Installing a Universal Rock Background

[signit]

I thought I'd share my experience of installing a universal background in my 5ft tank which will become my new Malawi display tank (it was a tropical display tank for many years).

I have now edited this weblog so setup photos are here in the initial post and the finished tank photos are about 10 replies below.

Feel free to add any comments.

This process was easier than I though it would be... and I love the results.

Background is a universal OLGAS 6ft which I have cut short to fit my 5ft tank.

This project was inspired bt SPEDWARDS effort found Spedwards HERE

I wanted a setup that used his idea of hiding the plumbing of the filters but I wanted to go a step or three further and have access to the pipes and hide my heater and air stones behind the wall aswell.

This setup uses 2 filter inlets from inside the tank, one pump back to the front and one pumps behind the wall allowing water flow behind the latex wall. The water behind the wall is heated by the hidden heater and then passes into the tank through the cupboard vents.

By hidding the airstone piping behind the wall inside a PVC condute with an elbow at the bottom I can remove and replace the airstone tubing where necessary.

I actually waited 12 days for the silicon to cure and rinsed the tank out twice before filling the tank and testing it all. I waited extra time becuase I was so "generous" with the silicon and it was very thick.

MY FINISHED TANK...

CONSTRUCTION

Curing in back yard with bricks holding the wall down.

Top view of installed Universal Background wall.

Air hose showing exit from behind wall and pipe glued to hold it down.

Egg crate and air stone

MY FINISHED TANK... MORE PICTURES OF IT TEN POSTS DOWN because apparently I have reached my picture limit in this post

[Mattnshez]

Nice work

keep the pics coming

[robdog013]

beautiful

[m0oks]

Good job

I can't wait to see it up and running.

[FlashieFront]

Me to cant wait to see what u put in it. Nice job

[D6C1]

Great job! keep us updated!

[MVP]

Very nice... very very nice... I hope it comes out as good as it looks like its going to because im sure it will help sway alot of people who arent quite sure about them, because now they know with a little bit of added effort can pay off

What did you use to create the vent sections?

[marshes]

fwiw,

I have a universal background and siliconed it to the back of my fish tank. It has been up and running for over a year without a problem.

So although i think this is a great idea if you have the time i hope it doesnt turn people off getting one of these backgrounds as going to these lengths may not be nessarcy.

Anyway, i too watch with interest.

[fongyfong]

fwiw,

I have a universal background and siliconed it to the back of my fish tank. It has been up and running for over a year without a problem.

So although i think this is a great idea if you have the time i hope it doesnt turn people off getting one of these backgrounds as going to these lengths may not be nessarcy.

Anyway, i too watch with interest.

Same i got one 2 in my 4 footer and gonna put one in my future 6 footer, i think these are awesome backgrounds! i wont be hiding the filter in my 6 footer behind the background, cant be buggeRed and the way ill be hiding the heater is buy getting an external heater, anways show us pix when ur finished

[Willy Wombat]

Yes - looking forward to the pix of the end result. A+ for effort!

[spedwards]

Looking good, I think you've taken some lessons from my efforts and improved on them. At the time I hadn't thought about putting airstones in the tank, so now that I've added them I have hoses in view (damn!). Can't wait to see what's going in there, have you started thinking about the rest of the aquascaping and what inhabitants will be going in there?

As suggested by fongyfong, I opted for the external heater but if I'd thought about the PVC pipe as you've done I may have gone down that path. I do have questions over how well the heater will heat the entire tank in it's location but, only time will tell.

The other thing I've been thinking is how effective the airstones will be releasing air in a location with minimal water surface area. Without being a boffin I can't really comment, but as far as I've always been taught, the greater the surface area available the better the gas exchange will be.

So although i think this is a great idea if you have the time i hope it doesnt turn people off getting one of these backgrounds as going to these lengths may not be nessarcy.

I don't think that it would have such an affect on people at all, in fact it should have quite the opposite. It's people that go the extra mile that give everyone something to strive for, without such efforts there is likely to be no innovation beyond having no tank background. It took someone to say "hey my tank looks like crap with the wall behind" to think about putting a backing up, and so on until we've reached the awesome 3D backgrounds from Universal Rocks and Back to Nature.

[signit]

THE FINISHED TANK YEAH!

Filters under the tank... did mention I made this stand and hood

Side view... I have not covered the siliconed area with black contact to hide it yet.

Tank with the blue "marine-glo" on only.

End View

My fishy friends looking happy about their new home

One thing I had not thought about that dissappointed me a little is that the glass gives an internal reflection into the silicon behind the wall when looking into the tank. This is a physics refraction issue that couldonly be fixed by using black glass in the sides of the tank

Now that this project is finished... I have to decide if it is worth doing it again for my other tank (3 x 2.5ft)

[signit]

fwiw,

I have a universal background and siliconed it to the back of my fish tank. It has been up and running for over a year without a problem.

So although i think this is a great idea if you have the time i hope it doesnt turn people off getting one of these backgrounds as going to these lengths may not be nessarcy.

Anyway, i too watch with interest.

I would have just siliconed mine in aswell if I had not seen Spedwards effort. Then I started googling and found some discussions about whether or not water would go "bad" behind a sealed wall. (I want someone to design backgrounds that are solid and have a flat back so you can just stick them down.. like a universal one but filled to a flat back)

I think that the extra effort to do what I have done has involved about 3 hours of extra thinking and about 1 hour of extra doing ... it was actually pretty easy.... sticking the background down and trying to cover the silicon with was by far the hardest part.

[spedwards]

The air is being release into the tank with large airstones like usual as I like the look of bubbles in the water and the movement of water they create... the PVP pipe is only designed so I can thread the air tubing to the bottom of the tank where the air hose comes out under the gravel at the bottom... is just saves running the hose in the corner of the tank and hides it... in my experience air pipe needs replacing every few years.. this pipe will make it easy to replace or add more at a later stage.

Fair enough, wasn't sure if that was your plan or not! Sounds good to me then.

[Dreamwater]

I want someone to design backgrounds that are solid and have a flat back so you can just stick them down.. like a universal one but filled to a flat back

Has anyone tried filling one of the universla bg's prior to installation? perhaps using something like that foam in a can that hardens, or perhaps something like a rubber?

Be interested to know the outcomes...

[spedwards]

Not sure about completely filling in a Universal Rocks background, i think the biggest trouble would be finding something that would be suitable and not break down.

The Back to Nature backgrounds are solid plastics designed with mounting surfaces, this (LINK) install guide gives you a good view of how they work. You'll also note in one of the pictures the heater in a similar compartment to what you have used, signit.

[signit]

Not sure about completely filling in a Universal Rocks background, i think the biggest trouble would be finding something that would be suitable and not break down.

The Back to Nature backgrounds are solid plastics designed with mounting surfaces, this (LINK) install guide gives you a good view of how they work. You'll also note in one of the pictures the heater in a similar compartment to what you have used, signit.

I got a quote from the Australian distributor of Back To Nature for one for my tank (a rock wall one)... it was over $1000

Hence the $280 universal background.

[spedwards]

Agreed, very expensive!

[MVP]

those prices make you want to paint the back black......

[fongyfong]

Looking good, I think you've taken some lessons from my efforts and improved on them. At the time I hadn't thought about putting airstones in the tank, so now that I've added them I have hoses in view (damn!). Can't wait to see what's going in there, have you started thinking about the rest of the aquascaping and what inhabitants will be going in there?

As suggested by fongyfong, I opted for the external heater but if I'd thought about the PVC pipe as you've done I may have gone down that path. I do have questions over how well the heater will heat the entire tank in it's location but, only time will tell.

The other thing I've been thinking is how effective the airstones will be releasing air in a location with minimal water surface area. Without being a boffin I can't really comment, but as far as I've always been taught, the greater the surface area available the better the gas exchange will be.

So although i think this is a great idea if you have the time i hope it doesnt turn people off getting one of these backgrounds as going to these lengths may not be nessarcy.

I don't think that it would have such an affect on people at all, in fact it should have quite the opposite. It's people that go the extra mile that give everyone something to strive for, without such efforts there is likely to be no innovation beyond having no tank background. It took someone to say "hey my tank looks like crap with the wall behind" to think about putting a backing up, and so on until we've reached the awesome 3D backgrounds from Universal Rocks and Back to Nature.

i think he wast talking about hiding the filters and heater and such behind the background, that ppl dont necceary have to do it when installing these backgrounds, but im with you if somoene wants to put a little more effort in hiding it then go for it, i would but cant be buggeRed

[spedwards]

Yeah, I understand that and was just using it as an example.

Any further updates on progress? Surely it's been 7 days since siliconing, you should have fish in there by now

[signit]

Edited... I move the pictures further up.

[D6C1]

I like!!! Now fill it up with water and let us see it in action!

[MVP]

Don't rush the man.... Otherwise he might fill it too soon and the background will just flop off then we lose interest and he has a crappy looking tank

I'm just wondering though ... Will the heater get a good reading for the water tempreture being surrounded by PVC pipe which is likely to insulate around the heater?

[KIMO]

Once the tank is running, it won't take long to figure out the right heat setting for the heater. Since we're in our Summer season, it will be likely that you won't need your heater too much anyway (for now at least).

When it starts getting colder and the heater becomes necessary all you may need to do is to run it at a slightly higher temp. setting to make sure all of the tank is heated. Just make sure to keep your thermometer in the main swimming section of the tank at the opposite corner from the heater to give you a good guide of general tank temperature and not just what's around the heater area.

Great job so far!!!

KimO.