New 4Ft with DIY 3D Background

Hi all, started yesterday with my 3D Background, havent found the RIGHT 4Ft Tank yet but wanted to try my hand at building my own Background
using Poly sheets and Marine silicone.
have read some others DIY post and the Dramatic aquascapes site and want to take my time and do this rite.
going to try and do a sort of a Mountain in the middle ( need opinions here, middle as one focal point or to one of the sides? ) and have some pockets for Aquasoil so it dosent turn too expensive.
will try n post pics as i go along but it will be with my BB since my Camera went walkabout in Nam in Easter

any and all help and crits will b appreciated guys

1st question, do i just brush the cement mixture on? will it stick to the Poly

thanx

 

Firstly, good luck with the project! It takes a bit of practice, but the cement does stay on. You brush the cement straight on. You don't need anything between. Ideally you will need a few layers of cement. If you can, watch a few of the YouTube videos on the subject. I found that helped more than plain static images.

Will you be using the poly as a base for the whole tank? In that case I would use a thinner sheet for the base, otherwise your substrate layer will be quite high (unless you were planning that of course!).

I also plan on using a poly base when doing my new tank.

Where did you get your poly?

 

thanx Desert, not 4 the whole Tank but for the back half, thinking it will be easier to glue rocks on to base and base on to Tank ( me thinks )
then cut pockets on base for the Aquasoil and still thinking of what to do for the front half ( gonna see how far a Bag of AquaSoil gets me )

Builders, R 47.00 for 1.2x600

How thick must i apply the cement? 4 or 5 mm u think ?

 

I can't remember how thick I made mine. I just added a few layers, one at a time. 5mm will probably be the thickest, but with DIY there are no hard and fast rules. I would suggest you just follow the basics & then take it as it comes. You will only see how everything looks once you've added 2 or 3 layers of cement.

 

thanx Desert.


3 main pieces glued this morning
added a coupla caves and glued them ( but not to the main base, wanna keep my options open )
off to Builders to cement after lunch ...

 

Just a warning about the caves...they're pretty tough to do. I thought a nice deep cave would be awesome, till I had to cement it, but it did work out in the end. Just make sure you have enough space to get your brush in.

I look forward to the end result!

 

u got pics of urs Desert? would LUV to see

 

Didn't take too many pics during development, but for what it's worth:

My first tank - 100L

 

Aqualsoil Shelf and cave Detail ...

 

has anyone used this before? to cement a background?

 

Nope...but I would suggest testing it on a small bit of poly first. I tried some penetrating sealer without realising it was solvent based. It penetrated the cement well, but then proceded to eat holes into my poly :/

 

lol, ya, thats what im doing as we speak. and yes i read ur whole thread just now. thanx Desert

 

following this thread, good luck

 

OK, done 4 today, tested that TITE stuff on, now lets dry for 24hrs n see ...

 

Hey man it looks good... Will keep an eye on this thread and see how the background is doing... If you want to have a look here at my thread. Lots of trail and error...
Starting BIG community tank - Page 7

 

thanx Guys, am gonna do 1st proper coat tomorrow, wish me luck ...

 

Nice! Photos

 

Day 3 - 1st proper coat of Cement Mix ...