DIY 3D Styrofoam Aquarium Background with DIY Roots - US Native Stream Tank

[Chasmodes]

The next steps were to glue it all in place. In this pic, I traced the wall with a sharpie, so I knew where the glue would end. I used silicone, 9 tubes, if I remember right. A lot of silicone was needed to secure this much foam so it doesn't become unglued and float up. The structure also fits tightly in place, with the rim of the tank and middle brace holding it in.

Lots of silicone on the back of each structure, and the sides of the ends that attach to the glass.

And also on the glass, more and more silicone. I didn't want this thing to separate from the glass.

After gluing everything in, I didn't like the gaps showing through from the back of the tank.

I did two things to fix it. Also, I didn't like the ugly silicone view from the side of the tank. So, I first painted Drylok mixed with charcoal color cement dye on the outside of the tank to cover up those spots. I also used black spray foam made for koi ponds and filled in the gaps in the wall from inside the tank.

Next, the faux sycamore roots.

 

[Chasmodes]

I searched pictures of sycamore tree roots along river banks to see if I could find any that I'd like to model. I took some of my own pics too. I found this one that seemed perfect. Notice the kind of cave that it forms that would be perfect to hide my Koralia power head.

I started off with a PVC frame held together with zip ties:

Then, I zip tied some rope to give it a more rounded form, and also some tree like structures, like a knot and also a root that had a damaged area. I used foam board scraped with a wire brush sandwiched between rope to get that effect.

For smaller branches, I slide aquarium tubing over thick wire and zip tied them into place.

Once I had the structure that I wanted, I used spray foam to give it more bulk, then carved it away for a more natural flow and appearance.

After that, for more bulk, and to hide the PVC joint features, to get rid of unnatural straight lines and joints, I applied plaster wrap to the entire structure.

I wasn't happy with the size of the knot hole, so, I made it bigger.

 

[Chasmodes]

More foam, for more bulk, then carved it away for a free flowing root structure.

Fitted into the tank.

Next, I applied grout over the entire structure, to add more bulk and form, durability, and to seal in everything underneath.

After it dried, I painted it with Drylok mixed with cement dye.

I kept adding layers of different colors until I got the look that I wanted. The first layers were brushed on thick, to seal everything in. After that, the highlighting was done using a sponge. I started with dark first, and progressed with lighter layers dabbed on with the sponge.

Fitted into the tank.

 

[Chasmodes]

Now that the roots and wall were done, I wanted to seal everything in, so I purchased an epoxy clear coat from Polygem (they sell to museums and aquariums). I mixed it up and applied a layer to both the roots and the wall.

 

[Chasmodes]

Now it was time to set up the tank. I wanted to get gravel and water in it to test the wall and roots to make sure that they didn't float. I collected gravel from a creek that was close to my home, washed and screened it, and put it in the tank. I also collected river rocks from my local river that I thought looked cool, and placed them in the tank. I filled it up and everything seemed great. Except, the roots floated just a little bit, enough that it blocked the spray bar. So, I drained the tank.

I drilled holes in the root and stand pipe and zip tied the roots to the stand pipe tightly. That worked great. Now, if I have to access the stand pipe for cleaning, I need to cut this zip tie, pull out the roots, and do the work, then, replace it all again with a new zip tie. No big deal.

I filled up the tank, rescaped the rocks, and everything worked perfectly. The roots didn't float any longer, and the wall was tighter than tight with a great fit.

After that, I rescaped the tank to it's current form, revamped my spray bar, set up the canister filter, and added fish. One of the vids that I posted earlier shows the spray bar.

Here's a video showing the carving technique that I used to create the wall:

Thank you for following, and once again, many thanks to the_deeb and HX67!

 

[BichirKing]

excellent write up!

 

[Chicxulub]

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!

What a wonderful thread! I adore this. Thank you so much for this post, I find this to be quite inspiring

 

[Schniz]

Great looking tank! Thanks for sharing all the step by step instructions with pics. Something I definitely want to try now.

 

[Chasmodes]

Thank you BicherKing, Chicxulub, and Schniz!

Just an FYI, it took me over three years to accomplish this. But, most of that time was wasted time, between me being busy with other hobbies, other tank builds, and such. But, also because every time I ran into a problem, I overthought it and toiled with the solution. Eventually, I just had to go for it. This year, I made a ton of progress and was determined to get some fish in this tank! I am so excited! I learned a lot along the way.

I guess if I had to start from scratch, I could do it again over the course of a few weeks or month. The work isn't that complicated that it takes that long, but, it takes a long time for stuff to dry. Gorilla Glue, for example, took about 2 hours between each board or piece glued. I had to wait for each layer of Drylok to dry, for the spray foam to finish expanding and cure, for the silicone to dry, for the grout to clear. See what I mean? But, as long as you're not in a hurry, give it a try.

One thing that is so important, that I forgot to say above is to make sure that you wear a protective glove, like a chef's glove, or a filet glove, when carving foam on the hand that you don't hold the knife with. I spent Christmas eve a couple years ago in the emergency room getting stitches after a slip up while carving one of the layers!

 

[fishhead0103666]

This certainly gives me ideas of say a 5’ x 5’ tank and on the sides you put the background you made to give it a Grand Canyon sort of look.

This is a fantastic build and I certainly appreciate the fact that you recorded the progress over the years without fail. Well done, this truly is wonderful.