this looks like a pretty good diy bakround

[SquishyFish]

Tetrin...I'm pretty sure that I'm going to build one. I have a 175gal bow front, so I should be able to do a good bit inside and out. I'm selling the last of my live rock with in the week, so next weekend the reconstruction should begin!

 

[tetrin]

wow...that's a lot of room to play with...
good luck on the project...not that you need any...just need a lot of patience...

 

[SquishyFish]

Thanks! I may hit you up for some advise as I'm building the background. Like, what do you use to "paint" the background? concrete dye?

I also plan on taking alot of pics during the process.

 

[tetrin]

sure...no problems...
i used plain hydraulic cement. reasons behind it
-as you saw before in the pix, after a while the in-tank background become covered with algae, so it doesn't pay to color it...but in your case it will definitely rewarding to paint it. there are tons of shades of cement paint out there.
-of course the cost factor .

keep us posted about the proceedings...
*edit* as czcz mentioned before, cichlid-forum.com has tons of info on these backgrounds.

 

[SquishyFish]

Trust me..I have been reading on the subject for two weeks....The cichlid forum is one of the main places I have been reading on.

I think for the part outside the tank I am going to use regular acrylic paints and seal it. Since there is no contact with the water there shouldnt be an issue. Inside..I think I will just do a basic color and let the algae do the rest.