Jump to content

Rocks: Make your own (009)


bimbo

Recommended Posts

i recently bought a new 5 foot tank and am planning on building a rocky background for it.

i have seen plenty of diy polystyrene covered in concrete ones but have heard that after a few knocks and bumps the concrete comes off.

what i was planning to do was to make a background out of polystyrene foan and then cover use a fiberglass resin/ sand mix to cover it but i have a feeling that the resin will melt the foam. Does anyone know if this is correct?

if that is the case what else could i use to make the base shape out of? are there other types of foam that i could use like the expanding foam that comes out of a can?

:rolleyes: James

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yes, the fibreglass resin will melt the foam.

How about gladwrap over some rocks? and fibreglass over the gladwrap?

Then you could end up joining all the small pieces together.

:blink:

Just a crazy idea, it would be alotta work.

I have used old t-shirts in place of fibreglass but still used the fibreglass resin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thats a good idea but the trouble is you get all of the deffinition of the rocks on the wrong side of the background. i thought of using a similar method but making the imprint in a box full of sand and fibreglassing over it.

does anyone know where i can get some other type of foam that won't melt. can you buy the foam that surfboards are made out of in sheets for reasonable $'s or can i use the expanging foam out of a can or a similar two pack expanding foam?

Thanks James

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i have seedn both those links before and they are both good ideas. the one which is made from guttering and gluing on stones and rocks has a few features which i don't like. one it doesn't look 'real' like somethink you would see in the fishes natural habitat and i don't like the idea of building caves into an unmovable background, makes it an absolute pain in the butt to catch holding females and fry.

the other one looks really good but the trouble with using concrete and foam is that when the background gets knocked with a rock or fish the concrete breaks off and you are left with a white spot. that is the reason i am going to use resin as it will be relatively indestructable.

Has anyone ever used hebel (aerated concrete) and know where i would be able to purchse it or how much it would cost?

Thanks James

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...