# Grout? Acrylic Fortifier?



## thekidgecko (Oct 30, 2006)

Ok here is the deal.... I did search but I could make no sense out of anything that was said between use of mortar and grout....

I picked up some tile *grout* (extra strong for extra wide gaps between tiles, it was on sale for a buck at HD so I figured what the hay) and some Quickcrete acrylic concrete fortifier. I was wondering if/how I could make a nice background out of this for my old 40 gallon (had to tear it down, spider mites :evil: ) It is completely disinfected, but it still has cypress sticking out of it so it will provide some support for the grout. This tank will not have any water features.

I was experimenting with mixing it with some water and fortifier, and it seems pretty neat. I'm guessing it would need a mild acid wash and a final coat of fortifier to seal it right?


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## sbreland (May 4, 2006)

Scrap the grout and just use the acrylic fortifier and a mix of peat moss and cocofiber to make a slurry and then apply it as a background. Honestly, with the Quickrete you had better not add any water to it at all as it is basically the consistnecy of water already. A mix I used on one of mine was 25% peat, 25% cocofiber, and 50% treefern fiber... came out looking great but took a LONG time to dry because I made the slurry too watery. What you should do if go to Ace and get some of their fortifier... it kinda thick like Elmers glue and sets a bit faster. No need for an acid wash if you leave the grout out as there is no concrete to neutralize in teh fortifier.


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## thekidgecko (Oct 30, 2006)

I'm looking for a kind of stone face look so peat and coco isn't my best bet filler wise. I was just downstairs experimenting some more and realized exactly what you pointed out, quikrete is WAAAYYY too thin! I started using just quickrete and I'll see what happens....

Any way I could achieve my stone face look?


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## thekidgecko (Oct 30, 2006)

Still screwing around with it.....I have so much grout I have it coming out of my ears lol...

I got it to be almost completely waterproof (completely after a final painting of fortifier) and it sticks to anything like glue. It looks pretty freaking awesome, too. Should I experiment and give it a try, acid wash it with some vinegar some JIC, and see what happens? I am REALLY liking its look and so far I think it will hold up well under viv conditions and remain waterproof.


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## sbreland (May 4, 2006)

Yeah, you can do that. If you have the right kind of grout (I'd have to look and see what I used before) you should be fine as long as you do the vinegar soak. If you want to play with color and texture right next to the Quickrete fortifier there should be concrete tint... just add as much or as little as you want to change the color and play with it a bit. If you want a textured look add different types of gravel or stone fleck to it and you can do pretty much whatever you want. If you really want to get creative, take and make a styrofoam "underskeleton" and make the bonder/grout mixture a little thicker and mold/sculpt what you are looking for onto the styrofoam. Honestly, there are 100s of ideas you can do and the only limiting factor is your imagination.


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## thekidgecko (Oct 30, 2006)

When do you sleep???? lol.

Thanks for the help


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