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this is my first tank with a styrofoam background i used mosiac tile grout and sand for the color/cover .its a 55gALLON TANK .
i plan to put a single or pair of ackies in it . let me know what ya think .

Nice work! Came out good. I'm starting work on my Red Ear Slider Pond next week. Its gonna be an indoor one...really cool...

How long did it take?

well , i did it over a couple days but really i took me a few hours to do the syrofoam , i messed up a couple times used the torch and screwed up . then a few days later the tile grout and sand to cover it took about an hour or so , i took my time trying to make it look real and not fake with the lines you get by using thinkgs to spread the grout out . i just did a 10gallon last might probly took 2 hours . good luck

Looks great! Got a few questions though. What materials did you use exactly? Tile grout?
Is this material non toxic, does it soak up moisture, will it hold any smell?
I'm going to post a message with details of what i'd like to do...
Thankyou
Red

the main backing is styrofoam , i used a silicon to hold it to the tank , then i used a torch to shape it , then a spoon to scrape off the melted junk , vacuum all the excess . the grout i used is stuff from home dept , mixed in a little sand . i mixed with just water , it dryed hard as a rock , althought im sure i could break it . after i spred out the tile grout it sprinkled sand to make the solid color no more . the grout was rated indoor out door use so i think it will be durable .

sean

Thankyou so much, that sounds wonderful. Now i've got to try it. I've been wanting to do something a bit more exciting with my tanks and that sounds like the way to go

Thankyou again
Red

it took me less than a half hour to cut the styrofoam . about an hour to shape it with a torch and use a spoon to get the burnt stuff off the top . then a few days later it took about and hour to spread the grout real nice and i used a salt shaker to dust the top with sand . just take your time . if you use a torch to make the shape on the styrofoam - do it out side away from windows , burning styrofoam puts out some nasty smoke and its toxic for you to breath . take your time and dont use the torch in one spot or youll burn it thru.

good luck

Wow thats nice looks so real.Do you think the ackies will tear it up?
Bianca

im not sure but ill find out . i think it will be hard enough for them not to plus its not angled so they would have a hard time if they were trying to climb it . so i think it will be ok . ill probly have a single in there unless i can get a really good deal on 2 babys .

sean

Awsome idea. Where did you get the foam from. A guy i know built a cage like that. He used bark like you get in a pet store and put fiber glass resin in it. It looks good. I like your idea better.

>>this is my first tank with a styrofoam background i used mosiac tile grout and sand for the color/cover .its a 55gALLON TANK .
>>i plan to put a single or pair of ackies in it . let me know what ya think .
>>
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Thomas Jones
aligatorhunter@earthlink.net

Tiger Retics Rule!!

Go to the hardware store and look for a can of "great stuff" foam. Get the non expanding kind, or spray a little of the triple expanding on. Then you can shave it down to the shape you want, and then coat it as described in another reply. Thats how I did it.