# Hiding Filter & Heater behind 3D background help



## CichlidJay

Well I just received my new crevice background from universal rocks and it looks awesome! I can't wait to get it installed. This is a new 110 gallon setup and I'll be running an FX6 which I'd like to hide the intake and the heater behind the background. I was planning on siliconing the background 1 1/2"-2" away from the back glass. I will be using Caribsea Cichlid sand also. 
Should I cut 1 larger hole in the background and silicone mesh to protect the fish from going behind the background? If so how big and where?
Or should I drill small hole under rock ledges so they are not seen? Again if so how many and of what size?
I'm worried that if I make too many small holes or too large of a single hole the water draw wouldn't be strong enough to pull in floating debris. On the other hand if there are too few small holes or too small single hole, I don't want the filter to suck all the water out from behind the BG faster than it can refill. Anyone have any input?


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## CichlidJay




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## SantaMonicaHelp

That is really a nice pattern. Hope you can hide things without cutting it up.


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## CichlidJay

Ok here's what I came up with and I after my water flow test I am VERY happy! The pictures will show what I did but I'll explain as well. I installed a low profile strainer in the lower left. This has a 3/4" opening. Then under a few rock ledges I drilled four 1/2" hole where you can't see them. I then siliconed the BG to the bottom of the tank and partially to the back. I can still reach my arm down if I need to. I installed the heater between the intake holes in the BG and the filter intake. I am getting excellent flow out of the filter and I am watching bubbles getting pulled through each of the background intake holes. The only thing I might want to do is add a small circulation pump behind the BG since the outflow isn't pushing things around behind the BG, but only time will tell for that.

Back of low profile strainer in a test piece


BG upside down showing the holes under the ledges


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## CichlidJay




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## SantaMonicaHelp

What is the background made of?


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## CichlidJay

Here's their explanation from their website and a close up picture I took. They coat it with different colored sands instead of painting it. It looks very real!

From their FAQ
Probably one of the most asked questions we receive; our products are made with a polyurea/polyurethane combination, not fiberglass. The outside skin is a high density polyurea (similar to rhino liner); it's a 2 part system that mixes together creating the skin that becomes totally inert.


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## andy531

Your setup looks amazing from the pictures. I would love to do a background like that when I set up a larger tank. I'm curious, is it up and running and stocked already? I'd be interested to hear how it's working out.


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## CichlidJay

Thanks! I'm so happy with this setup so far. I stocked it with a bunch of peacocks and 2 yellow labs. I have good circulation and current throughout the tank. Most of the poop gets sucked behind the background and into the filter. Not all though, some does collect near the rocks on the right. Not much to vacuum up cause the fish tend to stir it back into circulation. I also made a 3/4" pvc pipe that connects to my Python siphon to vacuum whatever settles behind the background. I am fully cycled or at least very close to it. Never had an ammonia spike. I added bio-media from my other tank and also used Nutrifin Cycle. Tank is crystal clear!


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## Iggy Newcastle

Looks really nice Jay! Well done!


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## andy531

So those smaller holes in the background, are they covered with a mesh or something so the fish can't get behind the background? Or are they just really small?


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## CichlidJay

They are only 1/2". No way these fish are getting through them.


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## shochstetler

Your setup looks really great, are those rocks also from Universal Rocks? It looks like they match the background really well. I am debating between this background and the Texas Wall background. Now that you have had it running for a little while, how is the flow in the tank and fish waste? Is it still circulating around the tank and not collecting on the sand?


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## CichlidJay

shochstetler said:


> Your setup looks really great, are those rocks also from Universal Rocks? It looks like they match the background really well. I am debating between this background and the Texas Wall background. Now that you have had it running for a little while, how is the flow in the tank and fish waste? Is it still circulating around the tank and not collecting on the sand?


sorry for the very late reply. I never saw this. Thanks!Circulation is good, poop collects a little near 2 rocks but is easily vacuumed up during water changes. Sand always looks clean though. The rocks are real, which I bought at my local landscaping supply.


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## DJRansome

I always have at least 2 and maybe 3 holes (around 2" or whatever the size of the circle cutter I have is), depending on the length of the tank. For one filter I position heater and intake between the holes. For 2 filters I use in-line heaters and position the intake immediately behind the hole. Bette to raise the holes above the substrate level at about the place where you would have the end of your filter intake if there were no background.

Mesh is important to keep fish in front and a little space behind is important to net fry who get through the mesh and fish that jump over the top of the background and end up behind. The filter intakes keep that space clean.


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## forest109

It looks like you have your setup pretty much complete, but if you are interested, I posted an article on installing a 3-D background several years ago. It's in the Cichlid-forum library at: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/i ... bg_pt1.php

I haven't updated that tank profile in a while, but it looks pretty much the same. You can find it by searching the tank list titles for "Malawi Rock Habitat".


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## CichlidJay

After about a year with the tank I've been very happy with the filtration. I did decide I wanted a little more "pull" from the front to get solids out of suspension quicker. So I came up with this design and it works better than I even thought it would. Not only does it create a direct pull from the tubing, but also suction has increase in all the little holes I originally drilled. I must have originally put too many, dispersing the suction over too large of an area to create good suction. Now the biggest hole is covered creating more. What I did was remove the original intake tube from the fx6 and replaced it with 3/4" pvc with a tee. Then inserted 5/8" ID tubing into the tee and then into the strainer originally drilled into the background. The tubing fits snug in both sides. I did have a slight issue putting the strainer on the 3/4" pvc. It was slightly too big, but I easily fixed that with a table saw. I set the fence the depth of the strainer and blade height at about 1/16"-1/8" and and slid and rolled the pvc perpendicular to the blade using the fence as a stop until the diameter was perfectly round and fit into the strainer. (Hard to explain but was really easy, didn't take pictures) First pic was the test before putting it back behind the background. 2nd pic was the best I could take with it installed. Lol


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## CichlidJay

I don't know if you can see the detail in this video but the strainer is now puller in a lot more water!


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## CichlidJay

And here's some of my fish.


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## CharlesMTF

CJ, can you tell me what the name of this background is? It looks like its fairly low-profile, compared to some of the other backgrounds I've seen... which is what I am looking for.


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## Eric_S

Charles, it's the Universal Rocks "Crevice" background. I have 2 of them, one for my 125g and one for a 40g breeder tank. They are very low profile which is why I chose them for these particular tanks.


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