# Very Pleased with This First Background Attempt (Pic Heavy)



## Benaiah (Aug 18, 2009)

Hello all - I'm setting up a 135 gallon (upgrading from a 55), and while doing it I thought I'd try my hand with my first 3D styro background. I did lots of research (mostly on these boards) and took pics along the way.

Drawing from my fishing experiences, I wanted to create many rock ledges and shelves that are so common in the smallmouth-laden rivers that I fish. At the same time, I want to leave a lot of open space since I plan on having an all-male hap/peacock setup.

Here I started off with standard 2" insulating styro found at Lowe's. I began with 3 sheets siliconed together, but I took one off after finding it took up too much room.










I also had some packing styro that came with a new mitre saw I bought. This would be broken up and serve as the shelves and ledges.




























Then I got to carving with a cutco kitchen knife (the bread slicer, much to my wife's dismay), a steak knife, and a butter knife. The steak knife broke off midway through carving.

Left side, carved:










Right side, carved:










Standing up in the workroom:


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## Benaiah (Aug 18, 2009)

Next was to add color. I decided to use only drylok, mixing in black and rusty brown. The base coat was a very dark muddy brown. I found that leaving some styrofoam bits in the crevices made the drylock look craggy and "dirty."

First coat:










Then I added white (very sparingly) and brown highlights. This was done by using "washes" with just a tiny amount of water to the brush. Variability in the color, brushstroke and water was key.

Detailed left side:










Detailed Right side:










Then came the part where it goes into the tank. I got a glasscages tank after I had already carved and painted the BG. The glasscages aquarium had extra large 6" center braces (!!!!), so I ended up breaking this thing up into 6 pieces.

Finally in the tank...










Used 5 and a half tubes of silicone...










Then weighted it down with the rocks I was going to use:


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## Benaiah (Aug 18, 2009)

Then came the fittings and final setup. I have an eheim canister which has ugly green tubing. So I decided to drylok that in a matching color to blend it in. I used screws to keep the spray bar holes open while the drylok dried. Both intakes are in big caves that obscure their view from the front.










Left side fittings:










Right side fittings:










Both intakes are in big caves that obscure their view from the front

Ready to fill her up...










I got the real rocks from a landscape supply store that gave them to me for free. They went in and next comes the water...


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## Benaiah (Aug 18, 2009)

Here's the final product....


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## jlive (Nov 30, 2008)

Awesome! great job. :thumb:


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## miracleboy (Feb 28, 2010)

looks very good nice job.


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## bertolli (Aug 18, 2009)

neat like it all particularly the lighting


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## BigFish77 (Feb 1, 2009)

Nice job everything looks very professional. Those peacocks look tiny, better up-grade to some larger haps, LOL.
:thumb:


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## Benaiah (Aug 18, 2009)

Haha thanks - Yes, I plan on adding some larger haps to grow in once the tank stabilizes. It was funny how much smaller the peacocks look in the new tank.


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## Afishionado (Jun 6, 2006)

I was going to say how huge those two little fish make the tank look, lol. Very nice work!


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## HeatherLuvsFishies (Mar 30, 2010)

Wow thats awesome. Thats crazy how you made that out of styrofoam, it looks just as good as the 3d backgrounds you buy. Great job


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## acrylicfish (Apr 13, 2010)

I like the work you did and it turned out great


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## Imaconvict (Feb 1, 2010)

One of the best background I've seen great eye for detail, I wish I had that kind of talent.
Awesome job! :thumb:


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

Awesome job. They look like stones that have tumbled upon each other. :thumb:


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## Benaiah (Aug 18, 2009)

Thanks! I'm hoping that when some algae starts to grow it will look even more natural.


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## Joekahuna (Oct 9, 2007)

what type of lights do you have? love the way it looks, probably going to try one of those soon.


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## Benaiah (Aug 18, 2009)

Lighting is a Coralife fixture of 2x 95 watt Power compact bulbs- one actinic, and one 6,700k. The fixture is four feet long, centered along the front panel. I tried different positions for the lighting, but this is the one I like the best.


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## xxcov3rxx (Apr 12, 2010)

By far, my favorite back ground!!! great pictures!


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## hrishi007 (Mar 30, 2010)

looks really cool


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## Picklefish (Jan 28, 2004)

Very nice.


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## Norm66 (Mar 3, 2005)

Wow, excellent. Thanks for sharing.


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## dinuma (Jul 21, 2011)

Terrific job, Benaiah!!! You should start a company making backgrounds with this kind of talent. it looks awesome!!! :thumb:


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## drexel187 (Dec 22, 2010)

LOVE IT !! beautiful work buddy!


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## biglove (Jan 4, 2010)

I like the overhangs...nice job!


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## chagoi (Dec 29, 2010)

Love it,great job.


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## Sand Man (Oct 12, 2006)

Amazing work. I am about to get a 90 gallon glass tank and have considered trying to do the same thing. I can only hope it looks somewhat like yours!


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## rucus (Jul 11, 2008)

Thanks for sharing this! Looks great.


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## drexelDE (Sep 1, 2011)

Looks great. Working on a BG for a 75 gallon. Only question I have is: most styrofoam has a clear plastic coat on it. Did u remove that before using the dryloc? anything will help. THanks!


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## sik-lid (Sep 6, 2011)

Killer job man! very creative and resourceful. Thanks for sharing. =D>


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

:thumb:


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## R-DUB (Jun 3, 2007)

Im really liking your design! Nice build. Now you get to sit back and enjoy! Again great job!


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