[Ryan Mosby]

In my tank I have 2" of the back cordoned off from the rest of the tank in a temporary yet messy arrangement. I'm using aquasoil, have it pretty well planted, and plan to add livestock once the tank insta-cycles. First I need a better divider to separate the back from the front, to keep substrate, fish, snails, and shrimp out, for a few weeks to a month until the 3d background comes in. From personal experience, it's easiest if I put the background in first but the plants came early and the background is going to take 3-4 weeks, so I had to move forward.

Is there any kind of cheap and stiff material I can pick up from a place like Home Depot? Something big enough that I can cut down to a little less than 30"x12", that won't get waterlogged and damaged, or leak chemicals into the water. I considered the kind of fish divider done with two binder clips and a mesh net, but I don't think it will be sturdy or stiff enough to also keep the substrate back.

 

[minorhero]

A big piece of filter foam. You can buy it online. BUT its probably easier to just live with your tank as is and then redo it when your background gets in.

 

[ytro]

I have made dividers for systems using eggcrate, zip ties and plastic canvas mesh. You could get a large sheet of eggcrate and zip tie the plastic canvas mesh sheets to it. Non-toxic materials and will allow good flow. If you don't know what I mean by plastic canvas mesh, just Google it and some images should pop up. I don't know how well it will keep the substrate out, but it does work for fish, snails and shrimp.

 

[JJ09]

I used plastic canvas mesh as a divider. Can get it at a fabric store. It comes in white or black (though I would have preferred clear).