Constructing A 3/D Rock Background For Your Aquarium

Day One August 25, 2003

One of my other passions besides fishing is Aquariums, I have been through just about any kind of aquarium you can think of except African Cichlids. I spent thirty years or so in saltwater, twenty of that being live Coral Reef tanks..After a bad fall five years ago and hip and pelvis reconstruction and knee surgery a year after that, the salwater has became a big chore to take care of.. The last draw came just recently with the knee having to be operated on again. To make a long story short, I broke down my 110 Oceanic Reef and am now in the process of constructing a 3/D rock background to make the new Cichlids feel at home.. I will be posting a picture tutorial here on how I am doing this and the progress..

    Here is a list of material you will need!
  1. 3" styrofoam, mine was 3" thick x 24 " wide x 96" long
  2. Silicone in tubes and a caulking gun, I figure on four tubes
  3. A thin piece of plywood cut to the exact size of the back of your tank.
  4. Assorted knives for carving
  5. Small butane torch
  6. Bag of Quickrete Quickwall
  7. Bag of Quickrete play sand
  8. Bag of concrete color, I used black
  9. Place to work outside, this makes a mess
  10. Gloves and an old paint brush or two
  11. Lots of patience

Day One

This is my first attempt at this sort of background so I will be learning as I go..Below are the pictures of the first afternoon into the construction, you have to remember, I am still on crutches from the knee surgery and can only stand for short periods without a break..

Below is the styrofoam sheets, I purchased three of them from Cassity Jones Lumber Co. just in case, cost was $18.00

foam

I am building the background in three pieces to allow me to fit it in the tank because of the glass brace in the middle of the tank, here is the left side piece with two layers of styrofoam glued to each other using the Silicone sealant. I used a flat piece of plastic to spread out the Silicone then just lay the next piece on top and weight it down. Needs to cure for 12 hours before proceeding to the carving.

left side

Here is the first carvings on the right side piece after the Silicone has cured overnight, just using my imagination. On the sides the rocks will vary in depth from 1/2" to 6", I plan on the center rock to be as much as 9" thick, I know this eats up tank space but I think the effect will be worth it..

right side

Here is the carving on the left side piece.
Left side

Below is yours truely cutting out some styrofoam with one of the knives I used.

Me

Now we are starting some progress. Remember I started this on Monday afternoon and this pic was made Tuesday morning. This pic shows how the carving on the right side looks after using the Bernzomatic mini butane torch to go over the styrofoam and heat it slightly. Caution shoild be used here as it only takes a bit of heat to go a long way, you can use a hair drier for this. This step really makes the styro look like rocks..

After the torch!

Well, I had to stop on the project as I decided to make the center piece another layer thicker and I will have to wait for the Silicone to cure before any carving is done. I will update again tommorow.

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