Making a background for a new tank

[Niels D]

Removed the excessive foam a little. I've tried to capture the depth a bit.

 

[Niels D]

Covered the background with a product called "Reptiwall" (google it), which you can apply like clay. It's said that it will grow mosses within a couple of weeks and it's 100% natural. The flash ruined the looks of the waterfall a little, but you can see the idea on the pictures.

 

[evut]

I really look forward to seeing this finished. Especially if it's all going to be nicely overgrown with mosses.

 

[millerj76]

Coming along nicely, some great picture's. Nice toads, and yeah, it's going to be nice when it has grown on a bit, nice work.

 

[Niels D]

Thanks guys. I've heard that you should be careful during the drying process, because if you let it dry too fast crack may appear. I'm keeping it moist, so I hope I can prevent any problems. It takes some time to dry, so I can't do anything at this moment.

 

[Axie]

well, it's looking absolutely amazing can't wait to see it when it's all grown in! Truly inspirational.

 

[Niels D]

Finally filled the tank yesterday and I'm pleased with the result. All the plants, fire shrimp and snails come from the former tank. There are 8 H.orientalis in there. Found a couple of larvae while I was emptying the old tank to my surprise.

There's gravel on the bottom, except for a smalle area in the front to the right, where I glued in a feeding strip. This is where I place the blood worms, tubifex and other food items. There's a small pump against the right side, but the water coming out of it falls into a floating container. This is where I keep my tubifex. The container also prevents a stong current.

Next time I won't treat the entire background with epoxy sealant. It makes everything shine way too much, but you can't see that when it's under water. I will only treat the background below the surface from now on.

 

[totallyrad]

Lookin good! Very creative :] I tried making my own background but messed it up something terrible. I think I must have bought some wrong products ha.

 

[Niels D]

Finally did some work on the frog tank. I had to repare some cracks using sealant and fern root groundings. After that I put in the plants and dirt in the holes and the terrestrial areas. All that's left is hiding the sides of these areas and the pump for the waterfall and put in some water.

 

[millerj76]

Doing well, liking the progress with the frog tank, hopefully not too long now till it becomes inhabited, looks good.

 

[Martin21114]

Looks good! I attempted something similar for my Chinese water dragon Mr. Wu but it didn't turn out nearly as nice.

 

[Niels D]

Thanks everyone!

Finished the inside and put some lights on top of the enclosure (PL 55 Watt with VSA). The dripping stones are dripping nicely instead of squirting water all over the place. In the puddle there's Eleodea, snails and duckweed. I'm planning to put in some shrimp, but I'm not sure yet. Sorry for the bad lightning, but I guess the pictures show how the tank looks inside. Will make a vid over a couple of months, when there's more moss.

 

[Cliff]

Beautiful, very inspiring!