# My attempt at a 3D Background



## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

well after some thought, and from viewing other Bg's from here, I figured I'd give a background a shot. What's the worst that could happen right?

I really liked Steve C's cave design so i sort of based it off his design. Everyone's reference photos from the site are great and they helped alot.

Here are the supplies. I used the 3/4 white styrofoam(very messy) and siliconed 3 together for the rear sections. I like the depth 3 layers gave. Around the overflows I used single layers and double layer for the floor sections.









The panels weren't quite wide enough to reach the top of the tank so I had to make a couple extension pieces which I would just use as separate rock sections anyway.









Cut to size and test fitting









Somewhat of a rough guide for cutting









Cave cut out









Carving and fitting the upper sections









Cutting and adding the final upper section









Sanded, shaped, and carved sections siliconed together. I figured my pool table is square so it would make an excellent jig for clamping. I attached a few broken pieces of styrofoam as rock accents.









Building the left piece around the overflow housing.









Making the ledge for the left side









The pillars for the ledge









The ledge..









Test fitting the right piece around the overflow housing.









Adding a couple other rock structures to the left side.









Left side fitted









A little tough to see, but here's the right side.









Final test fitting









Pieces laid out and first coat of Drylok applied. I will be coating the complete panels, not just the fronts. This is the first coat. I am currently on the third coat. hopefully start the color coat and highlights by the weekend.
4 coats and the highlighting should be enough ,dont you think?



















I will post more as I go. Thanks for looking


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## MbunaRayne (Feb 4, 2013)

Lookin good so far, very cool pillar design. What size is the tank?


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

It's a 110 gallon oceanic tank and it will be going in my wall where my previous 180 gallon used to be. That tank cracked after 16 years. I said I wouldnt do another tank after the flood, but you know how that goes.. At least I saved the fish before the tank ran out of water..


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

finished last color layer. this is the darker layer. It's actually darker then the photo shows. Tomorrow I will add the highlights and shadows.










should i just let this dry for a week or so and install? Or is there a clearcoat I should use over top of the Drylok??


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Looking good. I love the pool table as a jig lol too funny  :thumb:


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

Steve C said:


> Looking good. I love the pool table as a jig lol too funny  :thumb:


Thanks Steve, Did you seal any of your creations with Epoxy or anything, or did you just finish with the Drylok? *** read that the Pleco's like to eat the backgrounds.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

The first ones I made I just did 3 coats of drylok and they are still holding up a year later no problem, but you can see a tiny spot or two here and there where a BNP has rasped off a bit of it. And some of the shading is not as vibrant as it was when I first did it. The one on the 7ft 265 I just finished is the first one I sealed and to be honest I think from now on I plan to seal any of them that I make. It just comes out really nice and you can tell that it's gonna make it at least twice as durable IMO. It's costly because Pond Armor is about $74 for the 1.5 quart kit, but if you can spare the extra bucks I'd say it is well worth it.


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

thanks for the info Steve. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and seal it.. I am looking into US Composites Epoxy resin as it's only $40 gallon.. I want to research it more though just to make sure its fish friendly.. If not I'll go the pond sealer route.

Happy Turkey Day!!.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

I actually looked at the US Composites one as well as a couple other ideas I had before I bought Pond Armor a few weeks ago. One thing right off the bat that I saw when I was checking out the USC one was theirs is listed "semi-clear" and not as "clear" like the Pond Armor. I couldn't find anything that would tell me if it was or wasn't fish safe. Honestly IMO I would not chance it over such a small cost difference. It would suck to do all that work and then find out it doesn't go on clear, or worse yet isn't safe for your fish and then have fish disaster on your hands over a mere $34 difference.


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

yeah, you make a valid point.. I'll have to see where I can find the Pond sealer locally


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

The cheapest place I found was Ebay $74.88 and Free shipping.


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## tomas2010 (Aug 31, 2013)

Looking good 
I have used pond sealand on my background and that's what made big difference in how it look
and my background is in the tank for more two years now
yes I do believe that you should use clear sealant
also did you consider using black cement dye? say black colour and paint it there and there before applying any pond sealant?
or whatever its called in US.
I bought 50g tester packs for my background and it was enough for what I needed.


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

tomas2010 said:


> Looking good
> I have used pond sealand on my background and that's what made big difference in how it look
> and my background is in the tank for more two years now
> yes I do believe that you should use clear sealant
> ...


I think I may look for it locally so I dont have to wait for shipping.

Here are the finished photos of the background. I may add some browns/greens or something. Im not sure yet.

Right side









Left side









complete


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## cichindahead (Nov 29, 2013)

looking good bro. It's Eric with orange challenger.


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

what's up Eric and welcome... I went to hidden reef today to look for the Pond sealer. They had no idea what I was talking about. He looked at me like I had 2 heads.. LOL.. Kept trying to sell me clear silicone.. guess I'll pick it up off Ebay..


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

That was the problem I had looking for it local as well. I went to HD and Lowes and both places had never even heard of it before, even though they do sell it at HD online the people that work in the store had no idea it could even be ordered through them.


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

I just ordered it online. at least it will force me to allow the Drylok to fully cure, and also give me time to get the wall that will hold it ready. I ordered all of my LED's for my hood so xmas will come a couple weeks early here.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Cool. Also when you go to use the pond armor you will want to thin it with some denatured alcohol because it is THICK....and I mean real thick, like molasses on a January day thick. After I mixed mine I added about 30% denatured alcohol and that was perfect. Went on thin and easy and covered very well with that amount.


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

after you mixed the 2 parts, you added the denatured Alcohol? Did you coat front and back or just the front that would be exposed to fish? Also, was you blue paper background just typical wrapping paper or was it a special type?
I appreciate all your help btw...

steve


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Yeah what I did was I measured out the amounts and mixed them in a small container that way I only had a small amount of waster. It's a 2 to 1 ratio for the resin and harder (cant remember off hand which was 2 and which was 1 but it says on the cans when you get it). So I added 6 spoon fulls of the one part, 3 spoon fulls of the 2nd part, then 1 spoon full of denatured alcohol and then mixed. Then if it was not quite the consistency I wanted I added just a tiny bit more of the denatured alcohol. I didn't coat the back of mine. I like the silicone gripping right on the foam itself because I feel it holds better that way IMO. So I just coated the front.

The paper is a heavy blue wrapping paper. Once it's on the back of the tank then I bought a sheet of 1/8" clear lexan from HD and put that over the back then clear taped the top edge so the paper is basically sealed between the lexan and the tank back, that way any splashed water doesn't ruin the paper or cause any water spots on it.


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

thanks again for the info. I like to know what I'm in for before I jump in.. Hopefully I'll get the pond sealer by the weekend. Do you think 2 coats of sealer is adequate or more??


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

No prob at all bud, I am happy to be of help. Took me a couple years of learning from guys here to know what I know. So I'm happy to repay back help.

If you thin it properly, then two coats are perfect. Just make sure you thin it about 30%, because it is thick stuff trust me.


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

Me again... did you coat all of the pieces with just those spoonfuls of epoxy or did you have to do a couple pieces at a time with a few different batches.? I would think I'd need most of these cans to coat mine.. I only say this because I used a few quarts of Drylok at least to coat the background.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

I mixed three separate batches to do mine. Once you thin it it will go a lot farther than you would first think. my BG for my 265g tank was 7ft x 30"... plus I had two side panels that were 2ft x 30" and I bet I only used about 1/3rd of the kit on mine. Just thin it about 30-35% with the denatured alcohol and just do a nice thin even coat and you should have plenty left over when you're done.


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

ok, thanks. Hopefully I can get to it tomorrow..what size spoon? Teaspoon, Table?


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

I used an old tablespoon when I did mine.


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

finished first coat of Pond Seal. It wasnt too tough. just a little thicker than the fiberglass resin I have used. I'll add the second coat tonight or tomorrow.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Lookin good.


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

background installed.. I still have to add some plants here and there.

testing out my LEDs

this is my RGb and my cool white LEDs.. the Warm whites are not connected yet.










this is just the blue..


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Came out nice congrats. Remind me again because I can't remember if you said, what's the stock going to be in there?


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

and another with the room lights out


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## wreckmster (Oct 29, 2013)

It will be Peacocks and Haps.. Im going to use Pool sand and add some rocks in the center.. nothing too crazy. I want to give them swimming room.


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## BigOtto (Dec 4, 2013)

I used to do these for tarantula enclosures. they were never as big however. I used a wire brush attachment on a dril and it really roughed up everything so that it almost looked tree like. You could easily have made it look like rock If you used a slightly different pattern and paint.


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