making backgrounds

Has anyone made there own background if so lets here about it .Theres a few on youtube but i was thinking making one from light weight breeze blocks ive looked into it and they are cheap to buy and easy to shape they are cooked at a very high temp so there shouldnt be too many harmful chemicals after its made it will need steeping for a while just to make sure doing water changes to check the PH then it should be safe to use

a piece of perspex cut the same size
of the back of the tank the you can silicone
sticks slate stones or anything you want to it
and fit it in to the back of the tank house bricks
the type with the holes in turned on the side make
a good back drop and is good for malawi's and b/n cat fish
but they need a good scrubbing bamboo looks good cut to
the size of the back of the tank and fitted all the way along the back
small slate siliconed together and stack across the back looks well

i was thinking a full rock face out of these blocks as they easy stack up and dead easy to cut fishers into them they are 4" thick so you can go pritty deep into them and carve out caves and overhangs by laying a block on its side between 2 others

mick the fish wrote:i was thinking a full rock face out of these blocks as they easy stack up and dead easy to cut fishers into them they are 4" thick so you can go pritty deep into them and carve out caves and overhangs by laying a block on its side between 2 others

that would work well mick you could use a grinder with
a flap wheel to get some real shape in to them mind you they
will need soaking for a bit afterwards an electric needle metal descaling
tool would also do a good job of shaping them you can hire them
from tool hire places

they are that easy to cut you can use a wood saw to cut them and a hammer and chisel works realy well

some good ideas, but I cant for the life of me see why you want to put them in your tank. First off you admit you don't know what it will do to your PH etc,. and, how much water are you going to loose?
It is the same with these 3D backgrounds. They take up more space, which your fish can swim in
There is a guy in Newcastle who advertises on Aquarist Classifieds. He makes back drops that go behind your tanks.

they are just ideas i come up with they dont always come to fruistion i get ideas like this all the time just something different but it could look good as for the ph you test it in fresh water at first then every couple of days you test it again basically step it till its stable after a few water changes to wash any undesirable things out it should be good for the tank

Hi Mick,
good ideas, I agree, but why give yourself extra work in doing more water changes than you do allready. If you put the backdrop behind the tank you don't have to disturb the fish you have in the tank.
I do not do any water checks on my tanks, I just do a 15% water change in my tanks every 2 or 3 days.
If I get some new rock, slate, gravel etc., Then it is steeped in boiling water and Methelyne blue for a couple of hours, rinsed, then set up in the tank.

i dont this is just to keep me saine the stepping bit would be done in a barrel in the back yard i set my tanks up and leave them well do water changes but thats it and they breed like wild fire i design alsorts just to keep me busy anything from tattoos for people to gunstocks for air rifles to extentions to renavations in my house in france around my lakes i like working out things that people say carnt be done
havea look at my hobbies ive got loads

THESE CONCRETE BLOCKS YOU ARE ON ABOUT MICK SHOULD BE OK. I HAVE SEEN SOME ADVERTISED SOMEWHERE THET HAVE BEEN SHAPED IN TO CAVES AND ORNAMENTAL SHAPES FOR IN YOUR TANK IT WAS EITHER ON AC OR EBAY THAT I SAW THEM

THESE CONCRETE BLOCKS YOU ARE ON ABOUT MICK SHOULD BE OK. I HAVE SEEN SOME ADVERTISED SOMEWHERE THET HAVE BEEN SHAPED IN TO CAVES AND ORNAMENTAL SHAPES FOR IN YOUR TANK IT WAS EITHER ON AC OR EBAY THAT I SAW THEM

back to the old backdrop debate again i was thinking
of some sort of natural wood sort of background
and also mid ground as any one got any good ideas
the cheaper the better

tree stump has to be hard wood

i was thinking of one cut in half
so it can go flat against the back
not to take up much space

I think I remember seeing someone use expanding foam and then carving this into rock shapes etc once set. Seemed a good idea but dont know what chemicals there would be. Probably safe once fully dry though I guess.

i have seen stuff called spray decor

Think I would give it a go but just don't have the skill involved when it comes to carving it. Wouldn't be a problem for Mick though.

that spray decor you shape it as it come out
of the can but its yellow in colour how do you colour
it i suppose you could spray it with sand as you build
it up

Yeah there was a technique for painting it I think they actually used a concrete to paint it. Obviously it was the right colour and it provided a textured Finish for the bacteria to cling to.

you can paint it but you need to use safe paint that wont harm fish

The guy i got my rtc of had a tank size 6 foot by 4 foot and him and his missus made a 3d background from polistyrine sheets. And ive got to say it looked really good it was only about 2 inch in depth but the detailing that was in to create the caves rocks and ledges was amazing.

now he had this the full 6 foot and on 1 end he had what i can only describe as a cliff with a few caves dug out of it. all in all creating a very good look.

so are you going to have a go glen

all in all it cost the guy im talking about £50 and from looking at it id have paid alot more for it:).


I might do 1 for my 4 footer see what i get.

I seen a guy making back grounds out of !00mm poly sheet moulded and shaped it with hot tools and a blow torch then painted it, looked good sure the video was on you tube.

Go for it fish dude keep us updated