Adding a DIY styrofoam-rock background to an unemptied tank!!??

[natpo]

Hello all of you DIY specialists,

Does anyone know if there is a good way to do a nice DIY aquarium background without emptying the tank of water or its inhabitants???? I have a 55g acrylic, and I am pondering some different ideas. I love a well carved styrofoam/cement background to simulate a rock face.

Thanks for your thoughts

 

[natpo]

Well, this thread has a lot of views but no replies. Maybe this means that no one has tried to add this type of background to a tank that is still holding water an fish.

I thought it may be possible to apply the cemented-styrofoam-carved-background to the back of the aquarium by simply wedging it between the floor and top of the aquarium [possibly used shims to make it a tighter wedge].

any thoughts?

 

[Mogurako]

Well, this thread has a lot of views but no replies. Maybe this means that no one has tried to add this type of background to a tank that is still holding water an fish.

I thought it may be possible to apply the cemented-styrofoam-carved-background to the back of the aquarium by simply wedging it between the floor and top of the aquarium .

any thoughts?

You can do it that way yes but you will still need to drain out 50% + of the water so you have space to work. Also depending on the type of background you make it needs to cure underwater for 2-4 weeks before fish should be in there with it.

 

[lilbenchy9192]

styrofoam is VERY boyant lol i found out today trying to fit mine, its much harder then i thought

howd it go mate??

 

[Decaf]

if you are using concrete it will take 2-4weeks to leach out everything that raises ph present in the concrete. mine went above 9 (couldnt test any higher). thats 2-4weeks of everyday 100% water changes btw.

you would have to do the leaching process before attempting to add the background to the cycled fishtank.

 

[Andjak]

I really want a background as well so this post is perfect what if u carved a sheet of wood and sank
It like driftwood with staining or special paint to make it look like rock would that still need such extensive leeching ?

 

[Andjak]

Also any pics of anyone's progress so far ?

 

[Decaf]

you could use slate rock and stack it to make a background.
the tap water in my town is 8, after 2 weeks of daily water changes my background tank is still at 8.4. it was above 8.8 but i couldnt tell how much above because API high pH only goes to 8.8