Apr 2008, 21:49

Lol har har you guys XD

The tank is 3 feet long but considered 'tall' because it's taller than the standard 14+ inches depth. I need to use a step ladder to safely reach the bottom :/ Then again, I am a katek so yar...

On a more serious note, I don't think your lights will be sufficient for such a tall tank, but then, it depends on your choice of plants of course.

Actually it's a t5 with 2 38W tubes. Is that good enough? I plan to use 'easy' plants - Java Fern, Lace Java Fern, Amazon Swords, Nanas, Dwarf Hair Grass, Ambulia and maybe a Spiralis. I don't know if I want to plant Glosso -_- Probably not. Too short to plant nicely, I have no patience and I want to get corys who'll probably rake it up. Anyway I was thinking the Java ferns could be placed on or close to the substrate since they require less light while the Nanas and Swords on the higher terrace. I'll also be buying wood with moss on it to simulate sunken tree roots. (Not as nice as the thread bryan posted, but it looks good. There's this awesome shop at Farmart selling moss on wood.)

What do you guys think? I'm the plant keeper who managed to kill the indestructible Java Fern (twice) so yeah... if you have any recommendations for relatively hardy plants, do let me know. I'm still in the market, as it were. Should I get Pennywort? It might be nice if they grow tall enough and stick out of the water.

**brianclaw** · 30th Apr 2008, 18:13

Very nicely written... This might be a little late, but it's better than never, you can actually buy styrofoam sheets from ArtFriend at Bras Besar Complex, or Ngee Ann City. At least now you know should you ever decide to do this again some time down the road.

**Kristen** · 30th Apr 2008, 19:56

Originally Posted by brianclaw

Very nicely written... This might be a little late, but it's better than never, you can actually buy styrofoam sheets from ArtFriend at Bras Besar Complex, or Ngee Ann City. At least now you know should you ever decide to do this again some time down the road.

I would definitely do this again.

...if someone paid me...

/singaporean

**C_Aquatics** · 2nd May 2008, 02:11

Kudos for the patience.....one thing i need

Cant wait to see in grown in.

Good Luck

**Kristen** · 19th May 2008, 20:45

Okay, update on the custom background. It's finally cured. I got tired of changing water so I let it sit there for a week or so and it's cured. My pH remains a lovely 7.0, thank heavens. Setting up this baby was painfully enjoyable. I realize that I bought too much gravel. Oh well, I have spare, I suppose (5kg worth). I lay down the Ocean Free planting... ball stuff, added ferts to the water and I've got a little CO2 reactor working, though it only has three bioballs so I' not sure if it's enough. It's at 1bps right now.

So I set this all up and moved my plants over from my tetchy two footer to this baby. I then realized I am way too short to do something as simple as sticking amazon swords into the substrate. I have to use a ladder as my pincer on a stick (planter prongs) skills are not 1337 enough.

And I can't believe all those plants fit in my tetchy old two footer. Anyway, I seeded the filter with sponges from my old tank after an accident that sparked a flood of semi-biblical proportions (no one told me they were supposed to take the intake tube out of the tank! Curse you Physics!).

I've moved my two black lace angelfish, two gold angelfish and two koi angelfish over to this tank, along with my two peppered corys and my otoclinus and apple snail. I don't know but the Oto seems to just lay there on the substrate. Getting worried for him.

Photo time!