# Making two backgrounds at the same time for 10 gallon



## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

So I began another DIY background yesterday and I was not too happy with it so I stated another one today. I will finish both backgrounds and ask for your opinions to see which is better.

Here are some pictures of my progress...

Background number 1:

























Background number 2:


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## dreday (Oct 12, 2007)

well bg 2 has more detail to see the rock work. bg 1 looks like my first one, one large rock in the middle. with the right color patterns it can come out nice.

is the 2nd one going to fit closer together?


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

I don't remember seeing your first one, send me a link or post a picture here so I can see it.

The second one will definitely be closer together, I just want the detail in the rocks to show as much as possible and that is why I am cementing each part separately.


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## Mr.Red (Sep 23, 2009)

both looks good.i would go for the 2nd one though


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

:lol: :lol: :lol: , I guess the first one is freakishly ugly huh? since the second one only is about 5% done.


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Have you considered simply siliconing the rock pieces to the back of the 10gal (and painting the outside black) rather than attaching them to another piece of foam? Of course if you're wanting to hide filter intakes etc then ignore me 

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Rick_Lindsey said:


> Have you considered simply siliconing the rock pieces to the back of the 10gal (and painting the outside black) rather than attaching them to another piece of foam? Of course if you're wanting to hide filter intakes etc then ignore me
> 
> -Rick (the armchair aquarist)


Yes, I did consider it and at the same time I do plan in hiding the filtration behind the background. I might reconsider the way I do the background completely to accommodate fry since I just noticed that one of my Acei might be holding eggs, the bottom of her jaws "throat" is bulging and I think I noticed the eggs in her mouth, additionally, she is not eating (assuming its a she, or can the males do the holding? It is the biggest Acei I have.)


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## dreday (Oct 12, 2007)

no males do not hold.

the bulge and chewing bubble gum look is the biggest sings for yes i am holding.... :thumb:

and no i never posted it my diy bg online. didnt like the pics and i missed a bunch of steps. once i get working i just go and forget to take pics. i probably wont have many on this one either. i do have a few but nothin major. i cant even fit it into my tank now to size it up since it is housing all my extra ****. started to pack and clean and a bunch of icthy stuff got thrown in.

and as long as you can remove or catch the fry easily i would say go for it. if not dont worry about the fry. a good rock pile is enough for them to hide in .


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Sweet, this is my first time breeding cichlids!!! I feel "like a virgin, touched for the very first time" (singing) LOL 

Well, if you get a chance to post the picture, do it.

I am afraid of the cichlids getting sucked up by the intake, I am going to have to figure something out.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Here are the updated pictures...

Here they are side by side to compare...

















Here is a full shot of the 2nd one.









So far the second background is already the best looking and it's not even done yet!


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## dreday (Oct 12, 2007)

well i have to disagree. the one on the left looks more natural to me. even though its not a defined look it looks good.

i think with some good colors it will pop out nicely.

also for the fry and the filter just add some sponge or rubber band some floss to the intake to keep the little buggers out. i use that in mine and it works well. you can suck up fish about 1" in size in most hob filters. have seen it done many a time.... :roll:


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Yeah, I asked my wife and she says that the first does look a bit more natural and that she thinks it will look better under water.

I still think that the second one is better, I finished more of it and maybe it will change your mind and maybe it won't, either way I think I am going to finish both of them still.

Here they are again...

The First one (with another coat of cement on).









The second.

































Both side by side to compare.


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## Guams (Aug 21, 2009)

My vote goes to the first one. There's something about the "puzzle" look to the second one that turns me off.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Guams said:


> My vote goes to the first one. There's something about the "puzzle" look to the second one that turns me off.


:lol: Wow! I am surprised that you guys are going for the first, I think I will buy another 10 gallon  !

So far the score is:

1st Background
4

2nd Background
2

That is including my wife and I


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Here is an update, sorry it took so long but I was busy turning my 10 gallon ex turtle tank into a 20 gallon fish tank. The first background is mostly done, I just need to figure out the filtration area out. The second needs some color still although it looks pretty nice like this.

Here is the first background with flash...








Without flash...









Here is the second with flash...








No flash, this is very dark but I posted it anyway...









I will try to take pictures tomorrow under sunlight, they will look different then.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

opcorn: Just don't put both backgrounds in the same 10 and you will be fine! :thumb:


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Mcdaphnia said:


> opcorn: Just don't put both backgrounds in the same 10 and you will be fine! :thumb:


 :lol: :lol: :lol: , it crossed my mind to put them both in the 20 gallon but they would look horrible side by side and they wouldn't fit anyway.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

So I finished the first part of the second background and it looks good IMO, take a look...









Here they are once again side by side to compare...









I am in the process of making some nice rocks for the bottom, will not make too many but I want some so the fry can hide.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

Unless it's a laidback species, you won't save all your fry with bottom rocks. Fry like to hide in shallow water with some small rocks as cover. I have made ten gallon nursery tanks for a female and her future fry with a shelf covering half the tank (either left or right side). I cut a rectangle of styro just big enough to wedge in place with about an inch of water covering the back and two inches or so in front. Air powered sponge filter suspended in the tank. Some of the bubbles catch under the shelf and push a little fresh water through the slight gap on the side wall. The brooding female will release her fry onto the ledge. Makes it easier to feed fry food to the fry and adult food to the mother.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Mcdaphnia said:


> I have made ten gallon nursery tanks for a female and her future fry with a shelf covering half the tank (either left or right side). I cut a rectangle of styro just big enough to wedge in place with about an inch of water covering the back and two inches or so in front. Air powered sponge filter suspended in the tank. Some of the bubbles catch under the shelf and push a little fresh water through the slight gap on the side wall.


Is the idea something like a turtle dock but wedged under an 1" of water on one side and 2" on the other?

This seems very interesting but I am having trouble understanding it, I can't picture it :-? ...Do you have a sketch or a picture you can show or maybe a link?


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

That's a cool idea, McDaphnia. Thanks for sharing! I've thought about shelves to hold shells to increase the usable floor area in a shell-dweller tank, but never thought about it for fry... I wonder if something like this would work out in a "show tank" to help cyprichromis or goby fry survive?

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

mightyevil said:


> So I finished the first part of the second background and it looks good IMO, take a look...


Looks good to me... they'll give 2 totally different looks to the tank. I can see the first one in a planted tank, especially once it gets some good algae growing on it. The second I see more as a rock/sand type tank, maybe a mixture of rocks and shells.

What sort of fish are you planning to keep in your tank?

-Rick (who votes for buying a second 10 gallon tank at walmart and doing both)


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

I will definitely buy another 10 gallon.

I think your visions of the tanks are very good, I like the ideas. One will be for breeding guppies (first background) and the other will be for my cichlid fry (second background).


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## MCKP (Aug 17, 2009)

I would take the first background and flip it upside down...... I think it would look like a big cave then..... I also agree the first one is the best out of the two BUT you have two totally different styles. The first is just alot more natural to me!


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

MCKP said:


> I would take the first background and flip it upside down...... I think it would look like a big cave then..... I also agree the first one is the best out of the two BUT you have two totally different styles. The first is just alot more natural to me!


I will consider flipping the background, bad thing is that I would have to mess with the filtration space again considerably for that.

Thanks!


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

So when do we get to see them wet? 

-Rick (the armchair aquarist, living vicariously through other people's aquariums for the moment)


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

I am currently working on the second one and hopefully filling it up today or tomorrow, gotta hurry since the fry are ready to come out of mom. I decided to drill it and make it a fuge for the 110 gallon, it will sit next to it.

The other might be up and running on the weekend...


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Here is the update...

I finished the installation and it is now up and running... I decided to net the holding Acei and throw her in the newly set up fuge. I know that it is extremely stressing for a holding cichlid to be moved but she had been holding for three weeks now and I don't have rock work in the main tank for the fry to hide. It took a while before I could catch her but I did and as soon as I moved her, she started spiting fry out, I even had fry in the net without knowing, fortunately I put the net in the fuge and they swam away. Some fry looked very damaged (not swimming just spinning like they were dead) but after a few minutes they headed for the rock work and were swimming around it. After a few more minutes I noticed more fry around the sand bed, I think mom felt safe to release them at that time, I don't know for sure. The fry are smaller than I suspected.

Here are a bunch of pictures...

Here you can see a bunch of fry around the rock on the left and in the middle of the sand bed...

























Here I try to show the flow of the return, can't see very well...









Here is the overflow with some window screening to prevent fry from being skimmed...









And here are the fry!...
here is one right in the middle.








Here are a bunch be the picture came out blurry, you can still make out black dots and lines, those are the fry!








Here is one right between the right rock and the sand, all you see is his little face poking out.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

So here are the backgrounds up and running...

First background...









Second background...









I still liked the second background best but it really does not matter anymore, I am keeping both. I want to add real plants to the first one to make it 100% better but I dont think the lighting is adequate, I would need to spend some money on better lighting and I do not have the funds as of right now.


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

You did a great joby mightyevil both backgrounds look great! I like the 2nd one better myself. I was noticing in the first in the middle at the bottom where the background meets the sand it kind of looks like an evil face or halloween mask. Or maybe it's just me lol!!!! Either ways job well done :thumb:


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Thank you!

Yes, I see the face you are talking about...looks like a mummy to me :lol: .


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