How do you make a background?

[Whistly]

I'm redoing the tank while my frogs hibernate and I was wondering what is used to make the background in all these amazing Dart frog tanks I keep seeing around I would love to make a background that looks natural and is climbable (I gather it is some kind of foam or cement).
What is it?
How do you make it?
Where can I get 'it' (whatever the mysterious item is)
Thanks to anyone who helps

[charizard988]

exspander foam on a cork or polysiyen board i think not to sure im guessing. then its silacone on it then coco fibre stuck on
or theres a clay one its a mixture or bits not sure on that though

[John]

The simplest natural background is/are panels of tree fern fiber. Silicone them to the glass and fill any gaps with substrate.

[MikeM670]

There are several methods for constructing a background for your vivarium. As John indicated the simplest option is to silicone a tree fern fiber or cork flat against the glass and fill in any gaps with silicone and coco fiber pressed into it.

More advanced backgrounds can be constructed with expanding foam in a can like Great Stuff or a Pond Rated Foam that is safe for fish and plants. You the cover the foam with silicone and a combination of any of the following, peat moss, coco fiber, wood chunks. The object here is to completely cover the foam with this material. With Great Stuff Building Foam it is a yellow/tan color and does not look very good. Pond foam is usually black in color. So you cover it with a brown or black color 100 percent silicone, (No mold inhibitors). Work each area by spreading the silicone and then cover with a generous layer of the peat moss or combination of stuff and press firmly into the silicone. With the pond foam the color is black so if you miss a area it makes very little difference.

The third method is the clay background made of kitty litter or bentonite clay. You want the pure clay kitty litter with no deodorizers added. You add this to a bucket and mix non chlorinated water with it. Let the mix soak for many hours, like overnight. The object here is to break down the kitty litter into smooth paste, Then add sphagnum moss, coco fiber and peat moss to the mixture. Mix it up well and you want a very thick sticky paste that will hold together very well and adheres to glass. Add it to the glass and press into place. Then press another layer of peat moss and other stuff into the clay. With clay you mist every day to keep the clay moist. I'd say within a few weeks you should start to see some moss growth on the clay surface.

Last you can make a background from the combination of all these and many more materials, such as cork rounds, driftwood, ect.

I hope this brief explanation of some methods will help you decide on what to do. I would suggest starting simpler if your ready to take a immediate plunge or do some research here and other forums, YouTube for how to videos or ask away.

[Whistly]

Thanks Michael you've given me a lot to think about. For the clay background do you have to spray it everyday?

[Ren]

Yes you have to spray it, maybe not every day, but if you don't the clay may dry out and crack and flake...

[bshmerlie]

Dart tanks are naturally moist anyways so its not usually an issue. As you mist your tank just make sure a little water gets to the background.

[Whistly]

I've decided to go with expanding foam then silicone it. I'm not sure when I will start it but soon hopefully. I already hit my first speed bump as it's an ex turtle tank the ramp was in it and as I'm turning it up straight the ramp won't be needed, so for about a week I've been attempting to cut it out but failed so today I put turps along the silicone the left it for about ten mins and it came out easy peasy.

[MikeM670]

Thanks Michael you've given me a lot to think about. For the clay background do you have to spray it everyday?

Sorry I missed your comment. I mist my tanks on average once a day but have skipped it if there was a large amount of water on the glass. My tanks maybe a bit too wet as I have rotted out a few bromeliad's.

[bshmerlie]

My tanks maybe a bit too wet as I have rotted out a few bromeliad's.

yeah that's my problem too. Broms can't be drowned and they need good ventilation and good lighting. I'm lacking in a few of those categories.

[MikeM670]

Yea its the ventilation that gets me on the dart tanks.

[Ren]

on most of the backgrounds and things I make, I make my foam background on egg crate light diffuser.. then trim to liking and then silicone to the tank.. for me its easy to work on and add to and so on.

while the tree didn't make the cut so to speak, this is also how my background is made.. the egg-crate stuff is on the back and its what my great-stuff is stuck to... on the tree all i did after this was, trim it down, cut off the excess egg crate stuff and then was going to cover.. but was too big and didn't seem "cool" enough to put in my tank.

[Peakone]

This video should help you in making tree root

[MikeM670]

Very nice demonstration of how to build the tree stump. I have been mulling over doing one for a vivarium myself.

[Ren]

Thanks for this... looks really cool and doable...

[Whistly]

I've done about half of the foam. It said 250ml made 12l I think they were being rather optemistic lol. So I need to get some more. Once I've done all the foam I'm going to cover it in a layer of aquarium safe silicone.

How do I get substrate to stick to it after the silicone layer has dried.

[Kreamcheese]

I've done about half of the foam. It said 250ml made 12l I think they were being rather optemistic lol. So I need to get some more. Once I've done all the foam I'm going to cover it in a layer of aquarium safe silicone.

How do I get substrate to stick to it after the silicone layer has dried.

You apply substrate to the wet silicone, and press firmly. This way when the silicone dries it has the substrate stuck on it.

[Whistly]

You apply substrate to the wet silicone, and press firmly. This way when the silicone dries it has the substrate stuck on it.

Ok thanks