DIY 3D concrete + resin Background [lotsa pics]

[Liquidplants]

Lady's and Gentlemen,

I present to you...

~~ideas for a DIY Foam / concrete / resin 3D background~~

I'm going to test my DIY out on a 30G. I want to incorporate a tree and rock wall for the background. With some nice places for plants to attach and grow out of. While hiding as much of the mechanics of the fish tank as possible.

i found some pictures on the internet as used them as my inspiration.

and

After several sketches and back n forth with the miss's i came up with the following sketch.

Let me know what you think.
My plan is .. shape the foam and cover with colored concrete and paint and then apply fiberglass resin [without the fiberglass] to seal it up.
~LiquiD~

 

[the_deeb]

Looks good. I'm doing something similar on my paludarium build. I'm done with most of the carving but haven't decided if I want to use concrete grout or drylok for the coating. I think you'll have an easier time because your project is smaller. Here are a few suggestions:

Use either the blue (Dow) or pink (Owens Corning) extruded polystyrene rather than the usual white expanded polystyrene. It is much easier to carve and work in details. I used a straight knife, a serrated knife, a keyhole saw and a rasp for most of the carving.

I found that it worked best if I first stuck a bunch of foam together to form a thick layer and then gradually removed material to create the detailed root shapes. It's a little more wasteful with the material but I think the overall structure is a lot stronger if it is carved out of a single "block" of foam rather than sticking together individual roots at the end.

Not all fiberglass (polyester) resins are fish safe. Some of them may leach MEKP into the water. There are also some waxy additives that may not be fish safe. Personally, I think it would be safer to use a marine epoxy instead. I've also seen builds where the concrete wasn't sealed at all - as long as you use an acrylic fortifier and give it a long time to cure that should be fine.

 

[Maduro]

I was about to start a similar project then found "designsbynature.net" took me less than an hour from out of the box to inside an established tank without emptying water or using any adhesive. I'm a big fan of these guys...really helpful.

 

[studd muffin]

Would love to see how this turns out

 

[sashimimaster]

I'm interested in doing something like this as well. It's so hard to find a nice piece of driftwood and haul it home.

If you coat it with resin won't it look a little glossy and unnatural?

 

[JK47]

I was about to start a similar project then found "designsbynature.com" took me less than an hour from out of the box to inside an established tank without emptying water or using any adhesive. I'm a big fan of these guys...really helpful.

Thank you very much for that link I really appreciate it. Awesome products. It's .net not .com that other place sells rocks (real ones).

Sorry for the derail OP

 

[sashimimaster]

It's .net not .com that other place sells rocks (real ones).

No wonder I couldn't find it.

 

[Liquidplants]

Mornin,

@ the_deeb
I took your advice and used the pink rigid foam, cut and built it up. i can see this project is going to get messy, [preparing the vacuum].

Thanks for the heads up, i will be looking for MEKP on my resin [i have some already] if i cant use the resin i have already where is marine epoxy available? A boating store?

I sent an E-mail to Quickrete and asked what product would work / last the best submerged. their response was "None of the Quickrete products can be submerged in water" [no help there].

@ Maduro
Thanks for the link and thanks to JK47 for the .net clear-up.
http://www.designsbynature.net/
They look like great products, but i like being creative and creating something myself so i can say i built that!

On the flip side i betcha this DIY will cost more than one from DBN.net

@ sashimimaster
The Resin over concrete will make it look glossy YES but so does putting it in water. So the end result [resin or no resin] will look the same when submerged.

@ Everyone
Thanks for the positive reinforcement

 

[sashimimaster]

GL with your project. I really like the stuff on Designs by nature. Their pricing is not too bad. I do imagine that the cost to DIY would end up the same if not greater than buying from them.

 

[Liquidplants]

Update:

I cut up and sanded and glued more foam together and came up with this foam mold. I found kitchen knives to work very well. If i needed to cut a straight line a regular wood saw worked like a charm. This whole process made such a mess my GF thought i was insane . At least it vacuumed up easily.

Here are the pics of the progress so far.