# 40 Gallon background



## Ludedor24 (Feb 15, 2012)

*40 Gallon background (pics)*

Started on this background a few weeks just finished it the other day. Its a 40 gallon tank ..I think Ill be keeping one of my snakes in here. 

Starting to foam


Adding a few more layers 



Putting in some depth



Ready for carving


Post carving



First layer of grout 



Second layer of grout 


First layer of paint 




Finished paint  Done!

Reactions: Like 3


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## Fuma (Feb 18, 2012)

what kind of snake are you going to keep in this? this looks great bu the way


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## Ludedor24 (Feb 18, 2012)

my ball python ..although it may be a little large for her at the moment my wife was tired of me buying several tanks. I need need to decorate it up ..this is just the platform really


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## SamuraiSid (Feb 18, 2012)

A very impressive paint job you got going on there. Im sure your ball python will be very happy.... at least s happy as it can get

Reactions: Like 1


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## Ludedor24 (Feb 21, 2012)



Reactions: Like 1


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## SC Tarantulas (Feb 21, 2012)

That looks really good!


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## dsdishon (Feb 23, 2012)

Wow! after just making a background out of foam and grout, that tank must have been a big job! Definitely worth it though.


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## Toogledoo (Mar 26, 2012)

Very nice! How are you going to heat it?


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## Ludedor24 (Mar 26, 2012)

I put a 50 inrafed on the top and a 10 gallon mat heater on the bottom corner..I have my ball python in there now she loves it.


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## Toogledoo (Mar 26, 2012)

Awesome! I'm getting my first snake soon, a ball python. You should add pictures with her in it. Can I message you sometime about more details on how you did this? I'd be interested in trying it.


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## Ludedor24 (Mar 27, 2012)

sure thing


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## axle37 (Mar 30, 2012)

awesome tank sir! mind if i ask what kind of foam you used?


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## grayzone (Mar 30, 2012)

is it just regular Great Stuff brand spray foam??


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## Ludedor24 (Mar 30, 2012)

Yes it is great stuff brand foam, I found the black can variety expands the best for a project like this. I even work in the foam industry but for a small scale project like this the cans are easiest


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## axle37 (Mar 30, 2012)

if i wanted to add coco coir or something similar to the wall after i put on the great stuff, what would you guys suggest? i don't want to grout, I'm only keeping inverts and they wouldn't like that as much i don't think


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## grayzone (Mar 31, 2012)

maybe some food grade silicon ... there is lots of threads that talk about best silicon choices


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## ch4dg (Mar 31, 2012)

any aquarium silicone is fine, i personally use varnish as silicon is a pain to spread and varnish you just brush on

to the op....awesome design and effect,
but if you place a mat under it ,the foam is an insulator so the heat wont travel through


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## Ludedor24 (Apr 1, 2012)

nope the heat travels though fine actually...if you have a heat source on foam it will actually hold the heat


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## Shay (Apr 3, 2012)

what do you use after you paint it. to seal it?


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## Jared781 (Apr 7, 2012)

Damnnn!!! thats siick..... I hate looking at these dominant home made enclosures because i can literally stare at them all day!!


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## Zoomer428 (Apr 8, 2012)

Sick aquarium nice job with all of it. I think I'm gonna make somthing like this but for my spider.


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## Storm76 (Apr 9, 2012)

That backdrop looks really amazingly real in my opinion, great job!


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## Ludedor24 (Apr 9, 2012)

Thanks everyone


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## jake9134 (Apr 9, 2012)

axle37 said:


> if i wanted to add coco coir or something similar to the wall after i put on the great stuff, what would you guys suggest? i don't want to grout, I'm only keeping inverts and they wouldn't like that as much i don't think


I use gorilla glue with coco coir. smear a layer across the surface and sprinkle dry coir on top. have to sit there and keep pressing it down and patching it up with more coir for ~15min, otherwise it expands and the bubbles make a mess, but it holds the substrate better than silicon without the stench of acetic acid (cheaper than aquarium grade silicone + easier to find). I use it for frog tanks all the time.

To OP, nice tank but cleaning it might be a bit difficult I'm still trying to get poop off my old ball pythons heat rock so I can use it for another snake.


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## Ludedor24 (Jul 7, 2012)

I water sealed it so a nice hot rag wipes it up pretty well.


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## Danny938 (Jul 21, 2012)

Working on two tanks right now for my young boa constrictors, working off your use of the tape, foam, and grout. Can't wait till they are done. Thanks a lot for sharing this.


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## macj1983 (Jul 21, 2012)

Looks sick great job!!
What type of paint did u use?


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## Danimal (Aug 1, 2012)

Easily one of the best DIY projects I have seen. Nice job!


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## Ludedor24 (Aug 1, 2012)

Thanks! I used acrylic paint by the way..watered it down some and used an airbrush.


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## Danny938 (Aug 2, 2012)

Finally after two weeks, finished our version of your amazing plans.







Bad pic taken on the phone but we did a brown rock look, stained, water sealed, with a bromeliad in the corner, eco earth bedding, and a rock cave to the right side which the heat pad is on the bottom of the tank. All thats left is to paint the outside of the tank to cover the ugly insides that can still be seen underneath. Thank you so much for this thread. It was fun making it and turned out great.


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## Ludedor24 (Aug 2, 2012)

cool! If you're putting boas in it you may want to be careful with eco-earth. Some people use it for snakes others advise against incase of accidental ingestion, plus it does tend to stick to them a lot when you try to pick them up.


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## Danny938 (Aug 2, 2012)

I've had mine on it for years and never had any problems with it but I'll keep an eye on it. I always feed out of the cage so I'm sure that helps too. Right now my sunglow is in it. She has yet to go under the hide end, as my little guys seem to always reject the idea of a hide but shes already been in the water dish, drinking, made a nice poo for me to clean up from her last feeding, and she stayed under the brom for the night. So far so good.


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