Thou shalt not covet thy LFS's polyurethane foam backgrounds

[Jim Morcombe]

There were some earlier postings about making these.

If you are into DIY it would be fairly easy as long as you are patient and
not in a hurry.

Jim

CJ > wrote in message
...
> Is this an old topic? Did everyone but me know how expensive these were?
> These gorgeous, gorgeous backgrounds are about the prettiest things I've
> ever seen, but when he quoted me the cost to do my largest tank - I knew
in
> a crushing heartbeat I would never own one. I was thinking maybe,
possibly,
> because they are so beautiful and not very plentiful in my area, that
maybe
> they could expect up to $200 for the size I'd need, and for that I was
> braced, flinching over the thought of that amount, but since I loved them
so
> much, maybe I'd splurg after the next tax refund. Wow. It would take me
> years of tax refunds to afford one. Guess I'll go try to appreciate my
> ol'$9.95 paper background.
>
> Pity.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

[CJ]

Is this an old topic? Did everyone but me know how expensive these were?
These gorgeous, gorgeous backgrounds are about the prettiest things I've
ever seen, but when he quoted me the cost to do my largest tank - I knew in
a crushing heartbeat I would never own one. I was thinking maybe, possibly,
because they are so beautiful and not very plentiful in my area, that maybe
they could expect up to $200 for the size I'd need, and for that I was
braced, flinching over the thought of that amount, but since I loved them so
much, maybe I'd splurg after the next tax refund. Wow. It would take me
years of tax refunds to afford one. Guess I'll go try to appreciate my
ol'$9.95 paper background.

Pity.

[CJ]

Thanks. It's good to know that it might be possible, but I can't imagine
how I'd ever be able to make one so pretty. My creation would likely scare
the fish to death. But I may now start looking around for 'how-to'
articles, to see if it's anything I could undertake. Thanks.
-----------------------------------------------------
"Jim Morcombe" > wrote in message
...
> There were some earlier postings about making these.
>
> If you are into DIY it would be fairly easy as long as you are patient and
> not in a hurry.
>
> Jim
>
> CJ > wrote in message
> ...

[Harry Muscle]

"CJ" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks. It's good to know that it might be possible, but I can't imagine
> how I'd ever be able to make one so pretty. My creation would likely
scare
> the fish to death. But I may now start looking around for 'how-to'
> articles, to see if it's anything I could undertake. Thanks.
> -----------------------------------------------------
> "Jim Morcombe" > wrote in message
> ...
> > There were some earlier postings about making these.
> >
> > If you are into DIY it would be fairly easy as long as you are patient
and
> > not in a hurry.
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > CJ > wrote in message
> > ...
>
>
>

There's a site called Cichlid Inspiration (I think), that has a bunch of
articles and . Don't have the link, but that's what I think it was
called.

Harry




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[Bob]

maybe try this
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9954&Ne=40000&R=16751&N=2004+113146

3-d fiberglass background <$100

[~*~ Vosklady ~*~]

"Harry Muscle" > wrote in message
...

<<<<< snip >>>>
>
> There's a site called Cichlid Inspiration (I think), that has a bunch of
> articles and . Don't have the link, but that's what I think it
was
> called.
>
> Harry
>


"Cichlids Inspiration" . . . http://cichlidinspiration.net3services.com/

and some other DIY sites:

http://www.catfishheaven.net/day1.html

http://www.thekrib.com/TankHardware/janne.html

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_background.php

Hope This Helps! :)

Regards,

~*~ Vosklady ~*~

[CJ]

Thank you, Jim Morcombe, Harry Muscle, Vosklady and Bob. Looks like great
links and suggestions. I hope I can return the favor to you one day.
Thanks again. CJ
--------------------------------------------------
"Bob" > wrote in message
...
>
> maybe try this
>
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9954&Ne=40000&
R=16751&N=2004+113146
>
> 3-d fiberglass background <$100
>
>

[~*~ Vosklady ~*~]

"CJ" > wrote in message
...
> Thank you, Jim Morcombe, Harry Muscle, Vosklady and Bob. Looks like great
> links and suggestions. I hope I can return the favor to you one day.
> Thanks again. CJ

Hey CJ . . . :)

Hope the links work out for you, please let us know! :)

Regards,

~*~ Vosklady ~*~

[Alan Silver]

In message >, CJ
> writes
>Thanks. It's good to know that it might be possible, but I can't
>imagine how I'd ever be able to make one so pretty. My creation would
>likely scare the fish to death. But I may now start looking around for
>'how-to' articles, to see if it's anything I could undertake. Thanks.

Don't do yourself down. I just built one and it looks fantastic !! I'm
not artistic, but it's not as hard as you think. It's also very cheap
and pretty easy.

Have a look at http://fish.alansilver.co.uk/Mark3/background.asp where
you will find a very detailed account of what I did and what went wrong
(so you can make sure not to do the same !!).

Believe me, it's not hard and you can make a great looking background.

--
Alan Silver
PSG Fish Tanks - http://fish.alansilver.co.uk/

[CJ]

Alan: That IS a great looking background. BRAVO! And I'm so glad you
tried it again after the initial bad luck. Good for you and a good example
to the children you spoke of - perseverance and determinaiton DO pay off.

Thanks for the vote of encouragement. After viewing your good results and
from the article-links others kindly forwarded to me on the subject, I'm
confident I will someday attempt a small background (for a 10/gal, for
example) and learn from that experience. And if I'm still satisified with
not just looking at one but also with living with one after several months
of maintenance and appliance-use, then I'll probably move on to attempt a
large one.

Yours looks really wonderful. Thanks for letting me see how good a DIY-one
can turn out. AND according to the price I was quoted and judging by the
approximate size your tank looks to be, you can now pat your wallet and feel
as satisified as if someone had just handed you $300+.
-----------------------------------------
>
> Don't do yourself down. I just built one and it looks fantastic !! I'm
> not artistic, but it's not as hard as you think. It's also very cheap
> and pretty easy.
>

[Alan Silver]

In message >, CJ
> writes
>Alan: That IS a great looking background. BRAVO! And I'm so glad you
>tried it again after the initial bad luck. Good for you and a good example
>to the children you spoke of - perseverance and determinaiton DO pay off.

They had lots of fun watching and, er, helping !!

>Thanks for the vote of encouragement. After viewing your good results and
>from the article-links others kindly forwarded to me on the subject, I'm
>confident I will someday attempt a small background (for a 10/gal, for
>example) and learn from that experience. And if I'm still satisified with
>not just looking at one but also with living with one after several months
>of maintenance and appliance-use, then I'll probably move on to attempt a
>large one.

I would. It's very easy and very satisfying. Good idea to try it on a
small one first. The main thing is to make sure your polystyrene all
fits together well without gaps, and then to make sure you apply
generous amounts of epoxy to seal it well. Don't try to cut corners !!

>Yours looks really wonderful. Thanks for letting me see how good a DIY-one
>can turn out. AND according to the price I was quoted and judging by the
>approximate size your tank looks to be, you can now pat your wallet and feel
>as satisified as if someone had just handed you $300+.

The background size is effectively 48"x24" as it's two pieces roughly
24" square. From what I've seen, the posh backgrounds of that size are
very expensive !! Having said that, they look very good !!

Thanx for the nice words about the background. If only I could encourage
the fish to spend more time in the open and less in the caves !!

--
Alan Silver
PSG Fish Tanks - http://fish.alansilver.co.uk/