# my DIY 3D Background



## dr2391

ok i started my background today and i got alot more than i expected done and its turning out alot better than i expected. im not artistic at all so i thought it wasnt going to come out to good. i just looked at a couple backgrounds that i liked and started cutting. and while i was cutting my brother came in my room n asked what i was doing so i told him n im glad he came n this is how it went, " i need to soak it for 1-2 weeks or the fish will die so ...." b 4 i could finish he said "oh soak it in the jacuzzi" n i was like "no i need......wait thats a good idea" lol i was going to buy a big 40 gal tub at walmart n put my fish in there but i forgot we have a jacuzzi that we never use haha. ne ways here are some pics

my tank right now









beginning









the knives were just to hold up the pieces for the pic. theres a hole right above the knife for the filter intake









the intake hole without the piece that covers









the back 









the mess lol n thats not even half









anyone have any suggestions? am i doing anything that i shouldnt? oh and i bought GE silicone I but its white, i thought it was clear? is that ok? it doesnt say mold or mildew resistant so im good right?


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## KI4MHQ

What materal is the background made of? How are you going to put it in the tank? Is it going to just sit in there or do you attach it to the glass?


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## MightyWarMonger

I thought it was GE silicone II that was suposed to be used but I might be mistaken.


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## dr2391

its just foam board and i have to silicone it on to the glass


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## dr2391

so what do you guys think? i just siliconed the right wall on it. ill get pics i a lil bit.


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## rchickering

You're off to a good start - take your time and do it right the first go around.

As far as soaking in the jacuzzi - obviously need to make sure there isn't any chlorine in there.

I think it is GE Silicone I. It is 100% silicone and is NOT the mold/mildew resistant type.

I looked it up on Lowes website and all of the GE II that were on there had the BioSeal mold/mildew protection which isn't good for your tank.

Don't forget to make a place for your heater, etc to fit into the background.

Post some more pics as your project comes along!

Good luck!


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## dr2391

> As far as soaking in the jacuzzi - obviously need to make sure there isn't any chlorine in there.


yeah we have a well so theres no chlorine. n it never stays filled with water so theres no need to put chlorine or anything else in it.



> I think it is GE Silicone I. It is 100% silicone and is NOT the mold/mildew resistant type.


yeah thats what i got but i hear ppl using it to seal their tanks so why would they use white? or are there just diff colors of it and i just happened to get the white?



> Don't forget to make a place for your heater, etc to fit into the background.


i just made the cutout for that in the corner, ill put up some pics in a sec


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## dr2391

heres what i did today 









the corner for the filter output and heater









im also thinking about an undergravel jet system. are they really that usefull?


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## is300soon

just remember to carve deep if you want the lines to show through good, im on my second coat of cement and the lines are all but gone.

David


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## dr2391

> just remember to carve deep if you want the lines to show through good, im on my second coat of cement and the lines are all but gone.
> 
> David


do u have a pic of how deep your lines were before the cement?


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## is300soon

i don't, im sorry

But you will have to go pretty deep or build up and make your lines show up more by making the surface area higher.

D


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## dr2391

ok well heres how far *** got









now im thinking about putting the tank in my wall what do you guys think? but im wondering can i use my stand or should I make a new 1?

heres the tank now









id b putting it in the closet right behind


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## MightyWarMonger

rchickering was right I was way off lol it is GE silicone I there is a stickey thread at the top of the DIY forum about it. as far as the stand goes if there is nothing wrong with it I would use it in the closet if its in the wall there is no need to make it pretty or anything. also how are you conecting the styrafom peices by silicone? I ask because I am about to start this same project and will need to put the styrafom together as well. Also can you tell us roughly how deep you're groves are so we know for when its coverd with quickrete. and imo you're project is coming along nicely and looks good can't wait to see how it come out.


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## dr2391

i am using little plastic rods and silicone to hold the shelves on and just silicon to hold the others. my shallowest grove is about 1/4" deep and deepest is about 1.5" deep. i might need to go deeper. ill let you know what happens after i quickrete. im going to use as thin of coats as possible


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## dr2391

finished the carving. now i need to get quickrete


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## dr2391

ok I just bought sakrete cement color. Is this ok for aquariums? Is it toxic? It's a powder. I couldn't find ne liquid color


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## MightyWarMonger

I would think so but I dont kow for sure I guess it's the same as quickrete and needs tocure then leach out any toxins when submerged. I got the cement color for min but it was liquid I havent started yet so mabye a second opinion would be in oerder.


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## dr2391

first coat of quikrete


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## MightyWarMonger

well from the looks of it so far seem like the lines and contoure details are still showing good can't wait to see the rest.


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## dr2391

here is the second coat with the dye. might have went a little dark but ill see when it drys


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## non_compliance

Looks pretty good... only thing is it is too monochromatic... you need something that is going to blend the colors a bit... possibly lightly painting over parts of it... with spray cans...


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## trigger

Mwahhh, let nature takes it course. It'll be covered by a natural coverage soon enough to hide your carefully planned coloration


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## dr2391

yeah thats what im thinking. i just wanted the reddish tint and then let algae grow on it


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## dr2391

ok so i wanted to let the second coat dry an extra day so i started tearing out the wall for the tank but i have a question. i will probably be ready to put the tank back in the wall before the background is done soaking. do you think it would be to much stress on the fish if i put them in a big tub from walmart move the tank back into the wall n then put the fish back in the same day and then in a couple weeks take them all out again and leave them in the tub for 2 days and silicone the background in?

ne ways heres a pic of what *** done today


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## dr2391

ne one?


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## ajl10spro

I would think that the fish will be fine. The key will be making sure your new background will not effect the water parameters.


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## dr2391

are the plastic buckets from walmart ok to use to put my fish in? are they coated with anything? i just bought one and it has a smell that im worried bout


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## dr2391

ok *** done alot today but i have a new question lol. it was alot of work to put all the fish n rocks in the tub. how long can my fish live in it? 2-3 weeks cuz i really just want to keep them in there until im done with the background and it has been cycled. they actually have alot more room than i thought in that tub. so how long do you think they can be in there?

here are some pics

cut out the studs









the tank









fish in the tub









again









tank in the wall


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## Phenix

HI, the 3d background looks very nice, and its an idea i never thought of doing yet, but is it worth all that volume it takes up?


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## dr2391

mine is carved out of a 2 in wide piece of foam so it is less than 2" thick in most places so it wont take up too much volume.


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## spotmonster

Fish should be able to live in there forever! I'd do the same. As long as you keep your filters/ heaters going fine.


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## dr2391

ok great but now i have another problem. it stinks! lol my whole room smells bad. is there ne thing i can do?


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## kelownacichlids

Take a shower  You must have worked really hard on the background to be smelling that bad,lol Your BG looks great by the way. I'm just doing one for my 72gal.
Kim


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## dr2391

ok well i glued it in the tank just now and it was a pretty tight fit. i had to cut some of the foam off the back and sides. i also had to cut the middle support and im going to make a metal bracket to go over the top so it doesnt bow. i heard that older tanks dont need that middle piece because they have thicker glass. is this true? this tank was made in the early to mid 90's and the middle piece was always loose when filled with water. ne ways the only way i could silicon it was to have the BG half way in and then put the silicon on. i didnt get as much on it as i wanted to but i think it will hold. what do you think is the min amount of silicon i should have used?


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## rchickering

My background was approx 48" x 28" and I think I used 1.5 tubes of silicone.


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## dr2391

aight here are some pics of it with water and the ugj. do you think that is enough jets? the tank is 3ft long.


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## MightyWarMonger

Well that would probably be enugh but I might put one or two more in there just to help prevent any dead spots from ocurring but thats just my opinion. wow that water looks good I expected to be cloudy from leaching of the BG.


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## jontwhale

I would definately re fit a support brace. it will have been loose as you said, due to the slight bowing when full!

Looking good! what substrate will you be using?


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## dr2391

> wow that water looks good I expected to be cloudy from leaching of the BG.


thats wut i was thinking



> what substrate will you be using?


white sand


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## dr2391

do you think if i did 2 water changes a day that would speed up the leaching?


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## dr2391

heres a pic with a light on top. its still not how it really looks. it looks better in person. im gonna try n get a good cam soon instead of using my phone.


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## MightyWarMonger

it looks prety good and those are some good pics considering you're useing a phone camera. Still hard to beleive its so clear. maybe it because you let the quickrete cure inbetween layers and when you were done before putting it in the tank.


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## spotmonster

Put some carbon in your filter to ease the smell.


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## dr2391

ok so i just checked the PH for the first time and its the same as my tap water. its about 7.5-7.6. does this mean its safe for the fish? *** done 3 full water changes


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## MightyWarMonger

I think that is the proper range for the PH for most cichlids give or take a bit let the water sit for a couple days to see if the ph goes up or down over longer periods.


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## dr2391

> I think that is the proper range for the PH for most cichlids


i thought they like it in the 8's?


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## mel_cp6

looks good so far.
where do you guys get those flattened pvc pieces at the end of the ugj system.


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## dr2391

> where do you guys get those flattened pvc pieces at the end of the ugj system.


just take some pvc pipe n cut a bunch of 2" pieces and then boil some water and stick half of the piece in the water for a little bit n then pinch it with some channel locks or whatever you have


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## MightyWarMonger

dr2391 said:


> I think that is the proper range for the PH for most cichlids
> 
> 
> 
> i thought they like it in the 8's?
Click to expand...

Well I've ben known to be wrong before lol you can always check in the profile section to be sure of the PH range of the fish.


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## dr2391

> Well I've ben known to be wrong before lol you can always check in the profile section to be sure of the PH range of the fish.


lol well i did wut u said earlier n let it sit a day n a half n then checked the PH n it was up to 8, so its still rising


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## mel_cp6

oh yeah!
thanks buddy.


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## MightyWarMonger

yeah I figured it might be still leaching but the frequent WC were kkeping the PH down but still 8 is not to bad and I looked in the profiles section at a few and they all said 7.8 - 8.6 for the PH levels for malawi haps. I would still let it sit for another day or two to see how high it goes then do a WC and repeat prosses.


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## dr2391

> I would still let it sit for another day or two to see how high it goes then do a WC and repeat prosses.


well i was thinking i could keep a close eye on the PH and do maybe 50% water changes every couple of days with the fish in it but is that the only thing concrete does to the water? just raises the PH or does it still release other chemicals harmful to fish into the water?


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## dr2391

i bought 3 cheap little tiger barbs and put them in there about 2 hours ago and there doing fine so far but we'll see what happens tomorrow


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## MightyWarMonger

ok cool I have no idea what all concrete does while submerged in water. well I guess we will see.


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## dr2391

well *** had my fish in for 2 days and there doing fine. the waters cloudy tho. the ph hasnt gone over 8.0 in 3 days. heres some pics

I kinda just threw the rocks in, im not sure of what to do with them yet. ne suggestions?


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## MightyWarMonger

looks good I'm not that good with aquscaping so I cnat help with the rocks trim out the front of the tank with some molding and you should be good to go.


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## dr2391

> trim out the front of the tank with some molding and you should be good to go.


yup thats my next step


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## photofiveo

Looks very cool! Hopefully mine will turn out that nice. :thumb:


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## benl.1036

Do you have any pics of it in the tank?


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## jfly

ahhh i made a 55 gallon diy background.. when i was done :-? not enough room for fish, looks the same for you.. had to upgrade to a 75 and havent put in it yet.. :lol: igot to ambicious with mine.. looks great opcorn:


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## dr2391

its been a while since it has been finished so i thought id post an update


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## harveyb27

I was a bit discouraged at the beginning because i thought it would take up a lot of room and thought the ledge part on the right would look too unnatural. Even if it does i have now changed my mind about the whole thing, and think it looks really good. I like how the finish is similar to the lava rock. Once algae grows on it it will look really good. :thumb:


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## audio

That looks awesome mate! I just wish my wife would be cool with me cutting into walls. I am def. going to start my own 3D background now. Thanks for the ideas.

-audio


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## corepester

Awesome job. Is this type of material safe?


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