Niels D
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- Jun 2, 2011
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- Netherlands
I’ve descided to give my Gastrotheca riobambae juveniles a new viv. Normally I would use fern root and turf grounds to aply onto a background by mixing it with a concrete binder adhesive (like Flevopol). Mix it until it’s like clay and put a descent layer onto the background, which I usually make out of expanding foam. I'm more of a newt keeper of course and I love making backgrounds for my newts. I've posted a build topic on this forum before and I wanted to use the method I normally use for aquarium backgrounds described here:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...ivaria-etc/93036-making-background-again.html
I’m currently making a viv for Bombina maxima and I’m using both methods for this project:
I wanted to do the same trick for my marsupial frogs, but I hardly used any "brown stuff" in the end. I started with polystyrene plates to create the surface of the background. This serves as the base and If I ever get bored of it it’s quite easy to remove this way. I’ve attached it with 100% silicone sealant. Safe to use, but you have to let it harden before doing a next step. I always wash hit using a garden hose. Always check if everything is watertight as well.
I kept away fromt the bottom so I could fit in some big chunks of turf blocks underneath it. The water pump for the waterfall can be hidden underneath the background and behind the turf blocks. These blocks should be soaked first and they look like this:
I wanted the background to look a bit like slate. I started by glueing pieces of “hard foam”, which I always use for making aquarium backgrounds, onto the polystyrene base with sealant, slowly covering the entire background. Besides sealant I also used toothpicks to fix the pieces of foam onto eachother. I added some plant pots and fixed them with a little bit of expanding foam, which was cut into straight shapes after it hardened so it was easy to glue pieces of hard foam onto it. In the right corner I made a gutter for the wires and tubes. In case the water pump gets broken it will be easier to replace it.
The pump was placed into the viv and the tube for the waterfall as well. To prevent a high pressure waterfall I’ve used half a plant put to create a reservoir where the end of the tube goes into. The pot will be filled with water coming out of the tube and it will overflow creating a weaker current. This pot was also fixed with expanding foam like I did earlier with the other pots. After that I could cover the entire background with hard foam. I made holes where I wanted water to come out for the waterfall.
I’ve applied a layer of tile grout mixed with concrete binder to make the mixture stronger. This layer glues everything together even more and makes it start to look rocky immediately. I’ve carved the background to let it resembles late more. After that I applied a second layer of grout. See my method for making aquarium backgrounds for details. Click onto the link I’ve posted in the beginning.
I only did one thing different than I normally do. I started with the colouring of the background with a layer of blackboard paint. You know, the black paint which is suitable for chalk crayons afterwards. This paint gets into the deepest crevices, unlike the coloured grout mixtures which come afterwards. These crevices will be coloured black this way and will create a greater visual depth. After that I applied different layers of grout starting with light colours and ending up with dark ones. See the link for how and why I do this. This way the background gets a great variety of colours.
I applied some fern root grounds in some crevices and under the waterfall. I’ve rubbed everything in with Java moss. This will create a blanket of moss afterwards on the moist areas of the background, especially on the fern root grounds. Of cours you have to check the waterpump before you put it in your viv, but you should also check the way your waterfall works as well to make sure it runs as you want it to run. You can put pieces of sponge into the holes were the water comes out to slow the waterfall down. On this vid you see how my waterfall runs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCou2b9843k
To finish this project I squeezed in some turf blocks like I said I would, added a grape vine, filtered aquarium water and Eleodea. I will be adding river sand on the bottom and some pond or bladder snails soon. I also used pothos and a little plant which I don’t know as live plants. The vid was taken shortly after the G.riobambae were introduced to their new enclosure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-j-vntz24I
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...ivaria-etc/93036-making-background-again.html
I’m currently making a viv for Bombina maxima and I’m using both methods for this project:
I wanted to do the same trick for my marsupial frogs, but I hardly used any "brown stuff" in the end. I started with polystyrene plates to create the surface of the background. This serves as the base and If I ever get bored of it it’s quite easy to remove this way. I’ve attached it with 100% silicone sealant. Safe to use, but you have to let it harden before doing a next step. I always wash hit using a garden hose. Always check if everything is watertight as well.
I kept away fromt the bottom so I could fit in some big chunks of turf blocks underneath it. The water pump for the waterfall can be hidden underneath the background and behind the turf blocks. These blocks should be soaked first and they look like this:
I wanted the background to look a bit like slate. I started by glueing pieces of “hard foam”, which I always use for making aquarium backgrounds, onto the polystyrene base with sealant, slowly covering the entire background. Besides sealant I also used toothpicks to fix the pieces of foam onto eachother. I added some plant pots and fixed them with a little bit of expanding foam, which was cut into straight shapes after it hardened so it was easy to glue pieces of hard foam onto it. In the right corner I made a gutter for the wires and tubes. In case the water pump gets broken it will be easier to replace it.
The pump was placed into the viv and the tube for the waterfall as well. To prevent a high pressure waterfall I’ve used half a plant put to create a reservoir where the end of the tube goes into. The pot will be filled with water coming out of the tube and it will overflow creating a weaker current. This pot was also fixed with expanding foam like I did earlier with the other pots. After that I could cover the entire background with hard foam. I made holes where I wanted water to come out for the waterfall.
I’ve applied a layer of tile grout mixed with concrete binder to make the mixture stronger. This layer glues everything together even more and makes it start to look rocky immediately. I’ve carved the background to let it resembles late more. After that I applied a second layer of grout. See my method for making aquarium backgrounds for details. Click onto the link I’ve posted in the beginning.
I only did one thing different than I normally do. I started with the colouring of the background with a layer of blackboard paint. You know, the black paint which is suitable for chalk crayons afterwards. This paint gets into the deepest crevices, unlike the coloured grout mixtures which come afterwards. These crevices will be coloured black this way and will create a greater visual depth. After that I applied different layers of grout starting with light colours and ending up with dark ones. See the link for how and why I do this. This way the background gets a great variety of colours.
I applied some fern root grounds in some crevices and under the waterfall. I’ve rubbed everything in with Java moss. This will create a blanket of moss afterwards on the moist areas of the background, especially on the fern root grounds. Of cours you have to check the waterpump before you put it in your viv, but you should also check the way your waterfall works as well to make sure it runs as you want it to run. You can put pieces of sponge into the holes were the water comes out to slow the waterfall down. On this vid you see how my waterfall runs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCou2b9843k
To finish this project I squeezed in some turf blocks like I said I would, added a grape vine, filtered aquarium water and Eleodea. I will be adding river sand on the bottom and some pond or bladder snails soon. I also used pothos and a little plant which I don’t know as live plants. The vid was taken shortly after the G.riobambae were introduced to their new enclosure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-j-vntz24I