# DIY 3d rock background in 75G tank with Fish



## BigBaby~420

I have a presetup 75 gallon malowi mix tankwith fish, i am going to make a foam background that hides my filters, heaters, and pump.... i am going to make it outside the tank, with measurements, and then cover it with concrete.... i am going to bring it to my local fish store and put it in one of there empty tanks and do water changes until the water levels in the empty tank are what i need for my tank and fish.... I'll keep you posted with all my steps with photo's
quick question... how do i post photos on here?


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## Aquanist

You need to register to a photo hosting service such as imageshack on photobucket. I use imageshack myself. You just upload the pictures you want from your computer and the hosting service gives you url links o copy/paste here and "hey presto" - there you go.


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## BigBaby~420

Day 1.... I'm going to buy the foam tommorow... this is what it looks like now
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn11/devancevich/littletank.jpg


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## BigBaby~420

I went a bought a 4 foot by 8 foot peice of 2" foam from the lumberyard... it was 20 bucks, i had them cut it into 4 equal 2 foot peices so i could fit it in my car..... heres what they looked like to start









http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn11 ... ay2016.jpg
I then used a ruler to measure the filters and thermometers to draw a pattern of the back wall onto the foam.... it will be the inital template... i am going to borrow a jigsaw from a friend and cut it out exactly.... heres what it looks like so far.... i'll keep you posted...


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## DragonGT83

use the [I M G] code to post your pics up on here


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## BigBaby~420

ok i'm posting all my pics directly on here..... i hope i'm not wasting my time documenting all this.... hopefully it will help someone


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## BigBaby~420

ok i retraced the lines with a thick black marker so you could see them better in the photo... I went and rented a jigsaw for 9 bucks and heres wht it looks like










I cut out the template for the filters and the heaters..... i then realized i can't put it in the tank to check if anything fits... its to long i have a center brace on my tank..... ****y.... i had to cut it in half.... when i tried to push it down in my tank it took alot more force then expected.... not sure how thats going to work once i put concrete on it... it is going to take alot to make it sink..... i think i'm going to hollow out any place i can and fill that with concrete instead of just coating it..... cause i'm going ot install this(hopefully) in my full tank with the fish in it... I'll worry about that later










ok heres the tool i went out and bought.... it was 25 bucks... it has a bunch of differnt cutting tips..... 









Ok Save your money.... its a waste of time... this is what i ended up using... way cheaper but much more effective.... its a sawzall blade wraped with duct tape


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## BigBaby~420

Ok i started at the bottom of one of the filter intakes and made the first rock.... my idead was to have the rocks 3-d so i either cut into the intial template and made a rock the sunk in, or i made a rock out of more foam to place another layer on top... heres my first rock










From there it was like a puzzle.. one rock at a time... i tried to make sure that no rocks next to each other were on the same level... i also made sure to make big joints between the rocks... i figure the concrete wil fill in any small details... and i nothiced on other peoples projects it kinda looks like all the rocks connect... i want mine to look real with cracks and gaps for the fish to hide between the rocks.... i also left gaps for water flow to the heaters and intakes for the filters.. heres kinda the steps i took...




























And i just kept adding layers to the rocks making sure to keep things on different depths... i tried to make all the rocks fade to flat on the edges of the tank... so when you look in from the sides your tank it isn't full half deep with rocks



















As you can see i used not corrisive deck screws to hold the rocks that i add on.... i am going to silicone and screw the **** out of it once i'm done.... i'm not sure how much weight silicone alone can hold over time underwater... i'm not taking any chances.... i am making sure to leave the gaps and vents for the heater.... they look big but i figure once you start adding concrete to everything ..... things are going to shrink....










Ok heres what it looks like all carved.... now i am going to have to worry about how i'm going to get it to weigh enough to sink without losing all my detail with loads of concrete..... i am probally going to hollow out the spots on the big rocks and fill them from the inside... and i have to figure how to connect it to the back of the tank..... i'm thinking some kind of upside down u bracket i can attach into the foam.... i read gutter brackets somewhere.... i gotta go take a peek at the store


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## Eb0la11

Couple things. I like that you've taken the time to make it look like real rocks rather than stone tiling. I agree. Some walls, thouhg they do look nice, they still don't look like a small chunk out of a lake on the edge of a cliff wall or something.

Your method will definitely look more natural.

Secondly, I think you should scrap the screws. At worst if you need some kind of spike to hold them together you could use plastic tooth picks or something like that and silicone them into place? Metal and fish = sick fish. Even if they are siliconed. Water will find a way to get in there I think... Especially cause you arent going to concrete the back of the wall, are you? I'm doing the same thing and Im not concreting anything but the front view... Might paint the outside of my tank's glass with some removeable paint or something for anywhere the styrofoam backing is showing but im not sure yet... Concrete would do a number on your glass...


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## BigBaby~420

i'm concreting the front side of everything.... not on the back at all.... i scraped the silicon and bought this stuff... some kind of fish water safe epoxy... and here are the screws i am using too... i guess there coated with some kind of waterproofing... it looks like ceramic


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## BigBaby~420

i also figured a sloution to the "sinking problem" i was worried about how many layers of concrete i was going to need to get all the foam to sink,,,, and i didn't want to lose all my detail... i am now burning holes in all my rocks with a lit cigarette... it sinks right in like butter..... alll the rocks now look like swiss cheese... i figure all the holes can be filled with concrete and and won't just chip off like on a smooth surface.... i think it will work well with out having to put on all the exrta layers.... and you won't even be able to see the holes...


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## BigBaby~420

I need Help??????? i am putting the concrete on now,,,, i choose not to dye the concrete because i'm tryingto put it all on at once and i'm trying to use different colors on all the rocks... i'm also trying to shade them for a more realistic effect.... i'm not trying to use regular paint and cover it with epoxy(to risky,,,, i don't want to miss a spot or have a shiny finish) i'm also not trying to use that krylon spray paint.... give me some options guys....


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## BigBaby~420

so i've been running into multiple problems,,,,,,, nothing major yet,,,, just little things i've been fixing on the fly,,,, if you hve any questions or concerns on what i'm doing please let me know,,,, i could use the help.... so far so good.... i realized that the cig holes i have been putting in are doing more then just give me extra weight..... they are giving the weird angles of the rocks something extra to hold on to,,,, gravity is a 8itch,,, the underside of the rocks won't give you a bond thats going to hold for any period of time....


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## BigBaby~420

These are the holes i was talking about..... there working out relly slick.... the concrete hold nice to the sharp angles with them..... 









ok heres my first layer of concrete... as you can see i have the foam in 6 main sections i'm done with 3 of them..... i did it like this so i can remove and mess with the filter after its done and so i can fit everything in my tank after its done(my tank is allready setup with fish) in these next pictures they are differnt shades of grey becasuse there still wet... they will all be the same color when fully dried


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## will74

Looks great, wish i'd have thought of the way you overlayed the rocks to make caves. only problem how will you catch the fish when you need to?


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## mikesl

here is an idea you migth want to consider.

a) regarding loss of detail, I think you can create detail in the concrete, you don't have to just coat the styro. You can sculpt the concrete, I think.

b) if you are worried about buoyancy, you can consider removing the styro after the concrete is cured. THis would give you water space behind the background, which might or might not be desirable for you. But then you would have a much easier time putting it in place


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## Eb0la11

mikesl said:


> here is an idea you migth want to consider.
> 
> a) regarding loss of detail, I think you can create detail in the concrete, you don't have to just coat the styro. You can sculpt the concrete, I think.
> 
> b) if you are worried about buoyancy, you can consider removing the styro after the concrete is cured. THis would give you water space behind the background, which might or might not be desirable for you. But then you would have a much easier time putting it in place


How would you remove it? I'd think maybe torching it out? lol... Could definitely work.


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## gtsum

your project is looking really good and thanks for taking the time to post the step by step pics!


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## BigBaby~420

Ok... i just got done with the first layer of concrete on everything..... it went better then expected.... i really like how its going so far....one thing i'm noticing is i had to put everything on really smooth to make sure i got into all the little holes and to get a good bond.... on the next coat i'm going to bulid little ridges and veins and bumps on the rocks to make them look more real.... i think it will be easy since i will be putting concfrete on concrete... instead of concrete on foam like the first layer.... this is what it looks like spread apart.... the parts that are still blue are where the rocks from the peice next to it overlaps... kinda like legos or a overlaping puzzle.... i'm going to paint them so from some crazy angle you won't see any trace of blue, it will look shadows instead..(once agian, in the pic its differnt shades of gray because some peices are still a little wet)










Here they are linked up together.... i'm not going to attach permenantly them together at any point in time.... i want to be able to slide any peice in or out of the tank easily at any time to do anything needed to the filters of cleaning of the tank... after i get all the concrete done i will make upside down U brackets out of something plastic, so the peices just kind of clip to the back wall with Gravity...


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## BigBaby~420

ok i was laying in bed and i couldn't sleep... i was thinking about how i'm going to make this background look real,,,,,, then it hit me,,,,, this is what my tank looks like now with no background









I'm going to take some of the real rocks out of my tank..... smash them into little peices and stick little chunks,,,, like a inch or two,,,,, to the top layer of my of my background..... i'll just blend them in with concrete and it should look sweet.....


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## D3ling424

This is a fantastic thread! 
I've been playing around with the idea of making a 3d Background for so long, I think now I'll give it a shot! 
Keep those pics coming Big Baby, it looks great so far! I can't wait to see how it all turns out in the tank.
D3


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## kingpoiuy

Man, this background looks like it's going to be really sweet! I might just try my hand at making one like this!


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## D3ling424

Just thinking this one through now....I would put some screen over your intake holes so no fish can get sucked in. I'm also currious how the foam will do with the heater so close....
Just my 2 cents!
D3


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## BigBaby~420

wow.. 700 hundred people have allready checked out what i'm doing.... thanks for the encouragement guys... i appreciate it....all my friends think i'm crazy and wasting my time( they could care less about fish)....

about the screens... i'm not worried about it... i made the gaps big enough so they could go in and out as they please(i think).... i mean if you look at the rocks i have in my tank now. there are some pretty little gaps they go in and out of.... and the fish that are too big don't even try to go in... so i don't think they will try on the background.... also i don't think the heaters get hot enough to do any damage to anything... i mean there barely warm when i hold them under water..

Its raining outside today... i was hoping to finish up with the concrete but i not sure if its going to happen.... i'll keep you posted


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## D3ling424

Boo For Rain!!!! 
(and while I'm at it) BOO on your Friends too for not liking fish !!!! lol! My friends are the same way, they could care less. Oh well, can't please them all!
D3


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## balachel

yeah my friends could care less for fish but the like my tanks. good job so far on your background looks really nice.


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## BigBaby~420

ok..... i tried to see if my background would sink after the first coat was done..... it didn't.. but i wanted too.... one more coat and it will sink for sure..... after looking at my rocks i thought they were too round so i decided to take my grotto rock from my tank that looks like this








and i smashed it with a hammer into little chunks... like a inch or two.... and stuck them to the front of my fake rocks and blended them in like this



























so this what it looked like before( just pay attenetion to the right side... thats as far as i've changed)









this is what it looks like now( just the far right is changed)


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## D3ling424

Very Nice! 
Keep the pics coming!
D3


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## BigBaby~420

ok i got the busted up grotto rock added to the right side of the background... it looks pretty sweet, way more realistic... here are the pics.... the concrete is still wet so thats whats up with the different shades of grey... it will all dry the same color..




































This is the full Right side done


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## BigBaby~420

ok so i have posted many questions on many different websites about paint.... everyone says dye the concrete... thats not gonna work for me... i did find lots of people say they used krylon Fusion spray paint and that it worked fine,,,, when i posted the question is krlon fusion safe, there were alot of doubters, but there were alot of people that said thats what they used and its all good... i have yet to find someone post something that says they used krylon and it killed there fish.... so i'm going with it... this is what it looks like,i bought black, tan, brown and burgundy.... the tan and brown come in a differnt "camo" can, but it still says fusion on it...









I figure if graffiti artists can make things they paint on a flat wall look 3-d... i can make these 3-d rocks look look sweet shadowing them the same way....


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## quiksilver

backgrounds looking awesome cant wait to see it in the tank with some algea on it.


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## balachel

really coming together nicely


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## iceblue

I like your idea of adding real chunks of rock to your background. Any pics of the final overall project?


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## BigBaby~420

I'm not done yet,,,,, i've only been working on this project for about 2 weeks... i'm posting pretty much daily what i've done so far.... today i figured out how i'm going to attach it... i bought 24 high power magnets,,,, i'm going to silicon half of them to the back of my foam, and then i'll just stick the other half to the back side of the glass and it will hold it without any brackets... Yes


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## booba5

with fusion i have used it and had no problems, however this is on plastic, Krylon boats about how fusion doesn't just put a layer of paint on top of the surface, but it's specificlly designed for plastic, and actually chemically bonds to the plastic. I dont know how it would do on rocks\non plastic, but give it a try, paint a dried chunk of cement, then throw it into a bucket with a feeder, then see what happens.


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## Eb0la11

BigBaby~420 said:


> I'm not done yet,,,,, i've only been working on this project for about 2 weeks... i'm posting pretty much daily what i've done so far.... today i figured out how i'm going to attach it... i bought 24 high power magnets,,,, i'm going to silicon half of them to the back of my foam, and then i'll just stick the other half to the back side of the glass and it will hold it without any brackets... Yes


You'd need to coat the magnets somehow or they will corrode eventually in the water and kill your fish.


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## BigBaby~420

yeah i was thinking about painting them.... them covering them with epoxy,,,, then siliconingthem into the foam


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## Eb0la11

Let me know how it goes cause I've kicked around the idea and decided against it after a while. What kind of magnets did you get? I was thinking of getting neodymium magnets but they are expensive. They had the most pull though but to get 26 of the kind I'd need would be a lot of money...

I hope you get enough pull force though.


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## BigBaby~420

the magnets i bought are cylinder in shape and about the size of a AAA battery cut in half.... they are powerfull for there size(about a 5 pound pull) i'm going to use 4 on each section so that should hold 40 pounds... it only cost me 25 bucks for all 24 of them


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## BigBaby~420

ok i got the rocks painted... it went pretty smooth.... i put the base tan coat down first on everything..... then i put in brown shadowing..... and just a touch of burgundy... then i came in with the black on the deep cracks.... i think it looks real...


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## iceblue

Nicely done Big B. :thumb:


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## balachel

that looks sweet


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## BigBaby~420

Thanks.... now it time to try to mount these magnets and see if they are strong enought to hold it to the tank...... this could get tricky


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## booba5

Looks really nice, did you ever find out more info about using the paint on them?


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## BigBaby~420

i have only got fully confirmed its safe on plastic like pvc..... no one can tell me for sure if its safe on concrete..... i guess i'll be the tester....


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## booba5

yup, pretty much, it's a rough surface so it shouldn't have any problems adhereing to it, but yea, you never know lol, are you gonna have your cichlids be the testers or some feeders?


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## BigBaby~420

the fish store up the street from me is letting me rent one of there 75 gallon tanks for a month.... i'm going to put it in there first and make sure i can get the magnets to work and to let all the toxins leach out of the concrete with water changes..... i'll throw wome feeder fish in the petstore tank.... and once the levels look good in there tank.... i'll slide them in my tank wth my cichlids... i'm crossing my fingers


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## booba5

thats cool, i wish more fish stores did that, it'd be great for people that wanna do this kinda thing have a cycled tank already


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## BigBaby~420

yeah there only charging me 20 bucks for the month.... i figure a bunch of customers will see my background and maybe i can even get someone who wants to pay me to make one for them


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## BigBaby~420

yeah there only charging me 20 bucks for the month.... i figure a bunch of customers will see my background and maybe i can even get someone who wants to pay me to make one for them


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## BigBaby~420

yeah there only charging me 20 bucks for the month.... i figure a bunch of customers will see my background and maybe i can even get someone who wants to pay me to make one for them


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## christopherhicks

looks great keep up the good work


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## blkg35

Man, the final outcome looks sweet!!! Can't wait to see it in your tank. I've thought about doing a DIY 3D background but I don't have a artistic bone in my body. Guess I'm gonna have to get a 2nd job and buy a background. :x 
Don't forget to post pics of the background in your tank.


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## balachel

i thought the same thing but i just started mine and its actually really easy


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## BigBaby~420

Yeah man.... just give it a shot.... i can't draw or anything like that.... i just tried to look at it as a big ass lego set, things went pretty smooth.... and you can hide your mistakes


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## Eb0la11

Yeah it is easy. I can vouche for that too. I'm somewhat artistic but it doesnt require much at all. You've seen plenty of rocks in your life, most guys like to chuck rocks, so Im guessing you have at least. Just make styrofoam look like a rock in shape and then coat it in liquid rock, essentially...


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## balachel

hey are you gonna put pictures up of it in your tank id really like to see it mine looks pretty similar to yours actually


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## BigBaby~420

yeah... i haven't put it in my tank yet.... i'm waiting till payday to buy some more silicone and a couple things to finish it up..... as soon as i make more progress i'll be sure to post pics..... i'm just at a stand still till i get some extra cash


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## TheBanker

things are looking good so far. nice work


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## F8LBITEva

looks great,cant wait to see the finished product.


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## D3ling424

How close are we to seeing a final product under water? 
D3


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## venustus19

well done so far B... i really like the adding of real rock to the fake ones also... makes it look more real... i have been trying to think of different ways to make 3-D backgrounds, but haven't come up with a good idea yet, but yours might be the one... keep up the good work and keep the pics coming... seems like many people here are gonna try your way... hope it all comes together for you.


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## Zack2112

great work :thumb: i love the idea of breaking real rock and adding it for texture


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## Eb0la11

Hey Bigbaby what are you doing to hold it into the tank? I just put on my first coat of concrete, gotta do 1-2 more, somehow paint it or tint the concrete which has been a problem and then I'm going to melt away some styro and hopefully fill it in with a concrete poor on the backside. I'll leave only styrofoam to touch any glass in my tank though and hopefully this will be close to enough to keep it submerged. I'm on the home stretch so to speak but I still think Im like a month or two away from having it in the tank as the concrete is taking a while and then I gotta soak the whole thing for like a month first too.

Just wanted to hear an update on your project.


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## Dewdrop

:-? What happened Bigbaby? You got us so close. It really looked fantastic :thumb: I think it's been long enough for it to be in the LFS's tank for a month? Do you have it in your tank yet? Don't tease us or leave us hanging hehe we wanna see the finished deal. In your tank with fishes  opcorn:


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## WhitetigerFish

lol got all the way to the end and disappeared no fair! Awesome BG from all the pics i saw. Post again


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## BigBaby~420

i lost my internet when i moved,,,,, but i got all moved in and put my background in the tank.... it looks amazing... my friend is bringing over his camera so i can post some pictures.... i ended up bringing my fish up so the fish store when i moved,.,,, drained my tank, moved it, apllied the backround in when the tank was empty with epoxy,,,, then refilled it... put my fish back in the next day,,, and everything has been all good,,,, no dead fish after 30 days,,,, yeah....


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## Eb0la11

How long was the BG soaking under water before it was ready for the tank? How often was the water changed while it soaked?


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## BigBaby~420

i never soaked it.... i just left it in my front yard for like a 3 weeks.... it got rained on a bunch


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## Eb0la11

Cant say I'll use that method but glad its worked for you so far. Pics soon?


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## loogielv

no pics yet? bummer. this was looking super sweet. i didn't like the method at the beginning, but the realistic look later on sold me. pics!


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## TrashmanNYC

BigBaby~420 said:


> i figure a bunch of customers will see my background and maybe i can even get someone who wants to pay me to make one for them


where are you located? 8)


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## TrashmanNYC

any updates? pics in the tank under water?


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## I3lazd

any updated pics this one looked great.


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## ben1988

darn you big boy lol. we want pics!!


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## GeriJo

Over a year later... I want pics!!!


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## bkohlman

I would also like to see what it looks like now!


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## Gunn20

any pics please!!!!!!!!!!!


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## GotCichlids?

haha bigbaby-420 maybe the 420 is a clue to what has happened to this DIY lol JK but I do have some friends from college that still live the 420 life and have a hard time finishing projects! :lol:


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