Gemini Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 Does anyone know what brand names or products I can buy that would do the job of Concrete pigment in black and brown and Quickcrete Quickwall? I want to make a DIY background following these steps: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/d ... ground.php but I want to know what is safe to cover the stryo with. Any help would be awesome!!!! Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dno. Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 Hi, iam just about to get mine up n running in a few weeks, i used just normal styro that came with packaging, i used Aussie cement render, the 20kg bag stuff, worked out a mix of that with water n some "Bondall" Hydrocrete, n just pasted it on to a thickness of about 1/2 inch to an inch in some places, n added colour with aussie cement colours in the 300g jars. just mix them up in a runny mix of render n hydrocrete n water n paint it on. heres some pics n a link to my background on cichlid forum. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... highlight= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemini Posted June 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 Does that seal it? Or do I need to worry about the cement leaching and upping my PH? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dno. Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 It seals it i sure it does because ive had a few rocks that i made in my fry grow out tank n it didnt raise the ph or effect the water quality at all, had no fish die from it or get sick from it, plus i had let this concrete dry for a few weeks b4 i put them in. n i will be running the 8 for about 2 weeks without any fish but using my current cansiters on it so its already cylcled but will still give it 2 weeks b4 i put any fish in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floppingflamingos Posted June 19, 2009 Report Share Posted June 19, 2009 cement will eventually stop leaching into the water if you give it a few good soaks and washes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dno. Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 I will be installing mine possibly next weekend or the weekend after, i will silicone the background on n brace till its dry then go in with some silicon n sand to fill in any gaps, wait for that to dry. Then going in with my cement colours n colour it, will look much more natural this way then trying to do each rock individually. wait for all that to dry, fill with water n run my 2 new canisters off it with fresh carbon for a few days, waterchange Add my sand, rock n plants from my 6 footer, refill remove carbon n add filter media from my 6ft canister (which will be running in the bath with water from the 6ft n some sand n rocks) Prob gonna run all 3 canisters at 1500Lt/hr that should be enough. Seed the 2 new ones with media from the filter 1, and add most of the water from the bath back into tank let run for week n check water parameters, water change. run for one more week to make sure. then add my fish n done. so the tank will be all sand substrate (play sand mixed with river sand, and a few gravle patches for the Vals n other plants to take root n spread) Live vals, and i'll find some thing else to go along with those, maybe some swords dont know yet.. a bunch of fresh water muscles. a pile of shells in one corner for a group of shellies (dont know which ones yet pro some Gold occies) my 8 Xenos, my Golden head comp. and iam after a small school of Cyprichromics leptosama "neon back" to fill in the top half of the tank. Fingers crossed everything goes to plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemini Posted June 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Thank you for the help! I was at Bunnings on Saturday trying to figure out what to get and prices. Dno. - what's the Boondall Hydrocrete? Is Boondall the brand? I found the 300g cement colours - only $9 each so that's good. I found cement australia products but couldnt' remember which one to get. Cement render - is that on the package? I'd love to hear how you go putting it in the tank too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dno. Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Hi gemini, yer Boondall is the brand, it in the cement section with all the cement sealers n water sealers. It come in a few sizes i use the 1ltr buket, its a white bucket with a red lid n will have hyrocrete in blue, with 'cement fortifier and waterproofing additive" under that. I think ive used about 2 1/2 ltrs so far. I use the cement aus "render it" 20kg bags,it has a tan brown/orange colour behind the "render it". ive use about 25kg-30kg of render on this background. but my background is 2 feet tall n 8 foot long lol. As for installing it all there will be plenty of pics. so i'll post tehm when its all done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemini Posted June 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Excellent thank you so much Dno!!! I will probably have a few more questions after my next trip to Bunnings!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mani Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 WOW dno your background looks great! the workmanship is top notch. if you have a missus she must be a saint for not kicking you out, lol must have been styro everywhere cant wait to see the end result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dno. Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 WOW dno your background looks great! the workmanship is top notch.if you have a missus she must be a saint for not kicking you out, lol must have been styro everywhere cant wait to see the end result. Thanks, i took alot of time doing it. yes my missus is a saint, i took over half our double garage, she couldnt bring her car in cause of my background n tank. and she has put up with fish tanks being setup all over the place, study, living room, kitchen, bathroom etc.... lol, but now its just going to be this 8ft a 2ft for fry n grow out n a small 20ltr in the study on my desk for fry. I cant wait to get it in n done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dno. Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 2day is the day, The tank is now in the house n background is glued into place. took 4 of us to carry the tank in from the garage. 2morrow i'll go around the background touching up gaps with some silicone n sand, then satday go in n colour the background. sunday should see some water going in maybe monday. Now as for my fish that i have, my school of Xenos are in a 80ltr tank with 3 small alibino bristlenose. n the bath is full of water from the tank n has my canisters running in it, with all my rocks n drift wood. my Golden head barry n 5 bristle nose are in there. satday i pick up 2 more golden heads, and the following sat day pick up a colony of cyprichromics leptosoma. by then hope to have the tank running, if not i will fill the 6ft up n put them in there till the 8ft is ready. heres some pics, a few with the moon light on. will get better ones once i remove the brackets n colour it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick1 Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 Dno great bloody job you done there you should be really proud of yourself looks better than the one you get in the shop now it looks like i have to employ you to do a 6 foot background Great job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dno. Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 Dno great bloody job you done there you should be really proud of yourself looks better than the one you get in the shop now it looks like i have to employ you to do a 6 foot background Great job thanks mick, have been working on and off the background since the 15th of june last year, it was originally going to be for my 6ft tank, but then i got my tax back n spent it all on the 8ft tank. n i ve been working on the tank,stand & hood since the 17th of august last year. so iam pretty proud of it now, finally seeing my vision come true. i dont think u could pay me enough to do a 6ft background lol. i dont think i'll ever do another one again lol...........ok maybe on my 2ft tank but thats it lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dno. Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 DONE!!!!! after only having thtank in the house for 2days i have glued the background in n coloured it. it is finally done. WOOOOO. Heres some pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayton31 Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 mate that looks awsome... ill have to try make one now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dno. Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 mate that looks awsome... ill have to try make one now Thanks, 2morrow i'll type up a how to as a new thread with pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayton31 Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 just wondering did u make a mould and could fibre glass be an option Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mad-n-angry Posted July 4, 2009 Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 clayton fibre glass is toxic to fish unless u uses some fancy setting agents it leeches toxins into the water not usually enuff to kill them quickly more slowly poison them to death over time now before eveyone jumps up and down and says that the background they have is ......... i was told this by steve bains he does backgrounds for a living and has set up many shops and aquarium displays and from memory a few uni and i think he may have had something to do with under water world im not 100% on that tho im getting old and forgett shit as fast as im told it now days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dno. Posted July 4, 2009 Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 yer i was told that fiber glass isnt safe, as it leaches toxins into the water slowly poisoning ur fish. thats y i went with concrete, as it seals itself n stops leaching in a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayton31 Posted July 5, 2009 Report Share Posted July 5, 2009 oki im just a bit confused now couse off u saying that bout fibre glass ..i cant argue the point with ya couse i wouldnt have a clue . only been into fish for bout 5 years so still realy im a Learner ....so wat are the back grounds made of then couse it dose look like fibre glass...maybe should start a new topic ...and we can all learn somthing new Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayton31 Posted July 5, 2009 Report Share Posted July 5, 2009 actally a few years back i had one those back grounds in my tank and ova a few months a few of my fishys did die it had me frustrated ..so maybe it was the fibre glass... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mad-n-angry Posted July 5, 2009 Report Share Posted July 5, 2009 i have a fibreglass background in my show tank its apparently treated with some fancy chemical that sorts that problem out but then the fish r only in that tank for a week during the Caboolture show and the 3 fish that were in it all survived well 1 didn't only coz i killed it when i got home made a really silly mistake of no rocks in the tank to have territories and 2 males of the same species scrapped for 6 hrs and 1 was so badly beaten it had net to no fins and heaps of scale damage and after i put him back in the display tank the other fish beat it some more so i ended his suffering Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentaz Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Awsome B/G. Heres a link to some pic's of my 4x2x2ft one, lots of pics of the build. http://forums.angfa.org.au/viewtopic.php?t=584 hope it helps Bentaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bray_Dog Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Hey Dno, I've just started one for my 6x2x2. I've got everything but the 'Hydrocrete'. The guy at bunnings gave me 'Bondcrete, universal bonding and sealing agent' (still bondall product), reckons it's the same sort of thing. I read the whole label when i got home and it doesn't say anything about 'waterproofing' exactly. Do you reckon it'll be ok? (It's like a white paste, like PVA glue but thinner) and you mix it in with your render mix still so i dunno. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
