Niels D
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2011
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- 1,215
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- Location
- A little village called Terheijden
- Country
- Netherlands
I've posted a build topic before, but in the end I didn't like the result. That's why I removed the background which I made in topic http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...c/86656-making-background-another-method.html. I ended up with this:
So it's possible to remove a background which is made into your tank while grout was used to fill in the crevices. Had to scrape off the grout residu and remove the sealant a little to get me this:
It already was an old tank, so it's got a couple of scratches. As long as it's waterproof I'm not complaining about a tank which I got for free.
The first step was to get me a piece of roof insulation which fitted in the tank. I'm using a kind of insulation which is a hard kind of foam (couple of brands: Kingspan, Roofmate and Renova). It's not cheap, but you can find second hand foam plates on the internet most of the time. You can alter the size easily using a saw. This step is easy of course:
You can start carving the plate into a desireable form straight away, but I wanted a little more depth. I glued on a couple of pieces using silicone sealant. The idea was to let the exhaust of the water pump end in a puddle above the water surface of the main area. Shaped the pieces a little using a kitchen knife.
I still didn't glue the background into the tank. First I wanted to shape it out of the tank so it's easy to reach everything. Using a little sharp knife I got the shape which I wanted. I ended the proces rubbing everything tightly with a rough brush. On the first picture you can see the difference between the fully shaped part on the left and the unfinished part on the right. Second picture shows you the result.
Now it was time to fix the tubing for the water pump. Made a little ditch into the back for the tubing and the cable for the pump. Glued the tubing into place. On the second picture you can see the end of the tubing, the future exhaust of the pump. It's placed above the puddle which I carved out. The other end of the tube has got to reach the front, so I had to remove a little piece of the background at the bottom.
I then added three layers of thin grout mixed with little concrete bonder adhesive (brands: Flevopol, ACE concrete bonder, Quikrete) which makes it more flexible and strong. Let it dry for a day to let it harden. It already starts to look like rock.
Next step is colouring. If you start with a light colour and let it dry, you can add a darker colour which you have to wash of with a wet piece of cloth so this darker colour only sticks on the less portruding pieces of the background. Adding a even darker colour has to be washed off even more. In the end you can use a mix, thin as water, with black "tile grout" which you have to wash off almost entirely so it sticks only deep within the crevices. For each new layer you have to wait until everything is dry off course. In the end you can add lighter colours using a brush of course. Be creative and do not hesitate to experiment.
Differen styles can be made using different techniques:
Stick the pump in a plastic container and fill everything with sponges. You can hide this underneath the sand or substrate.
I use river sand as a substrate. I've added some rocks as well to keep the containter in place. Then I added water and some plants. It's too bad I can't seem to take a good picture after the tank is finished. The vid isn't very good either, but I guess you can see how the result looks like. It's a pretty easy method and it's also fun to do.
New tank H.orientalis - YouTube
So it's possible to remove a background which is made into your tank while grout was used to fill in the crevices. Had to scrape off the grout residu and remove the sealant a little to get me this:
It already was an old tank, so it's got a couple of scratches. As long as it's waterproof I'm not complaining about a tank which I got for free.
The first step was to get me a piece of roof insulation which fitted in the tank. I'm using a kind of insulation which is a hard kind of foam (couple of brands: Kingspan, Roofmate and Renova). It's not cheap, but you can find second hand foam plates on the internet most of the time. You can alter the size easily using a saw. This step is easy of course:
You can start carving the plate into a desireable form straight away, but I wanted a little more depth. I glued on a couple of pieces using silicone sealant. The idea was to let the exhaust of the water pump end in a puddle above the water surface of the main area. Shaped the pieces a little using a kitchen knife.
I still didn't glue the background into the tank. First I wanted to shape it out of the tank so it's easy to reach everything. Using a little sharp knife I got the shape which I wanted. I ended the proces rubbing everything tightly with a rough brush. On the first picture you can see the difference between the fully shaped part on the left and the unfinished part on the right. Second picture shows you the result.
Now it was time to fix the tubing for the water pump. Made a little ditch into the back for the tubing and the cable for the pump. Glued the tubing into place. On the second picture you can see the end of the tubing, the future exhaust of the pump. It's placed above the puddle which I carved out. The other end of the tube has got to reach the front, so I had to remove a little piece of the background at the bottom.
I then added three layers of thin grout mixed with little concrete bonder adhesive (brands: Flevopol, ACE concrete bonder, Quikrete) which makes it more flexible and strong. Let it dry for a day to let it harden. It already starts to look like rock.
Next step is colouring. If you start with a light colour and let it dry, you can add a darker colour which you have to wash of with a wet piece of cloth so this darker colour only sticks on the less portruding pieces of the background. Adding a even darker colour has to be washed off even more. In the end you can use a mix, thin as water, with black "tile grout" which you have to wash off almost entirely so it sticks only deep within the crevices. For each new layer you have to wait until everything is dry off course. In the end you can add lighter colours using a brush of course. Be creative and do not hesitate to experiment.
Differen styles can be made using different techniques:
Stick the pump in a plastic container and fill everything with sponges. You can hide this underneath the sand or substrate.
I use river sand as a substrate. I've added some rocks as well to keep the containter in place. Then I added water and some plants. It's too bad I can't seem to take a good picture after the tank is finished. The vid isn't very good either, but I guess you can see how the result looks like. It's a pretty easy method and it's also fun to do.
New tank H.orientalis - YouTube