DIY Backround Instructions

Hey I actually already posted this once in another section.... Figured I should share it in the video section.... Hope this helps people who wanted to do it..... I really really love mine!

Great video! Thanks for sharing

What an awesome video!!!!! That's such a great idea

wow thats a great idea!

thats awesome but how is it to clean when it comes time to do that?

I was thinking unless you seal around the edges it could get pretty nasty behind it.

I made some large rock stage props once and something you might try to make them look more realistic is to use a torch rather than a knife (or with the knife) to shape them. I found that the brand of Styrofoam makes a big difference in the way it melts, so it may not work with that pink stuff & definitely to be done outside as it releases some nasty fumes not to mention a fire hazard.

Of course there will be some numb nut watching youtube that burns his house down trying this

I had two of these backgrounds.... they looked awesome... and cleanin them is super easy, just like cleaning any decor, scrub it.... It seals on pretty good if you use the silicone like he did in the video, so i didnt have any problem with it gettin dirty back there either.

As far as makin the rocks look more natural, I love the fire or hot iron melting the styrophome Idea.... I never tried it, but gosu had done it and really liked it..... To me it looks pretty natural if you use a steak knife and kinda do a sawing motion. Then goop on the concrete and it looks pretty good.

If anyone has any questions, Just ask.... like I said, I did two of them succesfully!



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and what about getting the sheet of foam into your tank if you have the glass or acryllic support in the middle of the top of your tank below your lights? would you just do 2 seperate pieces ?

there easier to do in multiple pieces especially when siliconeing them to the back of the tank you will get a more even dispersion of the silicone with smaller easier to handle pieces and then you don't have to worry about the lights and such as long as your pieces are smaller than the opening ;P

Would you be able to do caves and such? I wonder how that would look!

i dont see why not just takes time and an imagination, i have seen picts o them done with pieces of pipes that the fish could swim into and though in some places they made it look really cool have also see where they did the sides and made a few rocks up front
here is one i found its a 180gl with twin over flows[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The pipe caves would be very cool.... well until you had to net a fish

Anyone have any other 3d backgrounds to share, or a website to buy pre-made ones?

oh man i love the one icer post

Im pretty sure that one was purchased.... there is a place you can buy them.... someone told me, but I forgot, was like 3d backgrounds .com ... or something like that.....

Love to see more pictures of purchased and self made ones... am I the only person who made some of these backgrounds?

this was my first one


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ive tried but didnt come out so great lol

I know of a website that I am thinking about ordering one of there 3d backgrounds for my soon to be new 150 wide....
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i am currently making one for a 20T. i'll post pics when i'm done.

I made my first one a couple months ago but didnt make it out of styrofoam. Never really liked the way styrofoam ones came out although i have seen some really good ones but i dont have that artistic ability. I ended up just getting like a 100lbs of flagstone and attaching it to some eggcrate and siliconed it to the back of my tank.

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Looks really good... but probably weighs a ton!!!! The styrophoam and ones that you can buy are super light..... also, the styrofoam cost allot less.

here is a picture of our 3D background we purchased from designsbynature.net

this is the river stump one..
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Thats super cool... Love how it looks just like a tree trunk and roots... way awesome!

Awesome background but I dont see any fish lol

cichlidlovers98513 wrote:here is a picture of our 3D background we purchased from designsbynature.net

this is the river stump one..
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Whats the price on this one?? How much did it cost ya?

it costs about 176.00
we paid 192.00 though be cause we order the two small pieces of fake driftwood....
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this company is located in Oregon so shipping was like $5.00 is what we were charged for this order

icer711 wrote:i dont see why not just takes time and an imagination, i have seen picts o them done with pieces of pipes that the fish could swim into and though in some places they made it look really cool have also see where they did the sides and made a few rocks up front
here is one i found its a 180gl with twin over flows[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I am going to home depot right now to get the supplies to make this... i want mine to look just like this... screww plain 2d backgrounds... whoever came up with this was a genius! has anyone actually made on with caves and stuff like this???

alyssaesk, pretty sure that was one of the ones that you buy..... All the ones ive seen made dont look anything like that.... reference the DIY video, and the two I made... if you tried to make something like that it would take forever... and also wouldnt be bendable so you would have to build it in the tank as you go.

Here's a pic...

these are some of Madness's RD's


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WOW
Those are really cool!!! If I had even a shred of artistic ability and didn't already have my tanks partially stocked, I'd be on my way to home depot!!!

janky, you can buy them, dont need artistic ability! My god, does anyone read previous posts! lol thats the 3rd or 4th time i said it. lol

janky, check out... [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

thats were i ordered the one pictured above and these can be installed in established tanks.. the site explains how..

Yeah, I read that part. I'd also like to avoid spending $200
Maybe I should've clarified.

lol... Ok, good... I thought I was being ignored by everyone and no one could see my posts! lol..... glad to know people still read what I write. (there is no emoticon for *relief) someone should tell a admin to add one.... oh wait, lol... I will get on it.

lol, yeah I'm a broke student. My gf is the artist... Maybe if she's up for it we'll try this out. Lord knows I couldn't do it. If I had $200 I would definitely just buy one - those backgrounds are nuts! very cool.

it really doesnt take an artist... although, not to brag, but I am pretty artistic

Here is one I did step by step with pictures to show how easy it was.....

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After all is said and done

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wow! Maybe I could commission you to make one for us?? I was going over that design site and it had a "how-to" on installing in existing tanks, so I'm definitely going to be looking further into this. I think I have to take the lip of my tank to install it though...

naw u just have to play with it to fit it around existing braces. it should come in precut sections and u can always trim it down to fit snuggly quite easily.