# my DIY aquarium background



## tanpogi

Hello!!
I just want to share my unfinished DIY aquarium background in a 40G tank. And I want to know your comments/suggestions that can help me to improve about my project. Images are not in good quality, I only used 3.2mp camera phone. (I apologize for my grammar, I'm not fluent in english)


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## TheFishGuy

You forgot to add the pictures!


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## tanpogi

Here are the photos of my 1st DIY BG

My 40 gallon tank and on top is the bg. I learned it by watching on youtube.com. I have no photos taken while making the cuttings on my bg, but later I'll show you the 2nd one that i made.

































here's the 1st coating with the concrete. The rest of the coating was not taken. I made 3 coatings.

































The final fitting and curing

















Here's the complete setup that I made 

















































































I will be posting my 2nd DIY background soon. 
here is an example.


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## Arkansascichlids

Very nice background


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## TheFishGuy

That's awesome! Did you cut piecs out and attatch them to a main sheet?


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## kriskm

Terrific job on the background, and the second one looks amazing. I like how the first one blends so naturally with the rest of the decorations. Love to see how you got so much detail on the second one.


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## tanpogi

*TheFishGuy*

Yes, I cut it first into pieces before I attach them all together.. Here's my 2nd BG 










here's the 1st part. I used recycled styrofoam from appliance packages for no cost. 










I used glue gun for sticking it together

















this photo shows the 1st BG that i made, I made some renovations, haha










































the 2nd part

























and the 3rd part


























































final fitting into the tank

























I used glue gun to put more details

























coating  

















































this photo shows the detail that I put some glue gun :lol: looks good for me!

























the curing stage and some fittings again, i made some sanding and cutting to remove the excess of the cement in all sides to fit into the tank. 

























Now I'll wait for 2weeks to cure, to remove the chemicals from the cement. ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s rainy season so I left it outside the house to cure it 
(without the tank of course)


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## Malawi_Junkie

Killer BG, I Love it!


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## tanpogi

*Malawi_Junkie*
thanks!!

But, I have 1 problem. I don't want to put it permanently in my tank because its hard to clean. Does anybody here having a permanent BG that experienced hard time cleaning at the back of the BG? Because the 1st BG that i made is not permanently glued at the back. I put some styro foam at the top of the BG that will fit exactly and will not float. 









I'm planning to do this in my 2nd BG but the styro is thicker than the 1st BG. The upward pressure is strong, the glass stabilizer at the back of the aquarium might get destroyed. I don't have enough budget to buy strong magnets like others did. :-?


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## Franceschi

AWESOME job!!!!

Wish I had the courage to try and do one of these!!

I always think of it, but never come to actually doing it....


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## mightyevil

I must admit, very nice work. It looks a little unrealistic but very awesome looking nonetheless!


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## TheFishGuy

Can you use your hot glue gun to incorperate large rocks into it thus weighing it down?

I love the glue gun details! Awesome artistry!


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## Malawi_Junkie

I've never had to clean my BG, I like the algae growth. My pleco's like it as well. I would attach with silicone but that's me, I've had one come loose, Tank rocket actually hit the ceiling launching water everywhere before landing back on top of the tank. Good thing it wasn't finished yet or I would have lost my lights, canopy, and maybe even a few fish.


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## AnnaFish

oooo This is so amazing. I've always wanted to do this!

So that's Styrofoam huh... where do you get that much Styrofoam?

For a while I thought it was plaster of paris. has anyone thought of doing a BG with that? Or might it be toxic to the water?

Honestly I thought Styrofoam might be bad... guess not.

What kind of paint is that?


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## TexasFishGuy

They look great!

From the Phillipines huh? That second one looks like it could fit in well with some Aztec ruins.


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## tanpogi

Grrrrrr, can't wait to finish my project.. still on the curing stage.. And I've decided to attached it with silicone(permanent).. thanks for the suggestions guys... now I'm making my DIY filter(called mini sump) :lol: and LED lights...


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## Dewdrop

I would use a *LOT* of silicone to attach the background. Maybe even put some real rocks into openings in the back for added weight and or fill with cement. The one person that posted they had one come loose & fly up out of the tank worries me.

Both of the backgrounds you made look awesome :thumb: . I love the added detail made with glue. I think they both look very real & to me it looks like something you've been doing for a long time (very professional looking). You must be blessed with creativity & artistic ability or at the very least have a good eye, imagination, & skill :wink: WELL DONE !

Please document the DIY filter as you do it too


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## Malawi_Junkie

My BG that let go was very thick and my fault for not using enough silicone during install. I would recommend heavy beads 1" apart vertically and then horizontally, when you apply pressure it will fill the gaps. Also apply a bead along the bottom of the BG.


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## tanpogi

Thanks for the comment guys. I also tried TheFishGuy and Dewdrop suggestions, I put rocks and cement at the back of my BG. But still, it floats and can destroy the lid. So I decided to attach it with silicone. 

here's what I did


















I put straight cuts at the back that is triangular shape that will help the silicone to hold the styro very well. Unlike on a flat surface that can slip.









hope you get the idea of this illustration.


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## Franceschi

Real nice solution, althought the resultant force will (in this drawing you made) up and a little to the left IMO; but it will definitely hold better than if you just used silicone on a flat surface!! You have a lot of great ideas, congrats man!!!


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## tanpogi

The tank is running smoothly for two weeks. I've also finished with my DIY filter :lol: Here are a few photos. sorry for the poor quality of the photos.

no fish yet, it's the first day when I finished the setup

































My diy filter

















This is my old filter

























I miss calculated the size of the water passage of chambers on my filter. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m using 1800liters/hr. Power head. The water overflows on chamber 1 and 2 when I put a lot of gravel on chamber 3. So I put a folder slide into it and now it looks like this. Any suggestions to make it better?








































Sorry, I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have nice camera to have a nice quality..

And my new cichlid fish
Convicts and Auratus








Albino Oscar








Oscar is about 2 months old already and will be transfer after my 15g tank has fixed. I mixed my old fishÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s albino red cross, albino rainbow, albino tiger barb, mollies and feeders for my Oscar. But it will also be transferred before I add some more cichlids in my 40g. 
















IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll try to have a nice quality pictures soon..
My DIY LED light is not finished yet.


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## tanpogi

The tank is running smoothly for two weeks. I've also finished with my DIY filter :lol: Here are a few photos. sorry for the poor quality of the photos.

no fish yet, it's the first day when I finished the setup
























I made a small BG that will cover up the power head. (upper left) It is not permanently glued into the glass so i can remove it when I'll clean the pump. i used sucker to hold.









My diy filter

















This is my old filter

























I miss calculated the size of the water passage of chambers on my filter. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m using 1800liters/hr. Power head. The water overflows on chamber 1 and 2 when I put a lot of gravel on chamber 3. So I put a folder slide into it and now it looks like this. Any suggestions to make it better?








































Sorry, I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have nice camera to have a nice quality..

And my new cichlid fish
Convicts and Auratus








Albino Oscar








Oscar is about 2 months old already and will be transfer after my 15g tank has fixed. I mixed my old fishÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s albino red cross, albino rainbow, albino tiger barb, mollies and feeders for my Oscar. But it will also be transferred before I add some more cichlids in my 40g. 
















IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll try to have a nice quality pictures and post it.
My DIY LED light is not finished yet.


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## peter-trnava

I like you 2nd BG, its fantastic! :thumb:


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