DIY cement background with sand fall

[Mike Thorn]

Crazy cool, ruggles. One of the nicest foam-concrete backgrounds I've seen.

I'm curious, did you brush on the cement, slather it by hand, trowel it...?

 

[ruggles531]

Thanks buddy. I had some thick rubber gloves left over from when I grouted my kitchen backsplash and used those. The first layer of cement was quite thick and I kind of threw it on in globs. haha

Subsequent layers were much runnier but I still found it easiest to put it on by hand.

 

[johnnyberotten]

Do you know if any of the materials you used changed the chemistry of the water, like the hardness?

 

[takagari]

Very well done. I like it.

 

[J. H.]

Does the water fall, also serve as a bio filter.

Thanks guys.

The sandfall is decorative only. It is not used to filter anything.

Yes, I know this is an old thread, but I want to add that even if R ruggles531 is not relying on the sandfall as a biofilter, it still is a perfectly legitimate moving bed filter

 

[ruggles531]

Do you know if any of the materials you used changed the chemistry of the water, like the hardness?

It didn't change the levels in my tank, but I did fill and drain the tank several times over the course of a month before introducing any fish to it. I wanted to make sure all the chemicals leached out of the cement. The tank has been running for close to a year now and has been quite stable.

 

[johnnyberotten]

Thanks, It looks great.

 

[Karlotious]

Did you completely paint the styrofoam or is the backing still exposed? Im curious about long term exposure of styrofoam to a saltwater environment.

 

[J. H.]

Did you completely paint the styrofoam or is the backing still exposed? Im curious about long term exposure of styrofoam to a saltwater environment.

It is a freshwater tank, so I doubt you will get a good answer.

 

[Karlotious]

Ha fair enough