Ok, since I always enjoy checking out everyone else’s construction journals I decided to post one myself. This is sort of an experimental viv I have built to test out some new background material, so here goes.
I built my first viv not to long ago (8 months) with the typical false bottom and the black great stuff like foam from Dr. Fosters and Smith covering it with black silicon and coco fiber. I was not at all thrilled with the amount of work and trouble involved with trying to achieve a good cover with GS, then silicon and coco fiber. The background look good, but it was a hassle to work with and to get any plants to grow on it I needed to cut out pockets for soil mixes to go into.
So I started thinking of ways create a background that would not involve the GS, and might provide better growth support for plants. Enter my experiences with aquariums, and management of a large retail pet store where “new” products were always being peddled. I recalled a product I had seem for use as a three dimensional background in aquariums made out of an open celled black foam.
So I began the search. Phone calls to local mattress stores found the foam available but the price was to say the least…EXSPENSIVE. So I turned to the great guru of the modern world, Google, and started searching.
Found: Rob Duncan at
Bob’s Foam Factory
Bob's Foam Factory, Inc.
Phone: 800-270-2420
Fax: 510-657-2423
Rob was a very very nice guy and a real help in determining my needs for the back ground. We talked about the really open cell black foam used for aquarium filters and speaker covers, but the price was again high. So Rob Suggested ‘3412 Black’ foam, open celled foam with a kind of charcoal color, and sent me a sample free of charge. The sample arrived and it was exactly what I was looking for. I ordered a piece about 3’ by 5’ by 3” thick to allow for depth in shaping the background. With shipping this whole package cost about $70. Before you all say this is expensive think of a couple of things. At the least this piece will cover a 3’ by 5’ back ground. At the most, if split down the center of the 3” depth that background could be double the size!
So here comes the trial build. I used a ten gallon standard tank for price, and to not use up to much background. I wanted a false bottom and to try for a drip wall. So I started by cutting out a section of the foam needed to cover the back wall length wise of the tank. Then using a marker I began to out line my design idea on the foam and started shaping the foam.
It is very easy to tear the foam and in my opinion creates a better more natural look and texture than cutting the foam with an exacto. So with the base shapes torn out of the foam I used some of the scrap pieces to build up the front in places I wanted plants and the drip wall.
With the front built up and the silicon holding the pieces on dry, I started to cover the piece with regular clear silicon and coco fiber. This is the same as with GS only it is much easier to apply to the foam since the foam is soft allowing you to press the silicon into cracks, and the foam readily accepts the silicon unlike the GS. As you can see I created some pockets, lower right, top left, as well as out of sight along the top of the shelves, to hold some planting media.
With the background dry I trial fit the piece in the ten gallon over the false bottom.
With the background fit to the tank, it fit in the pump, Micro-Jet MC 320 from Drs. F&S, into the base with tubing running up the tank wall behind the foam into a trough torn into the top ledge on the foam right under the lid level. I poked holes and fed rigid airline through the foam to where I wanted the drips to fall from, but this turned out to be unneeded in the end since once the foam became saturated it allowed water to flow through where ever gravity took it.
Now one month later the tank is doing great! The plants have taken off, I wish this were a bigger tank they are out growing the space, and the drip wall is still dripping. The plants have been rooting right into the background, and are beginning to cover the space. It is hard to see but the drip wall is in the left third of the tank, where in the dry photos you can see the left overhang come down to a point.
Let me know what you think of the tank, it is for sale by the way. I am moving across the country shortly and I can’t take my tanks with me. My wife says moving critters 3500 miles is not on the priority list so I will get to start fresh when I get to the east coast. So for the whole shoot’in match, tank, pump, lid, background, plants, sorry no light, and if you live in the Northern California region, this can all be yours for only $50. Send me a PM if you would like it.
I hope that this new background idea works out for you that try it out as well. I think it is hundreds of times better than the GS background for creative ability and ease of use.
Build Journal/ Background trial photos!
Linear Mode
