hey everyone,
im getting a 6ft tank soon and i was thinkin of makin a background with the aquarium safe silicone and sand. i was just going to layer up a few sections with silicone and instead of painting it covering it with dark sand so it looks like a sand stone wall kinda thing.. what do u guys think about this idea?? will it work??
anyways let me know what you think
i think its a great idea...
would love to see pics of this...
not sure if i would try it on my 6 footer first... have u got a spare two foot for a trial purpose
cool idea,i think it will work i might try that myself,spread the silicone evenly over the glass and throw some sand on it
get some pics when you do it,
ill have a play with some glass sheet.
ill get some pics up over the weekend
thats a real good idea! i was a bit worried about trying it on a 6 footer first
thatll be sweet jimbozed. as long as it cures properly there shouldnt be any risk to the fish should there? what about the sand paper style texture will it hurt the fish when they swim up n down it?
once cured its purfectly safe, as long as its aquarium safe silicone.
the texture may only be a problem with fish that spook easily like fronts, but i dont see it as a major issue.
Mate,
are you adding any overhangs? cos that't gonna take a bit of silicon to hang out. You know that once it's on, it's gonna stay there and if you aver want to take it off, it's gonna be pretty fustrating.
that's why some people do it on a polystyrene block and if they don't like the design, take the first one out and make another one.
Do a google search on DIY backgrounds. I remember reading about a polystyrene one which was very easy to do. You can easily add the sand to a polystyrene backgound too.
Just a thought. I'm not trying to talk you out of what you are doing but thought it may be easier and more flexible, maybe you want to sell the tank future and wanted a bigger tank.
Cheers,
dan
hey dan,
i was going to buy like 5 tubes of silicon and a box of gloves and make a few overhangs and little ledges and stuff not too crazy. im thinkin of doing a nice smooth layer about 5-10mm thickwith dark sand first the adding overhangas and cracks and stuff with a lighter sand. i was hoping that i could do a good enough job so that i would never want/need to take it off.. ill definately google diy back grounds tho :idea: didnt even think of that.. thanks for the input guys
Hey Nick,
I think you will need more than 5 tubes of silicon to do 5-10mm thick layer on a 6x2 background. You'd be amazed how much silico you'd need for that surface area. I use 1 tube of silicon just to glue together a 4x2x2 with bracing, bridges and all, so that's just on the edges. Hope that gives you an idea.
BTW, andrew (fishtraderlau) does a great backgound. PM him if you are not in a rush and he could give you a few pointers.
Cheers,
dan
also remember the health risk with that much silicon vapour make sure you use a mask in a well ventilated area. and thick layers could take a couple of weeks to set also