I’ve never been happy with the design in my tank or shall I say my aquascape. I’ve always wanted the natural look, something that would mimic the natural environment for the majority of my fish. I did a lot of research on the web regarding do it yourself backgrounds and decided to start my own.
Your feedback is welcomed. I have more pics but I am limited to the amount I can post. I'll post some more later
So here is my DIY project.
(Above) I order the Styrofoam online and I got a 48x24x4 thick piece which as you can see I started to pencil in the rough design on the picture on the left and on the right is a picture of the carving that I did with a hot knife I bought online. A hot knife is much easier to work with. It certainly is a lot cleaner.
Below is where I cut out holes for the filtration system and add ledges to the design
Here I am installing 4-6 inch dowels for added support due to the buoyancy of Styrofoam
Here are the components for the custom filtration system. I used the check valve from the filters and adapted them to the new design. I used schedule 40 PVC, which I had to modify some of the parts to get the depth of the 3d background. I sanded the face to prep it for painting, silicone the opening on the backing so that it has direct suction for the front grill and finally I used a cut piece of 3” PVC pipe to sleeve the components so that later I can seal it
Your feedback is welcomed. I have more pics but I am limited to the amount I can post. I'll post some more later