dee_jay_01 Posted June 13, 2005 Report Share Posted June 13, 2005 Hey all, I was wondering if anyone new how to make a background for my 4ft tank, I am trying to recreate the natural river/stream look. What would be a better material, Concreate, Polystyrene, Latex? etc. And would the chemicals used in such things harm the fish? and also how would it be painted? The price of commercial ones is so high, although they are excellent depictions of natural things, its to much money to spend on a low budget. So any help would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted June 13, 2005 Report Share Posted June 13, 2005 Do a search on the net, there are lots of ways of doing it. I don't know the exact details on how they are done which is why you will need to look them up, but have seen people use expanding foam (you can buy it in can from hardware store) which is cut to shape then seal/paint. You can make your own 'rock' back ground, you make up a mold which is bacisally a hole in the ground the right size, then make a mixture which is like concrete but uses pumice, I think its call tufta(?). The other cool idea I read about was to hang black plastic sacking about an inch from the back of the tank, on the sacking attach plants like Java fern, anything that will grow with is root out of the substrate, after a while you will end up with a lush wall of plants. And the reason for it being out from the back... so you can put your heaters and filters tubes etc out of sight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 You could also try rocks - nothing more natural for a rockery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 But make sure they are well siliconed together or they might topple and break a fish! lol Cheers Jude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heather Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 I did a small rock wall in my tank. Got some cork tiles (the sort without adhesive already on them). Stuck some river pebbles to it using silicon. Created a split level effect. http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/taupogirl/cork2.jpg http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/taupogirl/cork1.jpg I glued a small strip on the back of two to make one long one and then arranged it to the angle i needed (I didnt want the wall going straight up and down but sloping back a little). To do this i put the tile in a banana box! and used some masking tape to make in stay in place and then glued the stones on. Once it had dried,doesnt take long, i trimmed of the excess cork. Its now in the tank and you cant see the cork just a rock wall. And with it sloping back its not going to fall over. But if i did it for the back wall obviously i would not make it to slope and i would stick the cork to the glass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bandit Posted July 26, 2005 Report Share Posted July 26, 2005 Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 8:06 pm Post subject: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- But make sure they are well siliconed together or they might topple and break a fish! lol Cheers Jude hmm yeah good idea if you never ever want to catch your fishes again in my tank i just placed the and tried to knock them down if they stayed i went to the next layer that way i can remove the rockery if i need to shift the tank etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanksman Posted July 26, 2005 Report Share Posted July 26, 2005 Well this site looks like a lot of hard work using fibreglass but it probably would look great if done properly and it's light to. http://www.tropheus.info/riftlakes/cichlids/plastbak_e.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted July 27, 2005 Report Share Posted July 27, 2005 Check this thread out http://p069.ezboard.com/fthetropicaltan ... 1688.topic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocform Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Try this forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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