"Wet" looks on rocks

[janelc]

Greetings! I am starting a vivarium and I would like a dry stream bed look. For various reasons, I don't/can't have a water feature in my tank. However, the little rocks that I have chosen to line the stream bed look much better wet!!! The colors are much more beautiful when wet. I know this is a dichotomy to have a dry stream bed with wet-looking rocks, but I'd like to know if anyone knows of a safe glaze to put on the rocks so they look wet? I plan to put either anoles or White's Tree frogs in this enclosure. Thanks for any and all help!!!!

[froggsong]

You could buy a polisher and wait for however long it takes (quite a while actually) to polish the rocks, and they will look wet then because they will be so highly polished...

It would be better for an anole if you have a little bit of running water though... Would you mind posting the reason you can't have a water feature?

[Jason]

And some pics ive been working on really small water features for seperate sections of my tank useing 10GPH pumps that are only 2x2x2.5" and create a trickle flow..

[froggsong]

The reason I asked that you post the reason is because if it is because you don't have room for a pump or something, you can make a type of gravity/pressure pump type thing... I've been experimenting, and I made one with a ziplock bag that actually pumped water UP, not hard, but come on, it was a ziplock bag, lol... Anyway, sorry to bug ya

[janelc]

Thanks for the great responses. There are various and sundry reasons why I can't/don't want a water feature. First, according to a teacher that used to own that tank, it does not want to hold water no matter how many repairs are made! I have siliconed the outside and hopefully that will work so it can at least be a vivarium. Second, this is going in my classroom and I don't have easy access to water to fill it up, etc... I really just want to make it simple for my first vivarium. I don't want anything to leak out over a weekend, etc.... I already set off the alarms enough already!!!

I do want ideas for the water feature , because I have another tank that I am going to rehab and make into another vivarium-~60 gallon long. (T his one appears water-tight).

Polishing the rocks sounds like the easiest solution to me. I have a small hobby rock tumbler that I will try soon.

I have some pictures of my project in my gallery. Will post more soon.

As for the anoles, I will mist them several times a day as I have done in the past with them. Of course, I can always assign that to one of my students. I have a student who religiously feeds my fish in my two saltwater aquariums.

Thanks again!!! I love this forum!!!

[froggsong]

Oh, I didn't mean for them to drink! They generally wont drink from a dish at all. They do like to swim a bit on occasion though... Or at least mine always did, and I've had three of them over the years. Good luck with the tank, it's always frustrating to not be able to find where it is leaking from.

[alex1976]

If you just want your rocks to look "wet" I'd suggest a marine epoxy. It'll give quite a shine to your rocks. I used it in a tank setup a few years back and honestly wish I hadn't because of the shine it left. It took off the natural looking texture of the "rough rock" and left it looking "wet and shiny". I would definitely experiment with the stuff.
The product I used was West System Marine Epoxy. I'm sure there are plenty others out there but this particular one I know is safe for aquariums. Good luck!

[Waterkeeper]

perhaps "chattahoochee sealant"
some one else will have to vouch for its possible toxicity. it is an epoxy. I sealed in a friends porch floor with it once and it always had a nice wet look to it.

[Green Ghost]

Originally Posted by Waterkeeper

"chattahoochee sealant"

Gees, gotta love that name...

[janelc]

Hey-thanks for the great suggestions. The Chatahoochee rocks look really great. The pictures on the website probably show the rocks with the resin. I wonder what they look like without the resin. Anyone know? I thought the price for the repair rocks was awesome!!!

Natural Stone Chattahoochee and Repair Kits.