# 80 gallon tank + DIY bacground - (heavy pictures)



## Cerdik

Hello,
coming from another thread (Aquarium Photography & Video). I was asked multiple times to post how i made my backround. So here is complete photo gallery of my "work through"

Step 1: Buy thermocol and let your hands/knife do the job 





































Step 2: Use synthetic resin "Epoxy 1200" with river sand (sand must be perfectly dry! and small-grained)
Just paint thermocol with resin, than throw sand on it (before resin drys its very very sticky). Wait 24h before next resin/sand layer (synthetic resin needs at least 6hours to become hard like stone) . Im using 3 "coatings" of this. 
No need of colour painting, algae will do the job.














































Glued to the ground and back of the tank with aquarium silicone.










Chamber behind backround to hide pipes, heater...



















And finaly rock layout. Changed it couple times.














































I changed my mind with colour of sand (used more natural looking river instead of white one )










Lights adjusted









With Malawi fish, two month later.





































And actual state after 6month (more fish and flowers added)























































Live view


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## fusion

Very nice :thumb:


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## clhinds78

Awesome looking tank!

Is that solousi and demasoni in there?


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## Cerdik

Its Demasoni and Labidochormis yellow


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## clhinds78

Cerdik said:


> Its Demasoni and Labidochormis yellow


OH, ok. Looks like a good mix either way!


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## craig7

Thanks for sharing your wonderful tank and workmanship......best *** seen.


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## skins4431

what kind of resin are you talking about? nice background


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## Cerdik

Here in czech republic, we are using "Epoxy 1200" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoxy


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## frontastik

Very nice work and looks great!

But how can your in/out filtration do its proper job?

Have you made holes in the background?

What about tank flow/circulation ? opcorn:


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## Cerdik

works like this :










The green sponge works as a pre-filter. (cleaning it once per month)


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## Deeda

Excellent job on the background and the photos detail the steps very well.

I'm glad you changed from white to natural sand, that detail improves the look quite nicely. The rocks also blend well with the background and I love the algae growth you are getting.

Thanks for sharing the photos.


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## craig7

Your blue cichs look the same as mine (can you confirm what they are) but i think im going to have put some real work in to get my tank like yours.


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## frontastik

Cerdik said:


> works like this :
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> The green sponge works as a pre-filter. (cleaning it once per month)


Ok cool so from very nice work to excellent work now that i can see it works :lol:


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## Dieselfool

Awesome job.


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## namvet4

Great Job and many thanks for the pics! Lots of good ideas to incorporate in our tank when we get it ready for setup. Your DIY skills are excellent :thumb:  and your pics lay out the step by step very well.


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## Floridagirl

Great job, a one of a kind tank!


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## stayfrosty

How long did you let it cure


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## Cerdik

stayfrosty said:


> How long did you let it cure


24 hours should be enough, 48Hours just to be sure :wink:

Found found some newborns today :thumb:


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## Cerdik

Lights slightly adjusted. Reflector added


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## Iggy Newcastle

That's an incredible background. Where did you get your hands on Thermocol?


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## marius432

beautiful :dancing:


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## Deeda

Thermocol is just a trade name for polystyrene and is available in Europe. It's similar to the foam we use for carving backgrounds.


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## b Lurkn

Are those plants real? They look amazing. What kind are they? If not where did you get them


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## ratbones86

how many yellow labs and demanosi do you have in that tank??? i would like to do that mix in my 55 gallon


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## janwmalawi

hy cerdik

i am comming from the netherlands 
i have here malawi,s mbuna rock aquarium 400 liters

i have een second thank 160 liter and wil try make a copy of your thank wit these very nice background 
i like your thank my complements


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## royrusso

I'm also interested in knowing what the plants are in that tank. The leaves look like a java fern type, but they're awfully tall for be fern... ?


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## Cerdik

Hi,
plants are real  and its "Cryptocoryne aponogetifolia" (easy to get here in czech republic). I'll post some new photos tomorow..


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## janwmalawi

janwmalawi said:


> hy cerdik
> 
> i am comming from the netherlands
> i have here malawi,s mbuna rock aquarium 400 liters
> 
> i have een second thank 160 liter and wil try make a copy of your thank wit these very nice background
> i like your thank my complements


[urlhttp://www.malawifreaks.nl/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=21214&start=15][/url]


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## PaNiK

Oh wow! That came out very nice. Good job


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## Cerdik

I changed rocks layout today. And current state looks like this.....


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## janwmalawi

hi cerdik

your demasoni and yellows ar verry nice
and your layout also nice


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## jstrick87

I wanted to stop by this thread and say thank you so much for posting your build! I loved how it turned out and your steps were so well laid out that I used your project as my guide for my own background. It was your design that inspired my own! I plan to create a step by step thread for it as well so hopefully my experience can help someone else just like yours did me. Awesome job! :thumb:


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## Handyjoe

Nicely done, Cerdik! An awesome job you did with your guide. I thought those were Pseudotropheous Elongatus and yellow lab at first. They are demasoni huh? Thank you for sharing.
Joe.


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