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concrete background photos

31K views 32 replies 18 participants last post by  JWerner2 
#1 ·
OK I am in the midst of a concrete background on one of my 150 gal tanks. I am on my 3rd coat of concrete on pink Styrofoam I have waited about 24 hours between coats. How long should I let the cement dry before I add water to the tank?

Don't worry photos will be coming soon.
 
#2 ·
A few hours between coats would have been enough time. 24 hours can be a good choice since your free time each day may fall then. Some types of concretes cure underwater, but for others, a few days is better. Keep the concrete moist while it cures, with a mister or a plastic wrap.
 
#3 ·
ok here is some photos

this is 2 of the 3 150gal that my background will go in

took a little different approach to the back grounds by cutting the foam into individual "bolders"

carved the edges

I had started the background and did only 4 feet last week to make sure it would fit ok so i had to come back and do the sides and the other 2 feet.
just a note if you do it this way you will only need about 5' 6" inches of foam for a 6' background the inside on the tank is about 5'11" and you will use about 5" beteen the "bolders" in space this is why I did it in two parts.

used a mop like paint brush for the first coat

I found a empty one gal milk container worked best for me to mix the cement just cut away the front

now just let it dry overnight

I was going to lay some moon sand in the cement but it didnt look good so i am going to coat over it and just let the algae grow.

it's good to mark top and sides to help with the jigsaw puzzle when down ... mark the back not the front as I show in the photo the front gets covered with cement .....yeah was late and I was not thinking



 
#5 ·
LongIslandCichlid said:
I was thinking of putting a coat of fiberglass resin over the background to help keep the pH down since this is going to be an Amazon cichlid tank. Would this work or is this just a bad idea?
If you miss a spot, the alkalinity will seep out. It's not a bad idea, just very hard to cover 100%. Making your final coat a vinyl concrete like Thorocrete would be easier since you have a final coat anyway. Once the Thorocrete cures for five days, the excess alkalye should be minimal.
 
#8 ·
LongIslandCichlid said:
I was thinking of cutting a strip out of PVC for my return and cementing it to the rock next to it so it would like like a crack in the rock
A neat idea, but I question cementing it into place. I think all plumbing. especially returns, which can be so easily clogged with debris, snails. whatever, should be removable for cleaning and maint. It should be possible to wedge such a pipe in place rather than permanently cementing it.
Just my two cents.
 
#17 ·
Yes, but I will have a few air stones and this tank in going to have the mag drive 2400 pump so the circulate should be good enough this system will also have a automatic water changer that will do about 15 to 20% a week. This tank will have it’s own filter system the other two tanks will share the filter.
 
#22 ·
my first update:
I found a great substrate for my DIY concrete background, tube of sand by quikrete. It is really crushed slate and rock but it has great color red, blue. greys and white. It MUST be rinsed well. Out of the bag it is very dusty


my last dime

Could not match it better if I tried
 
#24 ·
Can we just make the assumption that if I am posting it's because I want more pics? :)

I'd love to see a full shot with gravel and such.

What amazes me about these backgrounds is that it is virtually impossible to tell the size of the tanks from the photos. They look so "complete" if you will. That is a 150g tank and it doesn't look like it to me, I'm sure in person it does, that's a heck of a tank, and you have two??? *green with envy*

What are your plans for the other 150? I mean, besides making me a beautiful background and giving the whole thing to me? :) I'm not greedy, I'll take the tank you just finished. :)

Fantastic job. I love the details, proportions, hiding properties, and you are right with the gravel, you could not have matched it any better if you tried.
 
#26 ·


Sorry Auntbeast not a chance I would part with them also not to make you any greener but I have three 150 gal tanks.

and a few 25gals


brilliant job man. i love the look of it all. that crushed slate mix u have is gonna increase the Ph though.
yes. and that is a problem this tank was going to be a planted south American tank and the Ph is too high. @7.9. so now i to move it over to the right and use the tank for Fronts and move the other tank to the middle. and use that one for the South Americans my thought now is if the tank is heavily planted i wont need a background for it i am going to just paint the back black.

 
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