# Intake & Heater Concealing 3D BG Module



## Wolffishin (Sep 9, 2009)

I wish I would have known about the awesome DIY 3D backgrounds you guys and gals are making before I stocked my 55G Malawi tank. But even if I had known, my lack of artistic abilities might have stopped me from trying.

Problem: Tank is full of water and fish and I really want a 3D type of BG to hide the intake tube and heater in my tank.

Solution: A smaller, partial 3D BG made with foam board and real rock.
The foam board will add depth and give the module shape. The rocks will add weight to help keep it submerged and add to the realistic look.

First I found a selection of flat local rocks that I thought I could arrange into a shape that would allow the filter intake tube and heater to be hidden.

The paint stick and black tube represent the heater and intake tube respectively.









Then one of the harder parts for me...
I layered regular 1" white styrofoam board to create a 3D platform to attach the rocks .
First I glued two 1" peices together with Gorilla Glue and cut the intake and heater areas out from the traced rock outlines. I added a third layer to cover the intake tube and mount the two most forward rocks.
Once the exact rock positioning was worked out I use a Dremel with various grinding bits to cut the crevices and rock shapes.
Front, with first coat Drylok.








Back side.








Side view with heater outlet screening.








Top looking down.









I angled the heater so that the warmed water would hopefully rise away from the source and out the vents. I also think the exposed rock, on one side to the open water and the other side to the heater, would act as a heat sink/radiator. I'll have to watch temps in the beginning to see if my BG has any effect.

Here's the pictures after several coats of Drylok and the attached rocks.
I used Great Stuff "pond and stone foam" to attach the rocks, seems to be working fine so far.
Front.








Back.








Side.









I'm wondering if it will float or sink...

Well, first attempt and it did float.  
I removed some foam board from the back, where I could, and did a test float in the bathtub. It was still too bouyant but I decided to try and get it down in the tank with some added rocks.
After some hard work and help from my HOB filter I was able to wedge it under the lip of the filter return. That with the added weight of the extra rocks leaning on the sides it stayed down.

Here it is in my tank for the first time tonight.

























Thanks to everyone who has posted their projects here and answered my questions, posts and PM's. I could not have done this if it wasn't for all you great folks. =D>


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## Guams (Aug 21, 2009)

Wow.  Looks great!

Can I ask why you chose to only do a small section of background instead of the whole thing? Or might that be a future project for you?


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## mithesaint (Oct 31, 2006)

Looks great. Now finish the rest of the tank the same way! :lol:

If I were you, I'd seriously consider draining the tank and siliconing that in place. Sure, it's fine now. Just ask yourself what will happen if for whatever reason it pops out of place. How quickly and violently is that going to rise to the surface? Kiss your lights good bye. Better safe than sorry. :thumb:


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

It looks good! :thumb: Have you thought about painting the back of the aquarium black? I think it will definitely give it some depth.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

Looks great!

The one critique I would offer is that I think you shuold have put the heater in the water flow of the intake. I would be worried that itn it's current location it will not get sufficient circulation.

Even if the aquarium temp does stay fairly consistent, in a low flow area, when the heater kicks on, the surrounding water will warm up quickly allowing the heater to kick off quickly. Then as that warmer water moves on it will cick on, then off quickly... This overburdens the on/eff mechanics/electronics allowign them to wear out prematurely, which results in an overheted tank...

If I were in your shoes, I would use the smallest heater possible to prevent overheating. I would select a heater than when turned all the way up, overheated the tank at a point that was not deadly to the fish.

But despite my critic, it looks great and is a very industrious step!


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Toby_H said:


> If I were in your shoes, I would use the smallest heater possible to prevent overheating. I would select a heater than when turned all the way up, overheated the tank at a point that was not deadly to the fish.


Or you can put it on an automatic timer...

I think that the styro will play a good role on the temperature of the tank, time will tell.


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## Wolffishin (Sep 9, 2009)

Thanks fro the comments and suggestions. :thumb:



> Can I ask why you chose to only do a small section of background instead of the whole thing?


The main reason is that I wasn't sure my idea would work or work well.
I didn't know if the styrofoam would hold the weight of the rocks and didn't know if the rocks would be heavy enough to sink the styrofoam. Not to mention underwater measurements and products I have not worked with before.

Also, I really only did this to hide the two peices of equipment and I didn't want to take away too much of the width from the already very narrow standard 55G tank.

I now doubt I could add enough rock to make a full size BG sink.



> If I were you, I'd seriously consider draining the tank and siliconing that in place. Sure, it's fine now. Just ask yourself what will happen if for whatever reason it pops out of place. How quickly and violently is that going to rise to the surface? Kiss your lights good bye. Better safe than sorry.


That would indeed be a bad thing if it popped to the surface.
But about 3/4 of the BG stay submerged under the weight of the rocks and the whole top edge is pushed under the overflow of the HOB. I'm pretty sure it's not moving unless I free the upper edge by raising the HOB.



> Have you thought about painting the back of the aquarium black?


I'm not a big fan of single color BG's, I like the cheesy printed ones a little better.
But I think if I were to make another module like this for the other side of the tank, and maybe another filter, a black back might look really good to fill in the space between modules.



> The one critique I would offer is that I think you shuold have put the heater in the water flow of the intake.


That's a good idea, unfortunately I didn't think of that.
I could probably cut a channel on the back of the foam from the heater to the intake, maybe that would help.
Right now the tank temperature is the same as before the BG with no adjustments. I can't tell how often the heater is going on and off but it did that often when outside the BG so probably not worse. Your other points are well taken.



> I think that the styro will play a good role on the temperature of the tank, time will tell.


Not sure what you mean...insulation?

*I do have a question:*
After the first floatation test I removed a good amount of styrofoam by cutting out, hollowing out, the back of the BG.
I have not gone back and Drylok'ed those areas.
Is there any harm in not doing so? 
Will the styrofoam start to degrade or fall apart?
Could any chemicals or glue in the styro leech out and be harmful to fish?

Thanks again.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

> I think that the styro will play a good role on the temperature of the tank, time will tell.





wolffishin said:


> Not sure what you mean...insulation?


Yup, insulation...if your heater turns off when it gets to the set temperature then the styrofoam will keep the water warm for a considerable amount of time. Just my theory, nothing 100% proven yet.



wolffishin said:


> I do have a question:
> After the first floatation test I removed a good amount of styrofoam by cutting out, hollowing out, the back of the BG.
> I have not gone back and Drylok'ed those areas.
> Is there any harm in not doing so?
> ...


No, you do not have to Drylok the back if you do want to. The styrofoam will not degrade in freshwater so there will be no harm to anything in your tank...people have said that it will degrade in saltwater because of the salt. You used pond foam to glue everything right? So you don't need to worry about any chemicals leaching into the water.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

mightyevil said:


> > I think that the styro will play a good role on the temperature of the tank, time will tell.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I do not agree that this BackGroud will help insulate the tank...

Styrofoam does not conduct heat very well, which is what makes it a good insulator when used properly as insulation. But just being submerged int he tank is not "properly used" as an insulator.

Basically the cooler outside air is sucking heat out of the water through the glass. When Styrofoam is secured flat against the outside of the glass, it prevents this cooler air from being in contact with the warm glass. Thus insulated...

Your tank still has warm water directly on the full back panel of glass right? If so then that full back panel of glas is warming up and the cooler air is sucking that warmth out...

I'm not saying this is a problem, as this is how 99% of our tanks are set up.

As for the idea of cutting a channel from the heater compartment to the filter intake compartment... I think that sounds like a great idea. You don't need a strong flow going by the heater, just something...

Naturally this is not a "critical concern", but next time your in the mood to get your elbows wet I think it would be worth doing...


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## Wolffishin (Sep 9, 2009)

Great, thanks guys.

I want to remove a little more foam board from the back to reduce buoyancy anyway so I think cutting a channel between the heater and intake strainer is a good way to do accomplish that.

I've already cut about 30% of the first 1" layer of styroboard off the back. So now the BG is a little more hollow than I wanted it. I don't want dead pockets of water but I hope that beacause the BG is not siliconed there might be some movement back there.

At this point maybe I should cut channels from all the "pockets" to the intake tube. :-?

When I pull it out I'll post some more pics of the back.

Thanks again.


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## john73738 (Sep 22, 2009)

Looks great, love the use of the natural rock on the styro. I have little artistic ability, and am in the process of carving a BG out of styro (well my wife is)... Pics soon along with the rest of my project.


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## Wolffishin (Sep 9, 2009)

I just want to add a follow-up on this:

I did go back and cut out a lot of the styro from the back of the module to reduce the bouyancy and increase flow around the heater.
I also hollowed out the bottom, making a large cavity, and filled that with cement to add weight.
I then went back and Drylok'ed the entire back including the cement area. 
The combination of those two things made the BG pretty much neutral bouyancy, so now it sits in the tank nicely and I just wedge it behind the HOB return to keep it from moving.



> As for the idea of cutting a channel from the heater compartment to the filter intake compartment... I think that sounds like a great idea. You don't need a strong flow going by the heater, just something...


I did go back and cut a channel, the height of the heater, over to the intake area.
This made a huge difference in heating/temperature.
Before the change the temp went down 2-3 degrees after adding the BG, indicating insufficient flow around the heater.
After the modification the temp did not change after adding the BG, flow increased.
Sorry, I did not get any pictures of the changes as I was too excited to get the BG back in the tank.

Here is the finished product in the tank:


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

Looks good!



> I do not agree that this BackGroud will help insulate the tank...
> 
> Styrofoam does not conduct heat very well, which is what makes it a good insulator when used properly as insulation. But just being submerged int he tank is not "properly used" as an insulator.


+1 and what its going to do is insulate the area the heater is located in trapping the heat in that cavity.

Now that you go a taste of things why not take your time making a new one?

What I have done as well as others here is use a cheap sterilite container to hold the fish, decor, and substrate in till you finish sealing it in your tank and letting the sealant cure.


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## Wolffishin (Sep 9, 2009)

Thanks.



> +1 and what its going to do is insulate the area the heater is located in trapping the heat in that cavity.


As I posted, that has been corrected by cutting the channel from the heater to the intake.
Now the intake pulls water in from the left side, large screened openings there, past the entire heater and into the intake/filter. The top of the BG, where the heater is, is also open.
As demonstrated by the fact there is no temperature drop with the BG installed the system is working and my tank stays at a very constant 78Ã‚Â°-79Ã‚Â°F.



> Now that you go a taste of things why not take your time making a new one?


IMO this one is working great and looks good. 
If I ever upgrade to a larger tank I will do the standard full back BG that's siliconed in place before setup. Or maybe as you suggest, if I ever get bored with this BG, I can always temporarily house the fish while I install a full size one. I've just put in enough time for now and I like it.


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

Sorry, I should have read more 

I would at least paint the back of the glass black. That would look sick and help your work pop out more then that artificial laminated BG.


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## Wolffishin (Sep 9, 2009)

> Sorry, I should have read more
> 
> I would at least paint the back of the glass black. That would look sick and help your work pop out more then that artificial laminated BG.


No worries.

I can't get behind the tank without moving it so things will stay the same for now.
I don't mind the fake BG or the plastic plants and gravel for that matter; but I know I lose points for those too. It's just functional and to my tastes. 

I will definately go more traditional on my next tank or if I decide to redo this one.

Thanks for your comments.


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## kriskm (Dec 1, 2009)

I think what you've done looks great. I've been toying with different ideas for adding a DIY 3D background to an established tank, and it sure helps to hear about someone else trying it. I love the look the of the real rock, but it sounds like it's important not to underestimate the buoyancy of the styrofoam. Thanks for being a test pilot!


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