curlyriff
Fish Crazy
I am just finishing my background at the moment. You have different options. I used the white poly boards cause they were cheaper and easier to get hold off, they are very messy to cut and shape but work fine.
If you do go down the White poly route then it is a good idea to use a blowtorch to finish the shaping as this will give a hard surface finish that means you coat in concrete/paint allot easier.
I brought 2No. sheets of 2440x600x50mm and 2No. 2440x600x25mm sheets just for ease of transport and they cost £15 total.
Also for the finish you have many options. Epoxy Resin is very expensive. You would be looking at around £45 for 2ltr of the stuff and it's not the easiest to use for a first timer. If you go down the paint method then you have to resin to coat as it makes it waterproof, Ideally you want to use latex paint as this is biodegradable and natural unlike the other paint options which means that should you ever have a problem with some coming of then it will not harm the fish.
With regards to concrete. This is the method I used as it is much cheaper. I used 12.5kg of premix concrete from Wickes which was £8.50. Got fine sand version rather than postcrete so it gives a better coat and it is only about £3 more.
I then brought some concrete dye from Cemcraft at £5.70 for 500g (you require no less than 50g per 2kg and no more than 50g per 0.5kg of concrete depending on how dark you want the colour to be).
This means I could match the colour to rocks etc. They do around 25 different colours so plenty to pick. With the concrete finish you can either leave it finished as is and cycle the tank for about a month with weekly 90/100% water changes so that you can get your water PH stable. Or you can again finish with an epoxy resin if you would rather just add water straight away.
When you resin finish if you go down that option just leave it to dry (I would recommend 1 week) so that it becomes inert (you shouldn't be able to smell it when it has fully cured). I would still then add water and wait a further week before doing a complete water change and testing after 24 hours for minimum of 3 days to see if your parameters are stable before adding fish.
When putting your poly sheets together you can use normal glue like no more nails or standard silicon as once you have covered in concrete or epoxy it should be inert anyways. Just make sure you use Aqua safe silicon in the actual tank to attach and seal the edges.
Tools I used where a blade from a hacksaw and a paintbrush. I used a small hand blowtorch just to finish the poly.
If you go with the Pink sheets then you could cut and sand this into shape as it does not crumble in same way but is more expensive and harder to source.
Hope that helps a little.
Kind Regards,
Adam
If you do go down the White poly route then it is a good idea to use a blowtorch to finish the shaping as this will give a hard surface finish that means you coat in concrete/paint allot easier.
I brought 2No. sheets of 2440x600x50mm and 2No. 2440x600x25mm sheets just for ease of transport and they cost £15 total.
Also for the finish you have many options. Epoxy Resin is very expensive. You would be looking at around £45 for 2ltr of the stuff and it's not the easiest to use for a first timer. If you go down the paint method then you have to resin to coat as it makes it waterproof, Ideally you want to use latex paint as this is biodegradable and natural unlike the other paint options which means that should you ever have a problem with some coming of then it will not harm the fish.
With regards to concrete. This is the method I used as it is much cheaper. I used 12.5kg of premix concrete from Wickes which was £8.50. Got fine sand version rather than postcrete so it gives a better coat and it is only about £3 more.
I then brought some concrete dye from Cemcraft at £5.70 for 500g (you require no less than 50g per 2kg and no more than 50g per 0.5kg of concrete depending on how dark you want the colour to be).
This means I could match the colour to rocks etc. They do around 25 different colours so plenty to pick. With the concrete finish you can either leave it finished as is and cycle the tank for about a month with weekly 90/100% water changes so that you can get your water PH stable. Or you can again finish with an epoxy resin if you would rather just add water straight away.
When you resin finish if you go down that option just leave it to dry (I would recommend 1 week) so that it becomes inert (you shouldn't be able to smell it when it has fully cured). I would still then add water and wait a further week before doing a complete water change and testing after 24 hours for minimum of 3 days to see if your parameters are stable before adding fish.
When putting your poly sheets together you can use normal glue like no more nails or standard silicon as once you have covered in concrete or epoxy it should be inert anyways. Just make sure you use Aqua safe silicon in the actual tank to attach and seal the edges.
Tools I used where a blade from a hacksaw and a paintbrush. I used a small hand blowtorch just to finish the poly.
If you go with the Pink sheets then you could cut and sand this into shape as it does not crumble in same way but is more expensive and harder to source.
Hope that helps a little.
Kind Regards,
Adam
If I am ever allowed or have space for one. Thank you though you have been very helpful!!!!
