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G'day

Well i'm new here so i thought i'd best show everyone what i'm all about
on this forum

I'm putting together my first larger planted tank (had a go at a 50L one
once) and so i'll post pictures of updates here as i go.

All comments and constructive crit welcome!!

anyways i got this 3ft tank for my birthday a couple of weeks ago and
decided that i was going (attempt) to make a great looking planted
tank.

So it came with it own little cabnet that needed painting or staining.
i chose to stain it because i think it looks much better than paint imo.
One thing though...... i really hate staining!!

Heres me looking very enthused by it! NOT!



Next i decided to look on the net for one of those great looking fake
rock backgrounds but was thrown back by the price of them, i did
stumble across a few articles on how to make your own and so i took
up the challenge.

Here's how it went...........

First i glued 2 half inch thick peices of polystyrine together using
aquarium silicon as the glue. Then i cut it to the size of the back of my
tank. I then got scrap PS and built out areas and started to make the
rock take shape. I was going for an outback aussie kind of rock shape
and colour but anyone can do what ever they like.
once i had built out all i could then i hacked at it with a sharp blade
and made all the peices blend in togther a bit better. (Sorry i hadn't
thought to take pics till the next stage).
Once all the cutting and hacking was done i got a heat gun and used it
to melt and round up the face of the rock, now i finally started with the
pics.....



The time came to get the texture and colour on it, so i went to the hardware store and got a bag of concrete, and some concrete colour.



Before doing anything with that, i cut the background into 3 peices to make it easier to get into the tank later on. I made the cuts with a sharp knife and just followed a couple of the grooves so that it will just look like natural cracks once it gets put back together.
I sifted the big stones out of the concrete but left the smaller ones in it cause they're good for the texture.
I mixed some up with some of the colours making a dark brown for the base coat.
I then put gloves on and smeared it all over the rock and left it to dry for 2 days and trying to keep it moist at the same time so the concrete didn't crack.



Once that was dried it was time for the second and final coat.
I mixed up a lighter brown and again smeared it on.
Then i got a 2 inch paint brush and started to dab all the colours on it, darker in the cracks and lighter on the top parts.
Then i stood it upright and squirted it with a squirty bottle (set to mist!) and wathced the colours blend as the water flowed down the rock. It gave it a natural look.
I let it dry cure for 3 days also squirting it like before.
I was going for an aussie outback colour and here's how it turned out...



I then put the background into the tank and filled it with luk warm water and a heap of salt. i read that this will help it cure.
I put the filter in it without its sponge just to circulate the water.
I left it for 2 days.



So thats as far as my pics go at the moment cause i stuffed my usb on my camera :cuss:

so i'll have to get that fixed so i can update asap!

please let me know what you think so far eh!?

Excelent job it looks good so far and a great write up which will help others. Awesome contribution dude.

That is too cool! I love the textures and colors! jay :tup:

Awesome work! It has a nice texture and looks very natural! Can't wait to see the last two pictures! :tup:

G'day

Thanks for the kind words!

Sorry bout the last two pics, imageshack stuffed them for some reason but they're fixed now.

I've done alot since then but as i said i need to fix my camera so once that happens i'll bombard ya with pics!

I'm actually off right now to buy my first lot of plants and a few neons for the cycle stage.

can't wait anylonger, have to go!! :laugh:

Ok i managed to get the pick off of my SD card so heres where i'm at....


Once the salt had soaked for a coupe of days i drained it and filled it up with some clean (tap) water and let that soak for a few days.
I just use my garden hose to drain and fill the tank.



Then once the two days had passed, i totally emptied the water out again and took the background outside and hosed it down.
I also took the tank outside and cleaned all the salt out of it.
Once done it all got put back together.

I couldn't get any good substreight where i live so for now i've gone with a brown normal aquarium gravel. (i'll change that in the future).
I washed it thoroughly and put it in the tank. ITS FINALLY HAPPENING!!

i filled it back up and left it for a couple more days to settle abit so i could do a water test.



excuse the flash....
oh yeah and put some old drift wood in to, i plan to have a bit of that

also i sat back and was please with what i saw sofar....



The first water test has shown the ph at a whopping 8.4!!
I guess there must have been alot of salt left in the background eh!!

Anyways the time came to go to the petstore (its better than our local aquarium) and get some plant, and some ph down to start the cycle process.

i put the plants in then i put in some ph down.
I left it overnight and did another water test and the ph was back down to about 7. so i've put in a little more Ph down and will test again tonight.
I also tested the hardness and its an good 80-90 without having to even treat it

anyways heres some pics of what it looks like at the moment while cycling...





Tomoz i'll add a few fish for the cycling.

hang on a sec....concrete in a fish tank? I didnt know you could do that..
Where in melbourne are you?

WOW! That is stunning! I'll have to remember that process for my next tank.

well niether did i until i wanted to buy a fake rock background.
so i looked around the net to get prices.... $100 - $300+++!!
but then i found a few how to's and they where all using sifted concrete!
i asked a few questions like doesn't the concrete or the polystyrine kill the fish and they all said no.
so mines cost me less than $60 bucks to make, and the water tests (apart from the ph from the salt wash which i reckon it didn't need!) have been fine sofar.
Time will tell on this one so stay tuned! :laugh: :drunk:

Oh yeah, i'm not in melb (anymore) i'm in shepparton.

Yes, you can use concrete in fish tanks. Its quite common in Marine Aquariums, where Live rock, and essential part of your filtration costs upwards of $15 per Kg, where 1kg per galon of water is recomended.

Nice work Sloory. It sure does beat the heck out of a plain background. It looks sweat! Photos like that make me wonder whether I should follow in your steps.

Thanks mate! jay

I just went to the shop and put in ten neons.

The filter pictured is gunna be a paint in the but for my plants and neons so i'm gunna get my first cannaster filter.

The lady recommended the otto 300g.

What do you guys think? :hmm:

Damn! some of my neons found a gap to get stuck in down the side of the tank! :cuss:

I gunna have to silicon that! :banghead:

I don't know that filter, so I can't help y', sorry.

Sorry about the neons. :( Are you cycling with the neons? I didn't think they'd be hardy enough.

LOL they're still alive so far!

Well i'm a noob so i just took the shop guys advise and he reckons they'd be fine.
what do you cycle with?

I just had a think... I believe I've cycled all my tanks with bristlenoses. :laugh: I've got a bit too many of them, but they seem to be really hard buggers, too. I've been told that I have been 'lucky' though... Guppies (more so the feeder guppies, rather than the fancy guppies) are hardy enough to cycle most of the time.

For my pond, I fishlessly cycled. I introduced an ornament that leached ammonia into the water, and then waited it out.

You might be alright with neons. It's done now, so we'll see. :D

with plecos eh?

thats something i'd not heard of doing :laugh:

i've posted in another forum bout buying some J moss off you.... i'm kinda wanting it real soon :whistle:

G'day, well i've been down to melbourne this weekend and picked up a Fluval 205 and some plants.

My tank has been planted and is still cycling.

Thanks to all that posted replys in this thread, i won't been adding anything new in this DIY thread as my background is cpmpletly finished.

Though maybe i'll post a pick of what it looks like in a month or so in my first post just for reference.

I'll continue my tanks update in a new thread in the MTP&J forum

Again thanks for the interest :drunk: