First Construction - Start to Finish

[Nath5]

Hey Everyone I am sorry that it has been so long since my last post. I had to go back to school and was unable to bring the tank with me. However, I am now back at home again for the summer and have settled back into a summer internship. As such its back to work on the tank.

In my last post almost a year ago I had just received the Habicrete and since then I have applied several layers to the foam board and it is starting to look pretty good.

How I did it:
1. The habicrete calls for a mixture ratio of 3 (Habicrete) to 1 (water) however, I have found that adding more water makes the job much easier. The key is to keep mixing very frequently and adding a splash of water every three or so minutes to keep the mixture runny.
2. I used two paint brushes one large one and one small one. The large one was for covering big area and the small one for the cracks. I also had a pick tool which I used to clean up the cracks when they were filled in.
3. A third dry paint brush was used to brush the concrete once it had dried to clean up bumps and help smooth out the texture.
4. To help smooth out the cracks I used the small brush and a very watery mix of habicrete.
5. It will take several coats to cover all the foam completely.

Below are some pictures of the foam covered in habicrete.







I will have some more pictures coming soon, hopefully with better lighting.

Again sorry for being absent for so long.

[Nath5]

Does anyone have some advice on some aquarium safe paint that I can paint over the concrete.

Thanks,
Nathan

[beckdg]

krylon fusion

[Ma77hew7]

Nathan,
It's a bit belated, I just got caught up on your build. I know you had a compliment on it already, but... I just wanted to say that for your first construction, that is the best false bottom I've seen from a newbie!!! I'm no expert, but I was impressed w/ such a well thought out, built in stream bed in the false bottom. I'm sure it's partly due to the length of time, (I know all to well), that goes into well constructed fb's, ha ha. Never the less, top form!

[Nath5]

Originally Posted by Ma77hew7

Nathan,
It's a bit belated, I just got caught up on your build. I know you had a compliment on it already, but... I just wanted to say that for your first construction, that is the best false bottom I've seen from a newbie!!! I'm no expert, but I was impressed w/ such a well thought out, built in stream bed in the false bottom. I'm sure it's partly due to the length of time, (I know all to well), that goes into well constructed fb's, ha ha. Never the less, top form!

Thanks Ma77hew7, glad to hear you liked it. I am a bit of a perfectionist so I went very slowly trying to get everything right. I am pretty happy with how it turned out but I may have to carve away some of the black foam because it expanded more than I thought possible. My next challenge on the stream bed is figuring out how to get the concrete to stick to it as it is very smooth. Thanks for following my progress, feel free to chime in with suggestions or criticisms at any point.

-Nathan

[Nath5]

Originally Posted by beckdg

krylon fusion

Thanks beckdg I will take a look at that brand and see what they offer. Is this a product you have used in the past and if so how has it held up.

[Ma77hew7]

Originally Posted by Nath5

My next challenge on the stream bed is figuring out how to get the concrete to stick to it as it is very smooth.

All that you need to do is rough up the outside of the foam... Most of the time I carve it, but you can use sandpaper to get the crete to adhere as well.

[Nath5]

Today I did some more touching up of the concrete trying to make sure all the cracks and holes are covered. I have found that it is almost impossible to get the concrete into the fine cracks that I created in the foam. As such I have had to give up on many of the fine details, however, I am still pleased with how it looks.

The Short of It:
1. Don't carve deep thin cracks you won't be able to concrete them, instead have shallow gradual cracks.
2. Don't be a perfectionist, at some point you will have to stop concreting and then scratching it off because it wasn't perfect and move on. Don't worry it will still look good even if it isn't perfect.

Below are some more pictures of the back wall It is nearly ready for paint. Tomorrow when the most recent coat of concrete drys I will clean it up some more and then touch up a few last areas. I also need to work on blending the three pieces that make up the back wall together.

Here are some more pics, Enjoy and as always feel free to comment:

***The color disparity you see is the difference between the dry concrete and the areas I just touched up which are darker***

The Main Piece:


All three back pieces together (still need some work blending them together):

[Nath5]

More Questions about paint.

1. I looked at the Krylon products and they all appear to be spray paints. I guess in my head I imagined I would have to use something like a sponge and several different colors to get the natural look I want. Does any one have any pictures of things they have painted using Krylon?
2. If you didn't use Krylon what did you use, how did you apply it, how many colors, do you have links to the product and most importantly pictures of the final product.
3. I have seen several references to dry brushing to get a really natural look but not much info beyond that's the method they choose to go. Has anyone used this method and if so with what product.


Questions about Concrete / Paint
1. Does the concrete need to be sealed before applying the paint.
2. Does the paint need to be sealed.
3. Do i need to seal the back of the foam where there is no concrete to prevent bacteria from growing in all the little holes.


Thanks everyone for your help and encouragement,
Nathan

[beckdg]

i believe many of the answers you seek might be in here... my method of building fake / faux rocks