75 Gallon 3D Turtle Aquarium Background

Hey guys, so I've had a little turtle for the past few months, and it's been begging for a tank upgrade. To help the little guy out I decided to move my stream fish out of their 75 and use that as my new turtle tank. I knew from the get-go that I wanted a 3D background. So, I did some research to find what exactly my Ouchita Map Turtle's preferred habitat was. It seems that they prefer sandy or silty bottoms and are primarily found in the Mississippi. But, from both experience and a bit of asking around, they seem to really prefer a stream environment whenever they have access to it. So, I decided to replicate SE MN streams in his tank. I based the background off of the oh-so-common undercut, muddy, sandy banks you can find around where I live and went from there. I began carving (Using mostly a hot knife, but a serrated for small details) immediately. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of any stages until the last, but I will explain it as best I can.

So, after I had finished carving I applied my first coat. I used white Drylok as the base (4 cups) and added Quikrete dyes (1/4 cup red and 1/16 cup brown). I let this dry for a few days to makes sure it was good to go. I used all of the extra left over from the front to coat the side and back twice to ensure it was nice and strong. I wouldn't add any more than that for fear of stretching the dimensions.

The next coat once again used the Drylok as a base (4 cups), to which I added brown Quikrete dye (1/8 cup brown). I covered up most of the red, purposely skipping over the deep crevasses so they would retain the red.

For the third coat I used what was left of the brown (About 2 1/2 cups) and added Brown (About 3/16 or so). It wasn't dark enough, but my father told me that if I were to add too much of the pigment it would destroy the Drylok, so I decided to add Acrylic into the mix. I used Mars Black (About 2 1/2-3 teaspoons). At this point I felt it was sufficiently dark enough, so I applied it, being sure to skip over even the more shallow crevasses.

Once that dried, I moved on to the last coat. I used a similar mix to the second coat, but added some yellow acrylic until I had the sandy color I was looking for. Then, using a natural sponge, I would take a little bit of the paint, dab it off on a paper plate, then lightly dab it onto the background. This is what really made it look amazing. So, I'll post some pictures of where I'm at right now!

So, here's a full background shot, including the plumbing.
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Here's some details, flash on and off, and different spots.
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I had to cut it into pieces (Pre-painting) to get it to fit. I cut the big piece I had to cut in half at an angle to make it easier to blend.
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Here's the back and sides.
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Here's the spraybar.
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And here's the intake to the SunSun Canister Filter.
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maybe I missed it, how to you intend to keep the locked in/submerged? That is a lot of boyant foam there.

A whole lot of silicone! Ha!

After some additional searching, I've decided to cut some holes in the back and fill them with rocks to help hold the background down. Thanks NVCichlids, I could've had a mess!

Wow I'm very impressed! I bought a 3d background for my 10 gallon but don't want to spend the money for my 75 gallon.Sadly my diy skills are very weak

Mine are too! It's actually not all that hard! Just a lot of time.

Are you going to seal it? I saw a person seal Quick-rete with Aquamix Penetrating Sealer in this video:

They later had problems because their fish ate chunks out of the styrofoam. I'm not sure if turtles are compatible with styrofoam or if they eat it.

I would expect turtle claws to be pretty hard on styro.

Yeah. Here's a guy who did exactly what I did but with Diamonback Terrapins, which tend to have longer nails, and it seemed to work out well.

i did a 10 gal with quickcrete only, no issues now 7 years later.

I would've loved to use concrete, but I just can't really afford the associated mess!

So, I added two rocks into the back, I'll be gluing the background in tonight, i'll post some more pictures, and then in a few days I should have it ready to go!

Well, I've got a big update! I'll start from where I left off and go up until now, since it is cycled and has my turtle in it!

So, here's a picture of what I did to seal it up really well using Great Stuff expanding foam.

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I filled all of the gaps, then trimmed them down before sealing over it with silicone.

I then decided to repaint an old aquarium decoration that had shed it's resin. I did the same process, but skipped the first, lighter coat of brown due to time, but it turned out fine!

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So, now that that was done, I set up the tank, let it cycle, and now, here it is, full, clear, and inhabited by my little turtle Timothy. (Due to it's location it is impossible to get a full tank shot, but I did my best!)

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Well, I hope you guys liked the build! I'm open for any questions you may have!

Edited by Yeahson421, 09 April 2013 - 02:59 PM.

I like your work and especially like the fact that you provided a first class residence to "Timmy" ! Where did you get the thick block of styro ? Cannot seem to find the really thick stuff around here...

Rich

Ha, thank you! And my dad owns a construction company, which made it easy, but otherwise I would've just had to use the thinner stuff.

ok, thanks...guess I'll keep scrounging ! LOL !

ok, thanks...guess I'll keep scrounging ! LOL !

You can silicone multiple thin sheets of styrofoam together to make a thick one.

Yeahson, ya gonna laugh...papa (me) has been selected to produce a functional "Sponge Bob" turtle tank for a slider ! Bhahahahah !!!! Seems the little one's mama (step daughter of sorts) found, caught, and brought home a red ear...the fam wants to keep the little rascal, and, further more the baby, a sponge bob fanatic, is the proud new owner...

on the one you just built...did you use the "manheim" (spelling ?) filter set up ? Aside from that kind of filter, in your opinion, what would be a suitable filter for a hatchling red ear in a 10 gallon (for about a year)...will have a basking area and light, and maybe a companion hatchling turtle...also a couple two or three small comets...keep in mind this will be a "Sponge Bob" theme !! The decor I've got handled, I just wanna make sure it is WELL filtered !!!

Rich

Haha! That's great! I did not use the Hamburg Mattenfilter on this 75 gallon, but I have on a few other tanks. The first thing that comes to mind is using spongebob himself as a sponge filter! You can get the sponges from Swiss Tropicals and cut them to whatever size you want.

Lololol at myself...manheim, really !? Lol, one of these days I'll get the nomenclature mastered ! Went with an in tank cartridge style power filter....tank came out fine, at least by the reaction of a one year old ! His approval is what mattered !

Rich

Ha! Sounds great!