DIY Aquarium Background
Stone Terraces
Special brushable silicone rubber called "Rebound® 25 Self Thickening Brush-On Silicone Rubber" purchased from smooth-on.com has been applied to the upper and lower sections of the stone terrace.

This step is relatively simple. Three or four coats about 30 minutes apart. The silicone is ready to handle in just a few hours.
Lumber scraps were used to build the mother mold.

The rigid cement mother mold will hold the flexible rubber mold in place which will be filled with colored cement during the casting process.
Quikrete's Glass Block Mortar product is another Portland based cement that has proven safe for aquatic environments once fully cured and rinsed.

In this project it's not only being used to make the stone terrace designs, we're also using it to make the mother molds in the wood frame.
The wood frame has been topped off with cement and smoothed with the wooden stir stick.

The surface currently facing up will eventually be the bottom of the mother mold, so it's important that it be nice and flat.
24 hours later and the cement mother mold has firmed up enough where we can work with it a bit.

The mold has been flipped over to show the bottom of the clay stone terrace and surrounding silicone rubber mold.
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welcome to
do-it-yourself aquarium and semi-aquatic background designs beyond the traditional
Dramatic AquaScapes
Anyone ambitious enough to terrace their aquarium with natural rock understands the challenge of restoring things just as they were after a good tank cleaning.

The Stone Terraces idea shown here attempts to make an easier task of maintaining a terraced aquascape.