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Finally started DIY background, but am i doing it right?

9K views 67 replies 13 participants last post by  cichlid85 
#1 ·
Hi everyone!

I have wanted to do this DIY background for so long! Finally decided to do it! So I am at the part where you paste your concrete on. I followed directions closely within diy articles in the library. So i have my 1st layer on. I misted it so it doesnt dry too fast. Couple things:

Am i doing this right? It seems to almost crumble off. I tried sandpapering it down first before concrete, as i am using white styrophome. Also the concrete has alot of rocks in it. Is that normal?
This is only my first layer and it has been drying abt 2 hrs now and i have misted w water to slow the drying.
Lastly, i am attempting to add this to an established tank. (I know to soak it first and be sure ph ismt too high)We'll see if this thing stays in or it might be too boyant. Eh, I really hope this works and im not wasting my time!

Thanks!
 
#27 ·
I totally agree and was going to go back to add some dimension to the color as it was too uniform, until i noticed it was chipping off so easily.

Rhinox, I was disapointed as well. I tried to go back and just chip it off and redo but soon realized this would take a long time and it was faster to just start over

So i started over. I have the background ready and have all my styrophome in place and its set with silicone, ready for the drylok!

Im off to lowes now and will keep u posted! I have pics too i will add tonight.[/quote]
 
#29 ·
Just got back from lowes. My lowes did NOT have Drylok, tho the lowes website showed they do. So the lowes associate was very nice and helpful. I explained what i was doing. his recommendation was to use quikrete hydraulic water stop cement. The label says "sets up under water" OK, lol. Can I use this and is it pretty much the same as the drylok? I bought it and will use it if anyone who knows gives me the all clear! Otherwise i will check ACE, which is a bit farther out for me.

What a project!
 
#30 ·
No, Quikret hydraulic water stop cement is just a high tech cement product. Drylok is a masonry waterproofing product that is applied similar to PAINT.

To answer your other question regarding concrete mix, that product comes with cement, sand & various size rocks to doing a concrete pad or similar projects.

I think it is going to be difficult to get a cement type product to stick properly to white sheet styrene styrofoam (the kind made up of smalls beads of material).
 
#31 ·
That's a bummer you had to start over. I'm sure this next background will be even better than the first one though! :thumb:

With the headaches you had with the first one, take back the Quikret hydraulic water stop cement. Best to coat the new one with Drylok. (-BTW, you're looking for Latex Base Drylok.) You might want to make a couple phone calls first to ensure the stores have it in stock.

This all might be a pain now but in the end, you'll be happy.
 
#33 ·
DanniGirl said:
That's a bummer you had to start over. I'm sure this next background will be even better than the first one though! :thumb:

With the headaches you had with the first one, take back the Quikret hydraulic water stop cement. Best to coat the new one with Drylok. (-BTW, you're looking for Latex Base Drylok.) You might want to make a couple phone calls first to ensure the stores have it in stock.

This all might be a pain now but in the end, you'll be happy.
Thanks for the encouragement! Yes, once i master this, i will most likely make a few different backgrounds. I like to change it up!
 
#34 ·
So i went back to Lowes. Funny because the drylok the one employee said they didnt have ( after he even asked another employee) turns out they do have it! :roll:

Ok, it was in the paint isle! So i got it and did my first coat. Yeah it is pretty much just like paint. I noticed that it doesnt like to cover over silicone. So be aware of that. This coat will dry for several hours. Then i will go back again, this time adding the dye, which i think will be more tricky bc were adding it to white drylok, not grey cement...
 
#35 ·
cichlid85 said:
So i went back to Lowes. Funny because the drylok the one employee said they didnt have ( after he even asked another employee) turns out they do have it! :roll:

Ok, it was in the paint isle! So i got it and did my first coat. Yeah it is pretty much just like paint. I noticed that it doesnt like to cover over silicone. So be aware of that. This coat will dry for several hours. Then i will go back again, this time adding the dye, which i think will be more tricky bc were adding it to white drylok, not grey cement...
Glad you found it!
 
#39 ·
Well, I went ahead and tested it out. Put pool filter sand on and it seems fine. I checked out a dry spot, doesnt seem to come off at all, plus the texture looks much better imo:

This is the old diy (in brown) that crumbled concrete.
Beside it is the new diy, styrofome, no drylock yet



And this is after 2 coats drylock, not dry yet and not the best pic due to its dark out.
Not to complain but this has taken alot of effort. As u see, sun up to sun down today!

 
#40 ·
You can really see the crumbling off in the first pic of the brown background.
For begginers like myself, I recommend drylok imo. Its much easier. However, as someone else mentioned on this post earlier, you are using a thin product with drylok. You kinda need am artistic hand to make it work. The drylock is thin so any improfections you wanted to cover, you have to work at a bit more vs the concrete which is thick, covers more and looks like real rock...for example, you break styrophome apart, you get those styro balls, harder to cover up vs concrete.

Now how to add this to an established tank, lol.

Do i soak it after my third layer is dry?

I guess i need some magnets, no way this will go in water, its too boyant for sure...
 
#42 ·
Hi. Yes that would be the sand, lol. I think because it was still wet and reflected more in this pic. But i want another coat to go over again and i am going to try to add some dimention with other colors to add depth.
That should work. This really looks nicer in person but i will try to get another pic in daylight after its done so u can see. I think the sand was almost nessesary in my case cause it was looking to unnatural imo.

Also, so far, if your luck is better than mine, I recommend this project! Drylok has been a breeze to use so far...
I had alot of misinformation from hardware stores, which was part of my issue. They had me running around. They dont know what products they carry so look around first before u ask them. Go to the paint isle for drylok. Im telling u! I had 3 or 4 different employees tell me they didnt carry certain things when they were there the whole time. (They told me they didnt have concrete color, or drylock, or the certain concrete type i wanted, gave me concrete mix with a TON of rocks in it when in fact they had everything i needed the whole time and just didnt know! One of them told me i would have to special order the concrete color or go to sherwin williams store.) Not only that, my dog got into the red concrete color, stained our cement and himself, and ate my paintbrush! My fault for leaving the stuff out but none the less, a huge mess and chore to clean.
Sorry to complain, but now i know at least and i hope i saved someone else the trouble.

Has anyone seen the Fluval backgrounds? I saw a fluval small setup, maybe 1.5 gal at my LFS the other day and it looked so nice! I might try something like that next time.
 
#43 ·
Also btw, i tried carving a thick piece of styrophome into shapes of rocks at first but didnt like how it came out. I then decided to just silicone pieces to make my rocks, which was much, much less work and mess! and also wanted to mention i heard that pink styrophome is much easier and less messy to use, for anyone interested.
 
#44 ·
Ok more help needed! Do i need to soak this at all? It has 3 coats on and im finished! Honestly i think im going to do yet another one down the road bc this one is not exactly what i was hoping for texture and colorwise and i ran out of drylok already.
 
#45 ·
Wanted to share the final outcome of my BG. I think it needs to sit a couple days. I rinsed it with plain water, then I wondered if i should have since its only been dry a couple hours. So i set it outside for now.

It did bleed off into the rinsing water. Dont want to mess with it too much but i think it may have been good anyway to blend it out and get off the excess, if that makes sense.

 
#47 ·
13razorbackfan said:
Looks 10X better than the concrete....I really like it. Take pics after installation in your tank.
Thanks! I agree. After seeing both, drylok looks so much better and its way faster and easier to work with.
Razorback fan, its ur turn now! I definatly give my aproval. It wasnt that much work once u have your materials.
I will post the final pictures once set in the tank, if it doesnt float!

So i assume i should wait about 1 or 2 days to dry, then rinse and put in, right?
 
#48 ·
cichlid85 said:
13razorbackfan said:
Looks 10X better than the concrete....I really like it. Take pics after installation in your tank.
Thanks! I agree. After seeing both, drylok looks so much better and its way faster and easier to work with.
Razorback fan, its ur turn now! I definatly give my aproval. It wasnt that much work once u have your materials.
I will post the final pictures once set in the tank, if it doesnt float!

So i assume i should wait about 1 or 2 days to dry, then rinse and put in, right?
Honestly have no idea how long it needs to cure before tank ready. I have to wait until I have all canisters on my tank as the lips on the HOB filters I currently have will cause issues. I plan sometime towards the end of summer. I am just doing my research from now till then like I do on everything to make sure I have a good plan in place and not throwing good money after bad.
 
#49 ·
So i got the background in today after i rinsed it very well. I found a couple spots that were in between the rocks that must have had clumps of drylock that didnt dry due to being too thick. I hosed it down and the drylock came off all the way to the styro. So at this point i am tired and i decided instead of going out to get more drylok and the extra work and drying time, i just cut holes in those places between the rock. It wasnt that big and u cant tell. I will paint the back of the tank black anyway so it will look like a cave.

Took all my fish and everything out and into a 5gal bucket. Took about 75% of the water out to put in bg.
Noticed there was not enough room for my filter. Had to cut the styro to fit it but its lookin ok.
This was also a good time for a water change so i did that too.

Fish seem ok so far, theyve been in for 2 hours now.

Im waiting for the water to settle since moving the sand in and out fogged it up, but im adding a pic of it in a few when it uploads...
 
#51 ·
Before you finish, i just made a DIY background, i read every available article on this site, and alot around the net too. Everything was going perfect, and its drying silicone to the bc now.
Just to find out that i actually did a million things wrong, and that ALL pple in here could improve alot for future makings. I spoke to the creator of the "make make" products today. He is really a pro, and does land scapes and backgrounds for public aquariums world wide. Including help directing georgia aquarium. Hes done norway, sweden and denmarks national aquariums landscapes too. He gave me many good tips that i will use for the future, but its quite late here atm, ill post alot of ideas and read ur thread fully tomorrow! if not p.m me
 
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