Making a background for a new tank

[Niels D]

I've made a couple of vivs and terrariums now, which I've posted on different sites. This time I'm making a background for our new tank. I don't know which of our animals are going to use it, but I'm thinking of H.orientalis. Thought I'll post this on caudata!

Made the background using styrofoam plates sealed together with aquarium sealant. Used grout to cover it all. Painted the grout with blackboard paint, because it's watertight and it doesn't contain much poisonous chemicals. Allas I forgot to make pictures, except for this last one. Will make more pics as I'm progressing.

 

[Niels D]

Finished two layers of extra paint using the soft brush method. You can learn about it on youtube. It's a very easy method with a surprisingly good result. It's hard to really catch it on camera though, but here goes:

 

[millerj76]

Hi Niels, hope you keep posting pictures of this background, i have been wanting to do this myself for some time now, and have seen many homemade backgrounds and some look really impressive. I definetly would rather take pleasure looking into my tank that is all my own creation, than look into my tank and see a background that i paid over the odds for and that a whole lot of other people possibly have. Good luck with the creation, will check back to see how you get on.

 

[evut]

It looks fantastic, Niels. What products did you use to cover the background and paint it, please?

 

[Niels D]

It looks fantastic, Niels. What products did you use to cover the background and paint it, please?

I covered the styrofoam, which I shaped a bit, with grout. Grout is the stuff you glue tiles with. If this isn't so I didn't translate it correctly btw. The Dutch word is "tegellijm", but I believe grout is the correct word. You can buy it as a powder which you'll have to mix with water. This is what I did, because I could choose how watery the mixture would be.

When it all dried I painted it with blackboard paint. This paint is used to create a surface which you can use as a blackboard afterwards. It's watertight, contains almost no poisonous chemicals and it's got a metal like shine. It's black, so I had to mix the second and the third layer with some white paint. I can only give you a rough translation of the Dutch word and that's "mixing paint". It's used to alter the original colours of paint. You've got different colours of mixing paint.

To make it even more watertight I'm using epoxy sealant. It's a transparant liquid that you can apply with a paint brush. The brand I'm using is "Mr Boat".

 

[evut]

Thanks, Niels. I'm looking forward to seeing the tank finished and inhabited.

 

[Niels D]

Thanks everyone. I've got to wait untill my order of Mr. Boat gets here. That's why I allready started with a waterfall for my new viv. I'm going to use the same method. Didn't make much progress untill know, but this way you can see it from scrap.

Taped the tubing onto a styrofoam plate. Used a "giant toothpick" to fix the tubing. Put a a thick layer of expanding foam on top of it. It hasn't fully expanded on the picture. Next step is shaping it the way I like.

I could post some pictures of the progress of the tank if people would like that.

 

[evut]

People would like that!

 

[Niels D]

I've made 2 vivs before, but they were not so big. Posted them on frogforum: New tank voor G.riobambae

Will be using a similar method for this 70x50x70 (cm) tank. Put a beer bottle on the first pic, for the people who measure in inches.

Check the vacuum cleaner hose at the left. This is for the wiring.

Did the corners, because the waterfall comes in the middle.

The wood comes from a grape plant and the background has got 10 pots fixed on it. Will fill these with different kinds of plants.

 

[methodik]

Hey Niels,

could you sent me some pictures of the finished setup and the Gastrotheca? Would be cool to see, this species is very interesting. If you don't upload it anyways, I will send you a PM with my mail adress.

Thank you
Jakob

 

[Niels D]

In the link you can see the finished tank of the Gastrothecas and the animals themselves: New tank voor G.riobambae I've got some pictures in my caudata album as well. If you want the original pics you can send a message to al_pha_male@hotmail.com (it's the old e-mail adress of my rockband :crazy

The viv in this thread isn't finished yet. When it's done my Pedostibes hossii's will move in. Really love these toads and their captive bred (not by my hands though). Will post pictures of the viv in this thread as well.

 

[Niels D]

One of our females (G.riobambae) has got her pouch full of eggs. Allready found an egg that didn't went in the pouch, but till now everything's looking good. Hope they're fertile and that she'll deposite some tads.

Egg portruding out of her pouch:

Gravid pouch:

Here 2 pics of our P.hosii female:

 

[Scorpion]

Inspiring. These kinds of posts always make me want to make something. LOL

 

[Niels D]

Inspiring. These kinds of posts always make me want to make something. LOL

If you end up making something, be sure to post some pics!

 

[Niels D]

Did some work on the waterfall. Shaped it with a little knife. I needed an extra bit just above the end of the tube, so I used a sliced off piece, which I glued in place with sealant. After that, I covered the whole frontside with a thin layer of grout. Then I put the waterfall upright so I could drop grout on top of it. This made the pattern I intended, because I wanted it to look like a cave structure with dripping water. Throwed sand against it making the surface a bit less smooth so the paint will come out better. Hope everything will dry without too much cracks.

 

[Scorpion]

I definitely will! And the waterfall's looking good!

 

[Niels D]

Put three layers of paint onto the waterfall:

 

[nhaislip]

Would you need to paint it? Is it just to seal it, because the color looks pretty good prior to the paint

 

[Niels D]

That's because the grout hadn't dried yet. I wasn't happy with the result after everything was dry. The pics don't do any justice to how the waterfall looks in the end, so it's not just for sealing in this case.

 

[Niels D]

Fixed the waterfall (which I treated with epoxy sealant) into the background. Need to reshape the foam with a knife after it's dry. Made some walls, so I can fill the corners with dirt for some big plants. Will hide the walls with peat. There will be a swamp area and a little pool in the middle.