# My 75 gal project - stand, hood, sump & 3D background



## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

Ok, tired of waiting to post something!!! I purchased this tank with stand and sump with overflow from a member on another board - for a pretty good price mind you! The stand was pretty sound but in need of refinishing. The sump was complete with overflow and pump and the tank while having a few scratches is still in good condition.

I cleaned up the sump, tank and overflow and did a water & flow check. Then I started thinking about the background. This tank is going to be a precursor for some haps before I get my 300. At the time of this post, the stand has 1 coat of fresh paint and the background has the 2nd coat of cement. Soon I'll be finishing the background and then it's time to build the hood. I'll be updating this thread over the next month with progress and photos

I put together the base of the background with a rough sketch of the formation, here's the stand and start to my newest tank...


















For those of you looking to build your own background and would like to take in some tips from me... I used 3/4" sheets of poly-styrene (sp) and glued them with a product from 3M [below]. On my first background I used silicone and while it holds well, it's too complicated to cover every square inch of styro to adhere completely. When I put the sheets together on the last project, I simply laid the silicone down on each sheet in a zig-zag pattern then placed the next sheet on top of it. I found that when I started to carve, some pieces were falling off because there was nothing adhering them to the next layer below. After searching here and there and trying non-flammable contact cement, this became the BEST solution! Found it at Joanne Fabrics.

Not cheap because it does not last long, but works like a charm and holds like there's no tomorrow!










Next up, the basic features of the background and I'm ready to start carving. If you're going to do your first background and carve it from poly-styrene, plan on cutting away a ton and making and absolute mess! The tools I used; thin razor knife(s) (get plenty of replacement blades - they gunk up), sharpie marker, keyhole (drywall) saw, hacksaw blade (both on and off of the saw), jimmy bar to pry with, glass lacing tool (used as a hook to remove small pieces in cracks and crevices - I was in the glass business a few years ago).










Carving complete, just ran with my imagination, I integrated several ideas from different things that brought inspiration. The yellowish color is where I went back with 'great stuff' to build back up and re-carve. Some places I didn't like and others I cut through to the cut out areas for water flow. Not a problem, just lay on the 'great stuff' and let it cure, then go back and carve some more.

NOTE: Make your crack and crevices DEEPER that you think you should! I learned this on my first one. They fill up quickly and do not give you the effect you are looking for. I made mine 1/2" deep for the most part. It does fill up and if you want the shadowing and separation effect from them, cut 'em deep!










The next 2 photos show where the intake and overflow will be supplied. I used this plastic mesh stuff from the hobby store - they use it for stitching with yarn to make fluffy patterned things. There will be 2 intakes connected together with a channel for the canister and the other is the overflow. Because the mesh is flexible, for the overflow I took a plastic hanger and cut/welded it together with a torch for a brace on the top edge. It should make more sense later...


















Because the 75g tank has a center brace, I cut the background into 2 pieces. This was planned from the beginning and was done with the rock features in mind as well as placement for filtration. The overflow will draw from the top just left of center and the canister will draw from the bottom just right of center.










Test Fitting: these are test fitting images before starting to cement. Different points of view to show the depth...


































The back: Here's the back... hopefully you can see the overflow (black square) just to the right of center, and the other channel for the canister pick-up to the left of center. These areas are covered with silicone. There is some black spraypaint on the back as a marker to me for the back of the tank.










Plumbing placement: Overflow box, canister intake and both returns shown here...










Ready to start applying the cement: Here's my work area laid out. I use a paint mixing attachment on a drill to mix the concrete. You can see that I have a paint brush and small container there as well as water for mixing, water in a spray bottle and my pigments.










Applying the first coat: The first background was trial and error... seriously! I found the perfect mix for the cement. I used 4oz (by volume) each of cement and water. After giving 1-2 min to set after mixing, it is ready to go. I used small amounts because I found that working with more caused it to thicken too quickly. I am using Quickcrete Hydro Stop and would imagine that this method would work for most of the Quickcrete line of products. I also found that working quickly, but not too quickly, was the right amount of time for the 8oz of mix. I used a cheap paint brush to dab and brush... dab and brush...


















Setting the cement: No crazy trick here, just cover with towels and mist with your spray bottle... a lot! Then let it dry/cure to the point that you're ready to apply coat number 2. For the 2nd coat I wet the towels and rung them out before placing them over the background, this really helped slow the curing time. This should help prevent cracking and fragility. It took 2 full days with wet towels and 1/2 of that or less just from misting...


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## matt-the-geek (Jul 8, 2009)

That looks really good, its making me want to make one for my 55 gallon. Though I might just wait till when I finally upgrade to a bigger tank. Can't wait to see it all set up be sure to post lots more pictures.


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## dreday (Oct 12, 2007)

*** been playing with the idea of doing another bg. i had one on my 75g that was ok. it only lasted 10 months. then the silicone let go and it floated off the back of the tank. silly styro, it just like to float so much!!!

i have a 125 i might do another one on. and it helps to have some experience doing it. the first ones always need more work or another step that you missed.

anyway your looks very nice. just one quest, why is it so high above the tank bottom?? are you planing on having a deep sand bed, like 4-6"? was there any other reason to make it that high off the bottom?

when i did mine i made it touch the bottom, on top of the eggcrate. i was afraid the fish would dig up underneath it, and they sure did dig. but did no damage to it.

and what product are you going to use to seal it to the glass?? i want to try something else besides silicone. i did not like it and would not want to have my bg come apart again. only this time my tank is drilled and i would have to build it around the corner overflows, or find a way to incorporate them.

good luck and waiting for more pics... opcorn:


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

Looks great so far....looks like youre getting all this stuff down to a profession. :wink: I look forward to seeing it witch water 8)


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## oscars4me (Feb 22, 2009)

opcorn:


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## non_compliance (Dec 4, 2008)

looking sweet...


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## harveyb27 (Dec 15, 2008)

cooooooooooooooool!! nice diy background.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

dreday said:


> and what product are you going to use to seal it to the glass?? i want to try something else besides silicone. i did not like it and would not want to have my bg come apart again. only this time my tank is drilled and i would have to build it around the corner overflows, or find a way to incorporate them.
> 
> good luck and waiting for more pics... opcorn:


You can use magnets, install them on the back of your styrofoam and coat them with epoxy resin, keep in mind that they have to be strong magnets. Then just use a few more to hold the background from the outside and you'll have a background that you can remove whenever you'd like. :thumb:

Morfeus, I must say that I like your other background more than this one so far but I will wait until the pigment is done before I start flaming you  J/K :thumb: .


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## non_compliance (Dec 4, 2008)

mightyevil said:


> Morfeus, I must say that I like your other background more than this one so far but I will wait until the pigment is done before I start flaming you  J/K :thumb: .


lmao....


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

I just started my thread Morfeus, check it out, maybe you can give me some pointers on my build... 

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=198716


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

mightyevil said:


> I will wait until the pigment is done before I start flaming you  J/K :thumb: .


Now that's just uncalled for! Remember that you're working on yours too...


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

dreday said:


> and what product are you going to use to seal it to the glass?? i want to try something else besides silicone. i did not like it and would not want to have my bg come apart again.


Interesting... I have 2 questions... 1. Did the silicone let loose of the styrofoam and stay stuck to the glass or did it let go from the glass and stay stuck from the styrofoam? 2. What type of styro did you use? Polystyrene or the pink stuff from Home Depot?

I used silicone on the last one and plan to do the same on this one. It holds the layers of styro together like there's no tomorrow, so there's no reason that it will not hold to glass.


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## dreday (Oct 12, 2007)

the silicone let go of the styro. it was not the pink stuff from lowes but another styro, very thin. the silicone was on the glass.

i think the water helped. i did not make a good seal around the edge and the water seeped into the middle of the bg and ate away at it. just wondering if there was something else out there.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

dreday said:


> the silicone let go of the styro. it was not the pink stuff from lowes but another styro, very thin. the silicone was on the glass.
> 
> i think the water helped. i did not make a good seal around the edge and the water seeped into the middle of the bg and ate away at it. just wondering if there was something else out there.


That is weird, my background doesnt have a good seal on the back either and its holdong very firmly.


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## dreday (Oct 12, 2007)

how long has it been in the water? mine only made it about 7 months or so before it started to come off.


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

dreday said:


> i did not make a good seal around the edge and the water seeped into the middle of the bg and ate away at it. just wondering if there was something else out there.


I think that lack of a good seal is probably did it. The silicone should adhere to the styro pretty well, but if you don't put enough on, the buoyancy of the styro can overcome the adhesion. I'm fairly certain that there's no better product for this than silicone. I'm convinced enough that I will not change my strategy.



dreday said:


> how long has it been in the water? mine only made it about 7 months or so before it started to come off.


It's only been a about a month. I feel good about it though... I sealed around the whole perimeter of the background and also through the middle of it in a zig-zag.

I look at it this way... if it does come loose, I just get to make a better one and do a better job of sealing it to the aquarium.

There's so many people who have done these projects and use silicone that you can probably count on silicone being the best solution! :thumb:


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

dreday said:


> how long has it been in the water? mine only made it about 7 months or so before it started to come off.


In the water for over a year now and when I clean the tank or try to catch a fish I can tell that the background is stuck pretty firmly to the aquarium.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

IMO best solution would be magnets, heavy duty magnets. Silicone a couple on each piece of the background and put resin over them...then from the outside of the aquarium just use the other pieces of magnets. Then you can take the background off whenever you want.


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

mightyevil said:


> IMO best solution would be magnets, heavy duty magnets. Silicone a couple on each piece of the background and put resin over them...then from the outside of the aquarium just use the other pieces of magnets. Then you can take the background off whenever you want.


Sorry mightyevil, going to have to rebut you! And why are you hijacking my thread to talk about magnets? Do you work for a magnet distributor or something? lol...

I think the magnet idea is bad... very bad... sure it may pull the bg backward, but there's not enough lateral strength to hold it in place. Additionally, the resin is not friendly to styro. How about you test it and then let us know how it works out on your current build?

Really, IMO, there's no better solution for adhering a bg to the tank than silicone. If done well (no disrespect here) there is absolutely no reason for it not to hold. Test it! Take a clean piece of styro and a clean piece of glass and 'glue' them together with silicone. Give it a week or 2 to cure and then try to pull them apart laterally. Lateral force is the force behind the difference in buoyancy for a styro bg.

...you know, I think I will try to do just that!

OK, back to suggestions or comments on my 75g project!


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## dreday (Oct 12, 2007)

none so far, really nice work.

except for why you had it raised up but i guess that is to give it some clearance for the intake to the canister. some color on the bg will add some nice depth to it.

what are you planing on stocking it with??


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

:lol: :lol: :lol:

No not a distributor, nor a hijacker...

The magnet idea was not mine, I took it from a person at reef central dot com, who actually did it on his reef aquarium...it works! I just dont remember if he said it was resin or something else but I figured it was resin...I will try to find the thread. Plus, I'm sure you can do it with silicone anyway, so it would work. I might just try it since my aquarium is acrylic.


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

dreday said:


> none so far, really nice work.
> 
> except for why you had it raised up but i guess that is to give it some clearance for the intake to the canister. some color on the bg will add some nice depth to it.
> 
> what are you planing on stocking it with??


Thanks! Wait to make a solid judgment until the finished product, I think you'll be able to appreciate it, even if you would do it differently. Plan on moving some of my larger species haps to it that are in with other haps and peacocks - like Compressiceps, Chilotalapia, Lepturus and N. Fusco.



mightyevil said:


> The magnet idea was not mine, I took it from a person at reef central dot com, who actually did it on his reef aquarium...it works! I just dont remember if he said it was resin or something else but I figured it was resin...I will try to find the thread. Plus, I'm sure you can do it with silicone anyway, so it would work. I might just try it since my aquarium is acrylic.


Good luck man! Must be some really, really strong magnets! I just believe that silicone works if everything is clean, time will tell!


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

mightyevil said:


> No not a distributor, nor a hijacker...


Yeah, right... Cali punk!


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

UPDATE!!!!!!

Background after color and time to cure, ready to be attached to the back of the tank.



























Applied plenty of silicone, pressed onto the glass and weighted it down with some quart bags filled with sand.




























View after silicone allowed to set over night... painted the back of the tank except for the areas that have channels for water.



















Instead of dealing with power strips, I decided to wire my stand. 3 dual plug outlets mounted inside of the stand and a bank of 3 switches mounted to the outside of the stand allows for easy access to turn things off as I wish. I also installed a an 18" florescent light fixture in the top of the stand to help with sump maintenance. Everything is completely sealed and above the devices to allow for a drip loop.



















The first fill will be this Sunday most likely. This week and weekend I will be building an overflow tray for the bottom of the sump, just waiting on my weldon to arrive. Hope you all enjoy!


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

I thought you had given up! Nice setup. You should paint the switch box black to match the stand. Just a suggestion.


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

No way dude! I was letting the cement cure properly (28 days min), something I didn't do last time. This project is not complete.

Overflow tray is next and soon you'll see the hood I built


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## dreday (Oct 12, 2007)

28 days.... crazy.

actually i think cement takes about 50 years to fully cure, at least that something else i heard. anyway it looks good. i like the trick of tilting the tank to keep gravity on your side. new trick learned... TY!!! :thumb:


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

morfeus077 said:


> I was letting the cement cure properly (28 days min)


Yeah, I couldn't wait, like always. I just decided to put mine in  .


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

Yeah, while yours is falling apart, I'll still be enjoying mine


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

dreday said:


> ...actually i think cement takes about 50 years to fully cure, at least that something else i heard.


At least 28 days to cure enough that you can submerge it... I don't know for sure, but that's what I understand... I guess it's up for debate, but I figure that I'm in no hurry and that waiting could do no harm...?



dreday said:


> ...anyway it looks good. i like the trick of tilting the tank to keep gravity on your side. new trick learned... TY!!! :thumb:


Thanks! I saw all these projects with the tank upright and all the sticks wedging it in place... just made more sense to me to lay it down and add a little weight evenly.


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

Finally set up and running! It was a lot of work!!!

Here's the hood I built... with a "keep open" that I found at the orange store.









And the other side with it closed. See the 3 switches, that's my easy access to turn things on and off! As I mentioned before, I built the power into the stand so that there's only 1 cord to plug into the wall. All electrical is sealed with silicone.









Sump below with ~600 GPH @ 4' of head. Will be complimented with a Rena XP3 to the left that is seasoned and running on another tank at the moment. Using Seachem's Matrix in the canister which is cheap and very effective for colonizing bacteria. I had to replace the floor of the stand because of rot and to prevent it in the future, I built an overflow pan/tray out of acrylic. The tray holds a few more gallons than the sump completely full. All of the wood was sanded, covered in primer and then 2 coats of an oil based simi-gloss black paint.









Here it is, ready to provide a great home to some lucky fish! Went with crushed coral for the substrate and the rocks are river rocks from a local gardening/landscaping supply (very cheap).









As for the inhabitants... still up in the air just yet. I was going to move my A.Christyi to it, but decided they would be better in the 120. Wanted to move the bunas from the 55 upstairs and use the 55 as a sump for the 120, but the wife said tonight that she wants me to keep the 55 set up where it is because she likes them there.

Called a buddy who's the manager at a LFS and he's got a bunch of Yellow Labs... maybe it will be a 1 species tank? decisions, decisions...


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## dreday (Oct 12, 2007)

NO WAY one species!!! lol in that beauty. you need at least 3 large groups. with that kind of filtration you can get away with overstocking.

if you want to stick with mbuna, i would suggest some afras. i love em myself. labs are great though. BUT if you were going to do one species i would get a large colony of tropheus. maybe 30-40 of the smaller ones. would be an awesome sight to see.ok maybe 20-30 would be plenty now that i think about it.

if you decide to go with more than one species chose ONE you love and get more that will go with them. makes life easy. ha but you probably already new that.

and gorgeous set up. that canopy looks like it should house 2x250w mh and 5x54w t5 in it..... :fish:


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

dreday said:


> NO WAY one species!!! lol in that beauty


dunno yet... Tropheus are soooo expensive! Labs, for me are gong to be very cheap to get 50 right now. Bunas are ok, prefer Haps and Peacocks though... I do have 30 Taiwan Reef fry that are 1" now and about to strip again... why does this have to be so hard to decide!?!?!?!?



dreday said:


> and gorgeous set up. that canopy looks like it should house 2x250w mh and 5x54w t5 in it..... :fish:


Thanks, and no, it's just one 3' dual T5 fixture. Don't care for all that lighting... makes the background look better and gives a more realistic look. Contemplating whether or not to do a bg for the 120... takes so long and just want to stock it! The 120 is going to house adult haps, 4 A. Christyi that I have and some that a buddy wants to rehome.


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

:fish:


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## jesseyarnell (Jul 22, 2009)

i really don't want to sound negative, but...ha. no, while i think these DIY foam backgrounds are great, and i applaud the effort, i don't understand why you don't try to match the other foreground rocks you plan on adding to the tank. to me when the rock colors don't match, it looks just as fake as the roll-out-and-cut backgrounds you tape to the back. finally, i had to get that out. ah well, the fish don't give a ****.


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

jesseyarnell said:


> i don't understand why you don't try to match the other foreground rocks you plan on adding to the tank.


Matching the color variations is near impossible IMO, and finding rocks of the shape I want at the right color appears just as difficult! Besides, when they are all covered in algae, who cares?

If you've pulled it off though, do you have a pic to post? If you think you can do it, what are you waiting for... show us up! Don't hold out on us!

You are right though... the fish don't care.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

I think it looks great and I am sure that if you were to look underwater somewhere around a rock ledge you will find different rocks at the sand bed than what the ledge rock is as well as debris from the ledge. Additionally, I agree that matching the rock type and color to the sand bed rock would be difficult and time consuming.

I am planing on adding slate to my sand bed and try and go over some of it with the color I used for my background, will it work? I don't know but I hope it does!


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

Thanks mighty! I have been and will remain on the look out for rocks of the shape, size and color of my bg... until then, my fish will have to deal with the environment I have provided thus far.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the outcome. Letting the cement cure for a month seems to have made a difference in appearance already!

Enjoy...


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## morfeus077 (May 9, 2009)

Dropped in 4 adult A. Christyi in the tank tonight... they were being housed in a 40. Will be moving to the 120 as soon as I set it up. Pic to come soon...


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## SuperBro (Feb 22, 2010)

> Matching the color variations is near impossible IMO, and finding rocks of the shape I want at the right color appears just as difficult! Besides, when they are all covered in algae, who cares?


probably too late now, but as i was reading this, i thought about painting the river rocks the same color/shade as the bg...not sure if it would adhere, but it should work.

sorry i was so late for the party...just read the thread!


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## sik-lid (Sep 6, 2011)

I love the BG! I am equally enjoying the narrative and feedback. I just cant wait to get started on one and I am having a big war in my head on whether or not I want to drain my big 240 and put it on it or not. I am starting out on a 55 and if I blow myself away then i will do it on all of them. Thanks so much for sharing your experience with all of us even if some of the armchair quarterbacks were a little "abrasive" in their enthusiasm. =D>


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