Diy Decor

[Iiriva]

Just wanted to show you guys what I've made!

I wanted to have a celtic cross in my new 200-liter tank, but knew I wouldn't find one anywhere. So I desided to make one myself, since I know plenty of people who have done whole 3D-backgrounds by themselves.

At first I sculpted the shape out of styrofoam with small carving kit.

Then used some poison free joint filler to make the surface look rough.

Then tinted the paints myself, using poison free paints that would be aquarium safe. This was the first time I was trying to make something look like stone, so I couldn't make anything better than this. I wanted the cross look like it's bent and suffered from years of bad weather. (I'm not mentioning any brands because I'm a finn using finnish brands, so they're no use for you. )

Then, the most important part was to use urethane alkyd lacquer, since it's poison free and doesn't dissolve in water after completely dry. Lacquers like these are used in wooden boats as well, as they have to be waterproof AND safe for the water and everything living in it.

After all dried out (waited for 2 days) I used aquarium silicone to glue the cross to a piece of slate. Styrofoam floats, you know, so I had to do this so it would stay at the bottom.

After the silicone was dry I put the decor in to my newest tank, still cyckling and being without plants. Looking good so far!

What do you think?

 

[thereverendturtle]

Very cool. Looks like stone to me. May I ask what the pipes are down in the lower right?
It's a great looking tank, what fish are you planning on?

 

[Iiriva]

They are pvc drainpipes! Much cheaper than buying pleco tubes.

Thanks, I'm going to plant this one as well though.

I'm going to try breeding L260's, so few of them and then about 20 kardinal tetras. Nothing else.

 

[thereverendturtle]

Lol, doesn't look like the pvc I'm used to here in the states.

Sounds like it will be yet another beautiful aquarium.

 

[CezzaXV]

That looks really good! Maybe I'll think of something I can make for my own aquarium like that one day. I had no idea you could do stuff like this.

 

[micko]

Never been a fan of general tank decor myself so never would have clicked to open the thread usually but being as its celtic cross and I'm Irish I had to and I have to admit I love it.
Not something I think I would use but it looks really well and I can see that a long time was spent in making it.
It reminded me of a cross called 'ardboe cross' a few miles away from my house. Stand at least 20ft tall but some has fallen off due to erosion over the years so going for the older look of a cross is spot on.

Well done.

 

[Iiriva]

Thank you. ^^

This tank is going to be quite heavily planted, though, so the whole looks will change and hopefully it will look nicer when there is mosses growing on it.

CezzaXV, one can do plenty of stuff to aquariums if you pay enough attension about using safe products. I'm studying to be a set decorator so I did this whilst at school and was able to do some research before using any stuff I used in the end of the day.

 

[Iiriva]

All seems successful as the decor has been in my tank for over a week with healthy fishes, very good water parameters and the decor looks good.

 

[thereverendturtle]

Looking very good.

 

[Tizer]

might be nice once its covered in algae, but as it stands, not my cuppa tea

 

[Iiriva]

I've actually planted some moss into it so it would be covered (my tank will be heaaavily planted in the future when all the plants and mosses actually grow to the size I want them to ) because I want it to hide better, too. In my eye this tank looks silly anyway because it's new and millions of lightyears from being what I want it to be!

But you can't get that overnight. Maybe in months or years.

 

[CezzaXV]

Haha, I'm all for instant gratification. I buy loads of plants to fill my tank up right from the beginning then remove some later if need be

I love the look of a well planted tank.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Hi Iiriva - are all of your image links broken or is it just me?

 

[JDs4me]

I like the look of it as it is...just posted pics of my set-up for comments and was given a link to check out your home-made celtic cross; great stuff! I cheated and went to ebay...everything apart from the mopani and substrate in the tank is resin so I hope the water parameters are unaffected