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Diy background questions?

823 views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  fishkeeper01 
#1 ·
So I'm looking to make a 3d background for my cichlid show tank. I would just like to know, how much room to leave for the intake siphon for the filters and what to use to attach the background to the tank.

P.S. do I leave the side against the back of the tank just plain Styrofoam?
 
#2 ·
It might be worth building the background on to a sheet of plastic or something, that way you can remove it and reuse it if you change your mind, something happens to the tank, etc.

If it's not actually glued to the back of the tank, I'd coat the stryofoam with something, even just one thin layer. eventually, it will break down and you'll end up with little beads or bits of plastic fluff in your tank.

As to the filter siphons- are you using a HOB powerfilter? easiest would probably be to just hang one on the tank and measure how much room it needs. If you are feeling ambitious, you could even work it into the background design, and have the uptake tube concealed, so that the filter uptake drops into a larger tube embedded in the background, and that tube connects to a mesh/sponge covered uptake hidden in a pocket of the background.
 
#3 ·
Im sorry to bother but is there any good places I can go to to see how to make one? I've watched videos on YouTube but there unclear. Do you just shape out the "rocks" how you want them to look and then attach those to what ever board you're gonna use cover adj that in concrete and then you either glue that board to the tank or something?
 
#4 ·
when I build them, I usually figure out a design plan, cut the styrofoam to fit, stack it up in the tank to my liking. pull it out and smooth it out, clean out the tank completely, dry it, and as I replace the styrofoam into the tank hot glue or use tank sealer, to hold them into place.
you can cover them with concrete right in the tank, as you do this fill in the cracks between the styrofoam and glass, which will help prevent the issues listed above.

there's a good diy site with step by step instructions. pm me if you need more help.
 
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