ok noddy, ive read your thread but i had another idea, we have heaps of large tiles that fit our thank perfectly, so we used them for the base,

then we got some water based acrylic dry render and styled our designs onto the tiles,

we will leave them to dry for 2-7 days then apply some acrylic paint,

is there a correct auarium paint you have to use, because ive got leftover acrylic paint we used on the giprocking outside but im guessing thers a specific paint im ment to use.

these are all left over building materials from building the house. so i wont be to disapointed if this doesnt work.

your thoughts on my projectwill be appreciated.

ok, im painting them with acrilic paint then

these ar the origional tiles we started with
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this is the acrylic render
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this is what it looked like 2 days later
http://

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this is the first paint we used, for colour, water based natural
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this is what it looked like 2 hours later

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ok, tommorrow were going to do new ones, because i didnt consider roughness, i will do them so there smooth not rough.

make sure that everything you are using is safe for aquariums, or food safe!!!

there's a thread by BigGameHunter inside my background thread.
He uses a similar technique, if i'm right.
All i can say is, go with Nicki's advice and be safe!

alright guys, scrap some of that. weve done it much better now.
we still used tiles but instead of shaping a background we used a thin layer of render and threw a good 5kg of small grave onto them.

Sounds cool, i wonder how that looks.

noddy, yours is great but much more complicated and difficult. i chose this way because mainly i didnt buy anything, it was ours already. yours however looks much much better, i would have to throw alot of money into it and eventuall be as costly as ones at the lfs.

im going to leave it weathering outside in rain and sunlight(mostly rain in summer) for around 5 weeks. btw noddy you used some pretty chemically sought of things didnt you?

i was told the render would be safe for and aquarium so i will leave it out just to make sure

epoxy is verry toxic when not completley dried, but once its dry its 100% aquarium and fish safe.
Biggest downside to doeing a background like mine, is that it has to be made befor you can fill the tank up with water.Your idea will probably fit into the tank while its running.

thats what im hoping, i can just fit them in because the fit perfectly into the tank, then i wont need to glue it on.