DIY Aquarium Background

[TheBladesunited]

I really like the idea. Ive listened to what some of you have said about commercial large aquariums being made of cement/concrete. Im just worried about parts flaking off or being nibbled at after a while thats all.Time will tell i suppose.

[SwaggyFish]

First, concrete is used in the construction of fish ponds. Once properly cured it is animal and fish safe. Second, polystyrene appears to often be used in the bottom of aquariums to prevent large rocks breaking the bottom pane. Third, GE Silicone I is one of the few household silicone sealants that has been confirmed fish safe. Fourth, the paint doesn't matter because it was on the outside of the tank. Finally I am unsure what he used, but Special Kitty makes a 100% clay litter that may be safe

[dedo271]

Veri nice :) I must make this in my tank :)

[waggy832]

fatastic, were do you get the cement ect from and the cost, plz?

[propyropower]

came out great. good job there

[JHornRides11]

It's cool but just made your 10 gallon tank to a 5 or smaller

[poojkhgf]

I used polystyrene in my tank once stuck it with silecone glue, trouble is it doesnt stick to polystryrene very well and comes loose after a while.

[shishifukujin]

You're really good in bricolage...

...but a fish killer! Have you ever read about water conditions that GLOWLIGHT TETRAS need???? cement?? paint??? fungicide silicone??? Why don't you just cut wooden fishes too??? what a crime!

[justuserg]

Very nice I like the construction of the actual wall and space covered..looks very natural !

[proto35]

i have heard many people use litter as a substrate. as well as construction sand. works out fine. but you get no nutrition. so a layer of flourite, or eco complete, or laterite* would do good underneath. 

[sophabreel]

all this for a fish lol

[ifuckednatalietran]

add coke. itll give it a more natural color

[4Botyok]

Great video !

[Darvin1964]

Lol it dont mater what you do there are always going to be Haters ....

Thats just means they are jellous LMFAO...

Anyway Looks great.....Be Proud!!!!

[JJJamain]

@Darvin1964

"Jellous" is actually spelt 'Jealous'.

[Darvin1964]

@JJJamain OOPs my bad....lol

[GADAmuzik]

I almost died laughing when I saw u were using kitty litter! But I must admit the background is genius and beautiful! Great viid!

[niamh2739]

I wonder could you do this for a bathroom shower? or maby a faux fireplace?

[LegionFlorez]

You plan to add more fish and plants to what? That small ass 8 gallon? Shame on you for being an animal hoarder!!

[Loftyboy589]

this is not to be advised in any way shape or form .. cement will continuosly leach into the water unless sealed by painting with a fish safe sealing agent and thus push the PH sky high resulting in a total wipeout (Koi ponds are sealed in this fashion if made of concrete) .. and as for the silicone DONT use normal silicone instead buy aquatic safe silicone that again wont leach into the water as most building grade silicones contain antifungal agents etc

Nice idea but sadly poorly executed.

[algolake]

@Loftyboy589 Incorrect. I have used cured cement 'live rock' in my SW setup for years successfully with no impact on the water. These are actually sold commercially too, but easy to make. The key is 'cured'. Look it up.

[Patrikdelosreyes]

Great background! Just wondering if anyone knows how to repair patches of exposed stryrofoam without taking out the fish and water? Is there some sort of epoxy or concrete that I can use?

[juancaz31]

what kind of pain can i use to add some color?

[invincible360]

but is kitty litter really that much cheaper than regular aquarium gravel? ive never had cats before so i wouldn't know...

[JefafaSB]

I did something similar in making a frog terrarium. I used black expanding insulation foam purchased from a pond supply house. I integrated wood and coco peat to give it a natural look and hid a small pump to add a waterfall effect down the face into a small pond in the bottom. Did this in a 10 gal tank and looks great! Nice vid!

[cubby1812]

and your fish survived this?

[metle95]

cool



[1mataperro]

very helpful, but how about the chemicals in the cement?

[75daud]

nice thank you buddy

[LeoMessi42]

i just bought juwel ready made backround, cut it to the right size and there you go. easier i guess but a bit more expensive

[catboyy]

No update?

[Lilbabbiejo3]

Look at how I did my fish tank because of your video :-)

[silverralliart]

Try using a 5 gallon bucket and a water hose outside to rinse out the kitty litter.

It works great for playsand from lowes and home depot.

Add to bucket and mix the crap out of it and pour out floating particals.

You will lose some of the sand ect... but it wont make your tank cloudy near as much. mine was hardly cloudy for 1 min before it all settled.

[iagosptrocha]

earned you helped me a lot

[mslingual]

en español

[crazynoobboy]

Would look better if it the rocks wihere a bit smaller, so the tank had more space

[86HairMetal]

Runescape? Obviously, you need to dive into a creek to grasp the concept of a 'biotope' - this background is meant to emulate the submerged portion of a (rocky) riverbank. Don't let it's plain look fool you; once algae fills in, it will look convicingly real! Awesome work!

[ReptileHelper]

ok people cement before going in the tank way better but nice vid dude

[Micboi]

it is so beautiful!!!

[AquaKing5130]

Nice video.

How heavy was the tank when you were done with the cement?

[simoncanela]

nice job, .....did you have to clean the kitty litter first?

[kasue1989]

dude, thats fucking awesome! can you make 1 for me for some coins?

[BullockDesignConcept]

@kasue1989 some coins? what the hell is this, Runescape?

[barse27]

Very very nice

[Xlingad]

i don't like fake things in aquariums but you did a VERY good job! i really like this!!

[Okiimiru]

This is brilliant!

[ollie082]

hey mate just curious. Have you still got this background in your tank? What condition is it in? Planning on doing one but heard they deteriorate over time.

[thequeenannepub]

that well good

[tiagoagfaria]

It is actually very nice, good work!

[Temphanis]

@iLLaPiNo83 You say to late it cure for a week after you get the PH stable. There are some drops and tablets I found online that remove tannins and metals in the water. After I get the PH stable could I add these to the water and put my fish in there while changing the water every other day? Because I have a couple of Oscars and Blood Parrot Cichlids, and a Greater Siren (Google it, lol). I I don't have anything large enough to keep them In for 2 weeks. A response would be greatly appreciated.

[mexheix]

music suck

[alibad87]

what if we use pain instead of cement????? :/

[DaveSimonH]

@alibad87 Chuck Norris?

[soulassssns]

@alibad87

If I remember right spray paint will make the foam turn in to goo literally

[jigmesam]

@alibad87 you'll melt the polystyrene

[Tickel2208]

hey there.. just one question , did ANY of your fish actually survived this ? no really ! :O

how about nitrites and other chemical stuff ? as far as i'm considering the litter stuff contains chemicals against bad odors, right ? and you're planning to plant some underwater vegetables in this mess ? i'm not arguing that much , just asking.. i'm just wondering how a plant and even a fish could survive this, because you don't seem to know much about water chemistry in a biotop called aquarium, huh?

[jigmesam]

@Tickel2208 I was thinking this, too. Huge amount of chemicals in all that stuff. Maybe it's ok, but it -IS- a little scary.

[gkgnkgngkgk]

@Tickel2208 you can buy chemical free kitty litter its basicly just rocks and some are clay. The cement becomes stable after awhile. Zoo's use cement in habitats for fish and aquatic biotypes all the time. Just make sure there is a grace period before you add living things.

[JohnWolf01]

@Tickel2208

I have done this same thing a few years ago, on a 1ft and a 6ft tank, Worked great, Dont have vedio or pic's though but if you whish it i will send some stuff to you, the fish lived happely in the tank, no deaths or any problems, one thing though is that the water tends to get "hard", but Aqurium water softner for fish did the trick,every 3-4 months, ...

Tickel... just a question... what do You think Koi-fish breeders use to build their swimming pool size ponds with?

[spectrumpursuit]

Well The foam and cement won't impact the water quality whatsoever once it's cured and the water has been cycled. This is the same technique used by large aquariums and zoo's for their aquaria backgrounds and it's tried and true. Not sure about the kitty litter as a substrate though.

[Everythingaquarium]

@Tickel2208 actualy you are wrong becouse cement will only relise chemicals in the first week or so and normal kitty litter is just benzite clay but you can buy different types so you are wrong :)

[Okiimiru]

@Tickel2208 Special Kitty cat litter does not contain any chemicals against bad odors. It's pure baked ground clay.

[sowedoneit]

lol love it thats just saved me 40quid lol

[antolahi]

Thnx for sharing your idea...

[Codenamebravo]

Spray paint and window sealer in a fish tank it's a no no? But looks great, need to research safer alternatives.

[TedWinni]

@Codenamebravo aslong as its silicone sealer and non solvent paint it wont hurt them at all

[xyha09]

how to know whether the water is stable??

[handitwater247]

WOW

[hiephoang91]

good job !

[micruss]

What a great idea!!! This will be my next DIY project..Thanks for sharing.

[FuzzieBuddies]

kitty litter for gravel? thats new

[slavan96]

very nicely done & looks awesome but a little to bulky for a 10 gallon tank....just takes up to much room in tank. GREAT job building it though.

[9364peter]

Thanks for the great well made video. Nice!

[alfiethecoolest]

beautiful...

thanks for sharin iLLaPiNo83

[david55fresh408]

were did u put the heater



[david55fresh408]

quick question how does the filter intake the water..is there a hole under the rock piece the filter slides into?

[david55fresh408]

hey could please tell me what u mean when u say 1/2 foam and 3/4 foam on the sides thanks great video! im planning on starting this soon

[awinski999]

@david55fresh408 thickness

[Avatoms]

How does the Kitty Litter effect the water PH etc? Nice job btw :)

[ThisIsMySockAccount]

I'm waiting for my 2nd coat of cement to dry (sigh) To those who plan to try this, I learned that a Bic lighter is handy to create the rough, natrual stone appearance to the cut edges of the styrofoam AFTER you've siliconed them together. It also helps to blend the seems together. On the last coat of cement, I'm going to add some cement coloring (charcoal) to give some depth and interest to the stones, so they dont all look like a wall of concrete.

[nitind2012]

After cement application on the Styrofoam and allowing to dry, it does not remain fixed on the surface and starts getting loosed. what should be done to avoid this?

[jackas95]

what's the music? help me

[iLLaPiNo83]

@jackas95 Brownman Revival - Fantasy

[RaffleReefer10]

@iLLaPiNo83 will this work for saltwater?

[hawkwind999]

@jackas95 music is crap

[nancygd2]

love the tank thinking of doing something like this myself just wondering though do you need to clean the part you made? if so how and after how long?

tanks so much

[plombex]

Many thank's

[gut197]

cool video!

[jeprox1465]

U Rock! 5 star!

[ImmortalPsychosis]

Thanks a lot. Helped a lot. :)

[redking133]

Does it have to be a special cement or any cement will do?

[FishDevil789]

is kitty litter suitible for an aquarium, surly it must have chemicals in it

[goofyfrog1]

@FishDevil789 Do not use kitty litter. I'm very positive they contain chemicals which kill odors and bacteria that may be harmful to living fish.

[Mason749]

looks like a good senior project

[TheCodKiosk]

imma do this for my leo

[sebbeweiwei]

if i didnt know better i wuld think its uscb :P

[sheriff2be]

cool but i bet its hard to clean

[SpitRhyma]

@sheriff2be ur mom's hard to clean -- sorry I have on-line tourette's

[Trinity1987]

What song is this ?? !! ??

[CrunchieDan]

I like that it's wrapped around the corners, not just on the back. Nice work, even though, it's an old video.

[thoang79]

Do you ever have problems with algae growing on your background? if you do, how do you remove them?

[prayers2god]

theres medicine for algae control, try your local walmart or petsmart

[cCatahan86]

looks sick... can you use GE silicone II window and door?? My home depot only sells the 100% silicone not the rubber silicone.

[smartass2st]

Well you should be ok as long as it is 100% silicone. But I would stay away from II because it might have anti mold or anti fungal stuff in it that will poison your fish.

[Arteolike]

You could use it, Just use Window & Door (Not bathroom, kitchen, etc... They are the ones with the mold control additive, which will kill your fish.)

I used GE Silicone II, it is better than I Because it is 100% Silicone, And it has a stronger bond, and only a 3 hour setup time!

P.S. Don't Use Colored silicons, Like White, Tan or brown. Use only Black or Clear!

[charzarg]

hey, i'd like to know if this background is still going okay and hasn't released toxins and stuff, i might try it if its long term goodness ;)

[Ciaglewruchu]

What type of paint can you use? it has to be some kind of resin paint... Can you advice me on it?

Thanks!

[wildrupp]

ok, i need help, im in the process of making a background like this and i just got done with the first layer of cement and its pretty dry and when i touch it, it like comes off. after the second and third coats will it go away??

[smartass2st]

@wildrupp dude I had the same exact problem. I made one for my 150 gallon tank. It came out great. But I did the first coat and it would fall apart. So I put about 5 coats of cement instead of 3. Its holding up pretty good. The thing is, no matter how you do it, if you keep rubbing on the cement it will eventually go back down to the foam. But chances of fish scratching on the same exact spot over and over again are very slim. Im sure once you sit it in a filled tank, the water will cure it more

[wildrupp]

I agree now that its in the tank its all pretty good and the fish seem to enjoi it.

[apauln]

i see this video is over 1 1/2 years old... how is it holding up? is there cracking? chipping?

[josefbalza]

When you fill the aquarium and empty it for ten times because of the cement, do you do it with the same water or you use fresh water all the time? And how much time should pass after you fill the aquarium before you empty it again? 10x

[Boowee1515]

blow torch works great for shaping larg peices

[johnaisjuicy]

hey illapino, this is an ill tank. two thumbs up!

[apauln]

well done!!!

[suicide5389]

i made 1 of those its awsome but im making another 1 with a waterfall reature

[1453cent]

i am going to make one for my 180 galon tank, its gonna be awesome thx for the video ;))

[mrdiscus66]

Looks great and cheap to do. I've always wondered whether to try something similar. I'd have reservations about putting in any fish that don't like alkaline water though, however long you soak the cement. There is clear pond sealant you can buy to seal the cement.

[Ansett737]

when i apply the concrete, it comes off the foam, i am using normal concrete. is there something wrong i am doing?

[UshouldvPRAYDmor]

I used a lighter to harden the area I was applying it too and that fixed the problem when i did it on my 30g, also make sure you peel off the film on the foam.

[perpetualwandrer]

Thank you very very much!

[rockfreaksteffan]

this is a realy good vid on how to do this thanks :)

[AmberMelby24]

I love the background idea. Now that I know how to do some stuff, I can inform my boyfriend when it comes to do our build in aquarium in our house one day.

[hotheadej]

i like it it works and it looks nice and thanks for you comment on my egg tumbler

[6rona]

awesome very good

[Arteolike]

Awesome video by they way! You rocks look MUCH more natural that the other people on you tube

[Taylankurt2002]

Could this be done for a reptile vivarium?

[TheLostRealist513]

nicely done

[javaxsqft]

Kitty litter? Are you kiddin me?

[HylomantisLemur]

Great vid. I'm going to be using this method I think.

[AlecLuffjoy]

wtf you can use kitty liter for substrate?

[Souidos76]

the best video I have seen so far, very good job my friend. This will help many people in making a great looking esthetic aquarium.

[eldadmf]

Hey man, your job is amazing, nice ideas for my aquarium!.. also should try building one using the Pascal Principle...

[Yamanjazz]

thanks for that m8 very very helpful!!

[brightmeadow1375]

cichlid forum has detailed instructions on how to make diy background.

[0170andrews88]

your good with your hands

[TheSte67]

u done a good job how did u get cement 2 stick did u after use a primer on styrofoam

[BevelySouth]

Awesome vid, I have been wanting to do this for my cichlid tank for a while now. I have seen other people with cichlids who have done this. I think I will start out with a 10 gallon and see ho that goes, if it works out I will do my 60 gallon.

[fuzzman25]

i wouldnt do it with a 60 gallon ... maybe some day u might want to take it out or you upgrade and sell the tank... if its 60 gallon i would rather get big rocks and stack them (find them outdoors)

[Arteolike]

Yes! And let them fall and break everything, I think it would be easy to sell a broken aquarium.

[ste6570]

thanks for the video, i made 1 myself :)

[MidnightSkyline]

My guess is that your pH will go through the roof!

[welcomegohome]

yeah it's not detrimental at all if you're going with cichlids... but other things, i am not too sure. plus it takes so much space out of the aquarium!!! but it looks awesome though!!

[MidnightSkyline]

I mean WAY up the roof because of all the limestone in the cement.... It's gonna be like flooding the tank with Kalkwasser!

I think the cement should be let cure in water for a while...

[fuzzman25]

he did let it cure in water for a while

[mgfhd]

the cement has to be water resistant??

[gsb92606]

Most people use this for reptiles as most of them (except for Leopard geckos and stuff kie that) dont lick their surroundings. Im gonna make one since my friend did

[nicktegfan]

Really nice effect - just pity the poor bloody fish that are gonna be living in it!!! Cement will continue to leach chemicals into the water for years unless properly sealed and god only knows what is in kitty litter??? Like I say, really nice background involving a lot of work, but surely the fishes welfare should come first.

[StevoElsupremo]

nice, I just used a black pillow case, the ripples in the fabric make a unique effect

[Fireballofdolera]

nice! =)

but can u put the cement under water? wont it tear off in a year or so? maby spraying a water proof spray over it?

looks nice =)

[pomapoma123]

kitty litter - its fucking delirium, the simple aquarium ground is cheap and costs no more than 1$ per 1 kg

[xXBackdoorStudiosXx]

Kitty litter? Wtf?

[lolustupid]

this looks great and all but it takes up a lot of space.

[racingking46]

Great work man 5* i know if i was a little fish that is where i would want to be!

[RaverDK]

nice work there mate... looks pretty nice for sure, and ye add loats of plats, and you get your own littel fish paradise there :)

[mariobros]

What song is this yo?

[yttihp11]

looks amazing

[mrStangeeA]

it so simple, yet seems impossible if you have to work on a 300 gal tank...damn I know it can be done I just don't think I have the discipline and patience to do it! but really kool video nice insights...

[lacarretadelamuerte]

Hey, iLLaPiNo83 when are you gonna post the video with the aquarium filled with plants and fish? I really liked what you did, by the way.

[perrisbabe]

how do you keep the background clean??? I mean, you cant scrub it like you would for the glass.

[redrider187x]

Would this cement Background be safe for Reptiles also? Are there any harmfull chemicals in cement? Thanks! Looks Great!

[lepardg3cko]

dude.. use the cement before you put the background into the tank ?

[BaseballCardFreek]

@lepardg3cko haha i was thinking the same thing.

[richieboy0184]

wow! that sucks!

[MyLyssophobia]

outstanding~

[s3121145]

did your fish survive if they did i will be making one for my tanks

Thanks

[homebrewskie]

Excellent video! can a fish remove the colour revealing the white styro? say a pleco sucking on it all the time if so is there anything else I can use to make it more durable,cheer's.

[iLLaPiNo83]

You can apply thicker cement or you could cover it up with epoxy.

[orestisfikos]

great man!

[danilovsky22]

Very good work,man! Your explanations is so accurate!

[mattshelly88]

that's awesome! does you heater get enough circulation to keep the temp. constant?

[iLLaPiNo83]

I didnt put any heater in there. My room usually stays in a constant temp so i dont think i need to use a heater.

[mattshelly88]

oh ok. what kind of light is that? it's a really neat effect. very cave like.

[iLLaPiNo83]

it was just a flourecent light i had from another tank.

Awesome tutorial.