DIY polystyrene

Here are some beginning photos.

I bought polystyrene 1.2x0.6x0.2 x2 pieces as planned. They cut it for me at mica hardware to be sure it fits I got it cut 450mm wide by 560mm high.

Also got some wood for inbetween as support which will all be waterproofed with durapond.

After searching all morning for magnets ive given up with that idea for now... planning on making the bottom heavy and making a foot for each one out of stones.

 

Good luck, have fun.

 

Nice idea. The wood will give it some rigidity and prevent it from bending. I would at least put two coats of Durapond on the wood alone before attaching it to the polystyrene

 

some costs of things i bought this weekend

Stones L 20kg R58.95 from stodels
Stones m 5kg R26.95 from stodels
x2 handheld 90ml silicone tubes R18.90ea from osmans on gabriel road plumstead (hardware stores sell it for R32)
x1silicone gun R20 osmans
x2 polystyrene sheets R56.50ea mica hardware
x2 board off cuts R5ea mica hardware
x1 payment for cutting the poly and boards R5 mica hardware
x2 silicone tubes 280ml x2 @R36ea

total cost so far R323.70

i siliconed the polystyrene and the boards together this weekend. let me tell you this the handheld silicone tubes 90ml each are utterly useless you end up getting silicone all over the place! will not use again.

also if you plan on making a background as big as mine get x3tubes of 280ml silicone and put tons of the stuff on so it will not break apart later.

i will be working on the project again on wednesday morning and get more pictures for you guys. i need another tube or so of silicone to just finish up sticking the poly together
and then this weekend im hoping to go ahead with durapond painting :nuts: it already looks so good and has gotten me so excited. also getting the girlfriend involved in this build and she already said "ill let you do the siliconing for when you make mine because i cant stand the smell"....hahaha :suspicious:

 

When you have done the entire assembly, please give it a test run to see that it really does NOT float - polystyrene is NOTORIUS for making it's way to the top - even when stuck down with silicone - it's bouyancy properties are scary.

 

I'm curious as to how the polysterene is going to be carfed with a wooden piece in the middle though?

 

@eros111 - With enough silicone, the polystyrene should stay stuck onto the glass. After all, its stuck with the same bonding agent that your tank is put together with. All nodac has to do is apply a generous amount to the poly and then lay the tank flat and add some weight to apply pressure for overnight duration. Also @nodac, now that I think of it. That board is abit overkill. If anything, that board will bend/warp/swell first and slowly pull your poly off of whatever its stuck to or perhaps make gaps to where it once was attached.

 

Is the wood going INSIDE the tank - underwater??????

 

You could also try sliding steel, stainless steel, iron rods through the length of the poly and use that as a weight, I know steel rods are cheep and they will add iron to your setup

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the wood and poly are already put together....so that ship has sailed. im going to cover all the borders with extra silicone and add extra durapond around the borders. its going to be quite heavy and i needed to make sure the poly didnt just snap while trying to put it into my tank. im sure the wood will be fine because the whole point of the design is to make the entire thing as waterproof as possible

 

Interesting. Looking forward to follow this thread.

 

@nodac , I think with enough silicone over the edges and a double coat of durapond all over it should be good. The wood should be ok. Just make sure that when you do stick the rocks on that the bending of the structure when you move it doesnt cause any of the silicone around the edges to tear loose.

 

@Zuraki i will be very careful with the design, thanks.

i tested a small piece of off cut polystyrene and was shocked at how much force it took to push it under the water so i will not be shy with the stones on the design. i have 25kg so far of stone which i will silicone on after the durapond is done. if it doesnt sink i will just need to buy more stones! picture updates tomorrow morning and some last siliconing before durapond

 

Just for the record guys DURAPOND IS NOT "AQUARIUM FISH" SAFE!!!!!!!!

It may be fine with larger fish like Koi and Goldfish in a pond but if you use this in a tank prepare for heart ache.

Read my threads here:
Suggestions or advice please.
My plywood and acrylic build

Use it, dont use it, you have been warned. My tank ran perfectly for 8 months before any there were any ill effects.

 

@[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]L~C~G. i have just read through your two threads. thank you. what else is my option to seal this project now?i have already started it and it has wood in it that has to be sealed away from water...

@Zuraki how is the Durapond looking in your tank if you look closely at it??

@L~C~G you dont think it was the high temperature or the t5 lights that ended up making the durapond toxic? my temp wont ever go over 27 because the tank will house a colony of fronts...[/FONT]

 

Hey @L~C~G , thanks for the warning. Did you apply a Duraprime agent before you painted with the durapond? @nodac - The surface that I can see still looks fine to me, although there is some algae growing on it. It is very strange that it took 8 months for the effects to start showing. I read both of your threads - are you sure that you ruled out all other alternative causes? Otherwise it must mean that something leached out from the Durapond over time I guess? The product container states that durapond is not resistant to hypochlorite. Could it be that this is what caused your paint to become brittle and break loose maybe causing some reaction that released toxins? Although I assume that you properly conditioned your water before WC. The only warning that is written on the container is that they recommend a water test for sensitive fish - no specific test indicated. I did a lot of reading on Durapond before I used it and I decided to do so after reading the "Product Uses" section on the back which states : You can use Durapond to waterproof Drinking water containers, fish ponds and aquariums (amongst other things). It reads fish friendly on the front without specifying the species. I think that the only thing for me left to do is to ring up Duram (Technical Helpline 0800 500 222; Office: 021 555 3090) and ask them about it - I think you should too nodac before considering using it. I unfortunately don't know what alternative products there are. My six ocellatus are all doing fine and eating well and my tank has been running since end March now (so that is almost 5 months now). I will keep an eye out on my fish and move them immediately if I see any signs of stress... I will let you know what my discussion with Duram revealed.

 

@Zuraki please let me know what happens because this has put a huge halt on my project. I have no idea how to waterproof this project

 

@nodac - I hear you. Im sitting with it in my tank with fish in so I am also really worried at this stage. Maybe as a final resort if no other alternatives are available, you can carefully pull apart your pillars and remove the wood and simply use the polystyrene as a base surface - as is - without coating. Just make sure the density of the rocks hides the whit entirely. Or you can try to seal the edges of the wood with only silicone and pray that no moisture gets to the wood through the polystyrene - a calculated risk. I am pretty sure the wood get wet somewhere down the line though. I will let you know what Duram said - I will only have time to phone after 14h tomorrow though

 

The cement should definately not crack if 1) it is mixed correctly at the time when you apply it, and 2) you add (fiber glass) fibers into the cement to strengthen it. I also am looking at this, and I saw allot of videos on youtube and what not where that cement mixture is pretty much coloured water... If you mix the cement that weak, it most certainly would not last. The cement IMHO at the very least should -always- be a thick paste type of mixture, and not a watery type of mixture.

It's really a tradeoff between a weak mixture (less weight) vs. a strong mixture (which will be much more weight) - the thicknes which you apply (not the amount of coats) will also have a impact. Personally, I don't think the weight will be such a huge issue provided your tank is properly supported with the stand. The glass shouldn't break under constant pressure (weight). It's also easy to proove in principal. If someone has a cut off piece of glass, lay it on a flat surface, and see how many bricks you can pack on it without it breaking. I'm pretty sure that if the glass is laying flat and properly supported, 100kgs+ will be properly supported by 1cm2 of glass - and yes, I love theorizing...

You can possibly seal it with fiber glass resin, which would help. But if the cement isn't mixed correctly, it WILL crack over time, nevermind what you do.

 

@Zuraki the wood will definately get wet that way. I hope that there is a way you can save your beautiful diy background!