# Dart's 55G DIY Background



## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

I decided to make a more official thread for my project so others can watch and maybe learn something from my ignorance. I was originally gonna use concrete but I have been talked out of this by more experienced members, Thanks Guys! I decided I would just stick with the proven UGI Drylok masonry sealer that I found in the paint section at a local department store.
I recycled styrofoam from my families christmas packages and Im going to attach it to a piece of 1/2in styrofoam. The reason for this is My rockmolds are hallow and wouldnt have much contact with back glass in which to silicone. the total depth of the wall turned out 4.5 inches. I have 3 questions. #1 Do I totally encase the styrofoam front and back in drylok? @]#2 Will the silicone stick the the drylok?
#3 Has anyone ever tried siliconing the bg to the bottom of the tank so that its weighed down by gravel also?










Here is my first try on the rock formations. I started sealing them tonight I'l try to update pictures tommarow with how its turning out.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

> #1 Do I totally encase the styrofoam front and back in drylok? @]#2 Will the silicone stick the the drylok?
> #3 Has anyone ever tried siliconing the bg to the bottom of the tank so that its weighed down by gravel also?


Your off to a good start.

#1- No, just cover the front side with Drylock.
#2- Not very well, that's why you don't want to drylok the back of the BG.
#3- I am only siliconing mine to the back of the tank.

If you build the BG so that it can wedge underneath the top trim then you wont have to worry about it coming lose.


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

Ok so here is my first coat of putting on the drylock...shoulda siliconed everything first...live and learn... im gonna see if i can make it work just have to scrape a little drylock off the styrofoam. stuff isnt drying as fast as the can says either but thats ok il just do a little every night. I am going to do the rest of the coats in browns and tans i just wanted the recesses to be shadowed looking.


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## DanniGirl (Jan 25, 2007)

Looks good so far. 
Don't worry too much about the silicone, it will adhere to the Drylok. 
The first coat takes the longest to dry. The following coats will take half the time, especially if you paint it on thin.

Good luck!


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Since your still in the early stages I would certainly advise you scrap the Drylok off the surfaces you plan to silicone together. A simple step now will be a lot easier than having problems later once its in the tank and the tank is stocked.


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

Im thinking of attaching everything to this so that i have a larger surface to silicone to the back glass? any other tips? Has anybody ever tried zip ties to connect everything to rienforce the silicone?


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

> Im thinking of attaching everything to this so that i have a larger surface to silicone to the back glass? any other tips?


Are you planning on attaching all the individual pieces to that one large black piece before or after the black piece is in the tank?


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

> Are you planning on attaching all the individual pieces to that one large black piece before or after the black piece is in the tank?
> 
> 
> > Im planning on putting it all together first except the black piece will then be cut into 3 sections before being put into the tank..my tank does have a center brace so cant be one whole piece


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

:thumb: sounds like it will work.

The colors are coming alone pretty good. Might consider adding some light white dry brushed onto the high spots as well to give it that rocky look.


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## JMUFTW (Aug 26, 2011)

Love the way this is looking - any more updated photos?!


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

gona silicone all the peices together tonight hopefully i took a break in order to brainstorm my design. im gonna try to make the primary anchor the bottom of the tank and have it siliconed to the back for extra strength. im covering the entire bottom of the tank in .5 in foam so that if they move any of my bick rocks i dont have to worry about breaking out the bottom of the tank anymore. Then im gona back up the silicone with zip ties


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

Ok so I re-thought some of my design and I feel I have no need for the styrofoam backing. here is what I got... so far i have played with the drylok color a little and im gonna do the final coats in then next couple days. I have to still finish a corner peice the one I had just didnt look right.








Here is a picture from the backside..you can see why Im gonna silicone the bottom I dont think that the back has enough surface area...but you can see all the caves...Do you think that it will get enough flow to keep the water from being stagnant?








Does anybody know what the longest peice of styrofoam you can get into the tank? Im considering trying to make it 2 peices instead of one?


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## bragging_rights (Feb 1, 2012)

I really like this, and I'm planning on doing something like this when we move my tank to our new house. I was hoping to be able to put the new background in while the tank was empty, then putting everything else in & adding water and my exsisting fish (1 12-14" pleco and 2 4-5" blood parrots). Is there a silicone that this would be possible with? =D>


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

I just went to the local hardware store and bought cler silicone that said 100% GE Silicone. Your Going to have to wait a few days for everything to dry before adding water. I'm actually in the same situation and that's when I plan to install mine. I'm Gina put fish in a large rubbermaid container for a couple days with the heater and filters running


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## bragging_rights (Feb 1, 2012)

thanks! We're going to have to transport them in a large ice chest anyway so this shouldn't be too big of an issue.


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

So what do you guys think should I silicone the wall to the back of the tank like it is or attach a peice of styrfoam to it to give greater surface area to silione...also I was wondering if it would look bad when glass behind the caves gets dirty
?


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## Vettech85 (Jan 12, 2012)

Just a question about the Drylok.. What kind did you use? I was looking at Home Depot's website and there's a few different ones. With my caves I'm making I want to keep the look of them so I like the idea of using drylok instead since I can just paint it on and in the cracks then smooth and color.


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

I will take a pic of the can for you. Bought mine at Lowwes it was a few bucks cheaper. was in a torqouise and white can. Bought In in the paint section not the cement section. Im learning really fast that it only takes a couple drops of coloring to drastically change the tint of the drylok.


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## Vettech85 (Jan 12, 2012)

I think I know which one you bought. I noticed that theres the regular and extreme versions.


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## BullyBuddies (Jan 4, 2012)

I like how your background seems to have good water flow through the caves. I almost want to make one now!


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

Yea I made every cave had at least two hloes to insure flow and escape for fish


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## Vettech85 (Jan 12, 2012)

What did you use to color the drylok? When I first decided to start this project I was going to use cement and cement pigment to color it... Can I still use that on the drylok? Or did you find something else that worked better?


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

It is cement pigment mixed with dryly


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Did you get it into the tank yet Dart?


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

No steve I havnt got it in my tank yet but I have put it in to make sure that everything fits properly. I am actually working on filling in the seems with great stuff so its going to be all one peice once its under the brace and siliconed in. Kinda tricky to get every little white spec covered with the drylok isnt it!
I also purchased a new glass top yesterday with a Coral Life double strip T5 setup. Looks pretty bright without water Im excited to see this project completely done but im trying my best not to skip corners


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

> Kinda tricky to get every little white spec covered with the drylok isnt it!


You can say that again  I did 4 heavy coats of Drylok on mine and I *still* had a few little white spots which I had to go back over. It takes some serious time to get it covered completely.

Post up some pics when ya get it in and the seams smooth, I'm interested to see how it looks in the tank.


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

AHHHH all the white dots keep popping up I think I have like 40 coats of drylok on here but I got it siliconed into the tank and now im trying to fill in the seams and make it one piece...if I ever do it again im not going to use great stuff it is to hard to carve and is to spongy. Here is a pic of it in the tank not quiete finished with coloring


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## ryencok3 (Feb 25, 2012)

opcorn:


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

ok so im getting super frustrated everytime i think i covered all the white styrofoam the drylok dries and then i have another 50 white spots


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## quentin8 (Sep 30, 2011)

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## BBQsauce (Mar 10, 2012)

You should make one that says "google" obscurely


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

heres a crappy picture i took with my phone il try to take some better quality when i get time


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

finally got my sump goin and it cleared the water right up. added the plants which calmed things down quiet a bit.


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Looks pretty good.
I would point out that you have a ton of gravel in there, looks like about 4 inches, I'd remove 2-2 1/2 inches. It'll make vacuuming easier and add back 5-10 gallons of volume. As an example, a 4 inch gravel depth turns your 55g into a 43g.


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

I do have alot of gravel in it I also have a price of styrofoam lifting the gravel. Part of why I added a sump. They are digging alot and already got a female holdn so I won't change anything for a week or two


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## KyleD (Apr 9, 2012)

Nicely done! I like the caves--your fish will love you for it.


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)

> Nicely done! I like the caves--your fish will love you for it.


yeah the fish definantly love them but they had some major disadvantages like i just seperated a breeding pair into a ten gallon and took me about an 1.5 hrs to catch her cuz i couldnt coax her out with food since she was holding. And it took forever to get all the caves covered with drylok. I have to drain it actaully and put another layer of drylok on because i had to cut my background to fit my 1.5 in pvc overflow.


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## Dart032 (Dec 9, 2011)




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