DIY Styrofoam Background

[Stussi613]

I've been reading allot of the posts on DIY styrofoam backgrounds after having seen Garnpets set up in progress.  I'm thinking if I decided to change my tank to have a different background I'm looking at closing the tank down for at least a week or so to make the switch out.  Can anyone think of way to do it in a faster period?

[slickshooter]

To me the only time inhibiting factor would be the cure time of what you are using to fasten the background to the tank. If you happen to have egg crate at the bottom of your tank you could fasten it to that (Tie straps?) and skip any cure time.

Some people use DIY backgrounds out of materials that leech into the water but I can't see that as an issue either because you could submerge it in a bucket and do water changes there before adding it to the tank.

What am I missing?

[garnpet]

From what I understand a week would be a very short time.  The concrete that is used on the background take a long time to cure.  And from what I've read it's up to a 4 month process to get most of the chemicals leached out of it.  If anybody has information contradicting this I would like to know about it.

[Aquaviewer]

I just made a foam and cement background as part of my 125 rebuild project.  I made the panels and did the cement work outside the tank and when complete, attached the panels to the back glass with silicon.  After it was installed I filled the tank with water and started a soaking process using a digital pH metre to track cure time. 

It took 3 weeks for the pH in the tank to stabilize from a start point of 12 to finally settling around 8.  I changed the water every day at the beginning and then every couple of days as things started to settle down.  The process was complicated by the high pH of the city water at the time (around 9 out of the tap) so I aerated the water was well.  Once stable I set up the tank with substrate and rock, let it run for another week tracking pH and doing a couple of water changes before adding any livestock.  So it took about a month before I felt safe to add fish.

It's now been over a month and fish appear to be content with no losses ( I was fairly aggressive with the water changes for the first couple of weeks).

[slickshooter]

**reply to Garnpet**

If the goal of this thread is to have the tank down for the least amount of time possible I don't see how that applies.

From my understanding concrete will raise the PH of a tank. Which could be a good thing depending on what is in the tank.
This is why some African Cichlid lovers prefer real rocks in their tanks and not plastic ones. Real rocks naturally raise the PH (depending on the rock)

That said if you don't want the PH raised use an Epoxy over the concrete.

Or don't use concrete at all....

http://www.greenstouch.com/articles_background.htm

I still see the only issue being how to attach the background to a tank filled with water.
Any material that is used as the background can be cured outside the tank therefore won't leach anything into the water

[Stussi613]

Slickshooter, you're right, I'm really just looking for a way to do a change out in the least amount of time.  I was thinking of building out what I have in mind, then curing it in rubber-made containers in the backyard...I think this would cut the time down drastically.  Once cured I would pull all my rocks, pull the fish, water and substrate into buckets, dry the tank out, secure the background (I'm thinking of building suction cups into the background to secure it to the tank without having to silicone it in) and then get the substrate, water and fish back in the same day.  I guess I could set up a temporary tank (all my fish are still pretty small) but I don't know that I would want 22 cichlids in a small temp tank for any length of time.

My idea was to build a background and bottom section out of styrofoam to replace all the varied rocks/plastic rock in my tank.  I love the look of the DIY backgrounds and my fiance is an artist so I'm pretty sure I could achieve what I have in mind.  As it stands my PH is at a constant 8 and I'm pretty sure it's only the aragonite that is keeping it at that level, but I'm also a bit concerned about not having any real rock in the tank.

I appreciate your thoughts guys, I'll spend some more time thinking about it.

[garnpet]

Curing it in rubber-made containers would work well.  Never thought of that.

I have my doubts about the suction cups working for a couple of reasons.  The first is that over time the rubber on the suction cups will break down and not hold as well.  Secondly styrofoam is really buoyant and the pressure on the suction cups (both on the glass and on the styrofoam) might be hard to over come.

Get a tub of water and a large piece of styrofoam, push down on it with your hands and see how much force is needed to keep it underwater.

[slickshooter]

Majority of DIY backgrounds I've seen use silicone as an adhesive. I also have my doubts that suction cups would be sufficient.
However depending on how much cement is used this could help weigh it down. Also try to keep the styrofoam as thin as possible to alleviate some buoyancy and take up less room/water.

I see you are going to be making a background AND bottom this is interesting to me. Will you be placing anything on top of the bottom portion? Ie real rocks
If so this could also help weigh it down.

In my previous setup I had eggcrate on the bottom of my tank and I used clear tie straps to secure the bottom of the background to it.
My eggcrate had sand and plenty of real rocks on it to weigh it down.
I carved 2  hollows in my background to fit my AC500  filter intakes.
To pin the background to the back of the tank took no effort as my 2 filter intakes held it in place.

I wouldn't worry to much about juvenile cichlids in a temp tank temporarily. Personally I wouldn't give them any light or food and keep them in a quiet room. A day of this and I see no harm....although they are cichlids  If that rubber maid container is a decent size I'd use that. I use a cooler as my emergency tank.

[Stussi613]

I have about 15 rubbermade's around the house from when I moved last year...I'm sure I can come up with something to put the foam in to cure AND to house my fish in.

yeah, I'm thinking of making a background and bottom that will have all of my rock work/caves.  I have this plastic thing that I bought at Super Pet that I love from a fish habitat perspective, but it sorta clashes with my other rocks...so I was thinking of building the background and bottom out/up to do the same thing. 

I'm now thinking of maybe using a combination of suction cups and building in some weight to the bottom to keep it down.  Like you said, if I use my filter intakes to "pin" the background to the tank all I have worry about is keeping the bottom down.  The only thing stopping me from using silicone to stick everything into the tank is the pain in the a$$ it's going to be to get it all out if I ever sell the tank, which is a possibility since I would buy a bigger tank when I buy a newer house with more space (and maybe put it in the wall like yours Peter!). 

[Aquaviewer]

I'm now thinking of maybe using a combination of suction cups and building in some weight to the bottom to keep it down.  Like you said, if I use my filter intakes to "pin" the background to the tank all I have worry about is keeping the bottom down.  The only thing stopping me from using silicone to stick everything into the tank is the pain in the a$$ it's going to be to get it all out if I ever sell the tank, which is a possibility since I would buy a bigger tank when I buy a newer house with more space (and maybe put it in the wall like yours Peter!). 

One idea I toyed with and may work on a smaller installation was to get nylon bolts (specialty hardware section of Home Depot or Valley Hardware) and silicone them in the corners.  Using corresponding holes in the background through which the bolts would go it could be secured in place with nylon nuts and washers.  The holes could be camouflaged within the texture of the background.  This would minimize the amount of silicon you would have to remove later and be better than suction cups which will eventually fail under the constant pull of the foam.

Other things to consider when building your background out of the tank:  Account for any cross bracing if it is part of your top trim as you will have to somehow get your background around this.  I made mine is four sections of different shapes that I then assembled in the tank (this was the other reason that I ended up using silicon right on the glass). If you think it will be easy to remove the top trim without completely destroying it, think again.   

Also, when test fitting the panels or at final installation be careful as cement can really scratch up the glass.

[slickshooter]

I'm curious how things turned out? Well i hope.

[Stussi613]

I'm curious how things turned out? Well i hope.

I've been out of town during the week for the last three weeks and my sister got married so I haven't even started this yet...but I'll keep you up to date on my progress.

[gauthier613]

Do you think you could soak it in Vinegar? Since that brings PH down?  Curious because I'm a weekend away from doing this as well.

[lvrt43]

It's really not that hard to make a background.
1" - 2" styrofoam ,
Cement Mix, 3 coats (2nd Coat a bit thicker)
Cement Dye or Krylon Fusion paint spray,
Sharp Cutting knife,
Clear rubber gloves,
Lighter and Candle,
Most important --- EPOXY RESIN and Hardner --- $100 cdn. Do Not Buy the Polyester Resin unless you want dead fish.
Allow 1 week to sit. Add to water --- drain --- add more water and sit again for 1 week. Then use filter from hereon in. It's nor an overnight process. Curing takes time even with the Resin. Ad plants if you like after 2 weeks, then your fish.
You can always buy a rubber background instantly but then that isn't home made --is it?



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[Hookup]

LVRT43... wow.. nice looking background....  I assume it's DIY following the method from your post (thx btw)...

Are the "rocky bumps" in your background cement or are they actually rocks you "stuck" onto the background?  It looks really sharp... I've always been a fan of the chiclid(sp) rock wall style tanks even though Im a die and true saltwater junkie.

[lvrt43]

Yes Hookup --- you can call me Ian. It is custom done after about 2 months of research.
I bought the 6 Auratus this morning from dumbbear1 who signed up 2 days ago and placed an ad on this site. They are having a blast so far in their new surroundings finding all the caves and hiding places that I designed for them.
The rocks on the background are styrofoam with 3 coats of cement, glued to the wall with aquarium safe silicon. GE Silicone 1 (clear) (Blue Tube) is also safe for inside aquariums. The epoxy resin gives it a permanent shine which disappears when the florescent light is on. Epoxy resin can be bought at Lee Valley. Mine was purchased at Pirate Cove Marina here in Kemptville for $100.00. Not Cheap. There is a chemical in the polyester resin that can leak throughout the tank --- not recommended. The epoxy coats the background and prevents leakage from the cement and also stops the cichlids from chomping on the background. The added plus is that with the Epoxy, your background is guaranteed to give years of pleasure. Without the Epoxy, which I have seen videos on DIY backgrounds with only the cement, eventually the chemicals will leak into the tank by not having this protection. I have no idea why some people do this ---- maybe to save money. The only paint that is truly safe is Krylon Fusion spray paint (many colours) available at Walmart.
My next tank is in the plans now ---- also a 40 gallon Breeder to accommodate Pseudotropheus Saulosi (hope the spelling is right). It'll be a different setup entirely.
The Auratus tank is currently sitting at #250 out of 3,109 Freshwater tanks worldwide at www.ratemyfishtank.com
It was at #42 but a few low marks knocked me down. Maybe the next one will be better.  

[Hookup]

the ratemytank link does not work from my office.. :<  if you're 250th, i'm curious to see top 10...

looks like a load of work went into that rock wall... next time you do it, if you felt like doing a photo-writeup on the process i'm sure a tone of people would be greatful.

[lvrt43]

You have to remember that the freshwater tanks are not only voted on for Background work. Very few have their own DIY background. There are some that have store bought backgrounds and even one fellow that has his own company in Sweden that sells rubber backgrounds that look awesome and authentic. He's called Aquaria ....something or other. He's up in the top 10 for now but one low mark can knock you out of the top 100 quite quickly. It's fun to have your tank voted on. Give it a try. I have given 0 points to people who have 1 goldfish in a bowl or a heater sitting there by itself in an empty aquarium.
One guy tried trashing another for his bland looking setup and received a barrage of complaints from tons of members. You could imagine how this poor fellow felt and actually his tank wasn't that bad looking. I gave him a 10 out of 10 and a comment to support him. Rude insulting comments are frowned upon when someone is proud enough to show his best efforts.