my method of building fake / faux rocks

[loeckenj]

I would think the paint would only show wear just on the spots that water constantly flows,meaning it would not look out of the ordinary since in the wild,rocks that have water flowing over them constanatly tend to have a muck lighter appearence, great job.

[Poker1]

Not to be pushy, because perfection takes patience... Do you have any updates of your new waterfeature? I love thew natural look of your 10g practice. I am planning a small water feature in a 10g Vive for what will be a Fire Belly Toad haven. At leasst a play house till I can afford a 30g or larger Vive

Any issues with your 10g feature? Looks like it has had a little time to show any potential issues.

Keep up the good work! Can't wait to see the finished water feature, actually the whole Vive...

[RudeReefer]

I'm actually working on it right now! I put it off until fall. I'm hoping to start the concrete work this weekend. I'm using the Habacrete this time. I had no issues at all with the quickcrete mix. I did soak it in water/vinegar for three weeks. The frogs are fine, and healthy.

I will post some new pics, this will be a lot cooler then the 10g build, I'm excited.

[RudeReefer]

Also, I was just in DC last week. If any of you get out there, go to the National Zoo... they have some amazing vives, and killer dart frog displays. Also the Baltimore Aquarium... awesome stuff.

[Poker1]

Thanks, can't wait!

[RudeReefer]

ok, here are some pics of the new build. It is a 47g tall tank. It will have a false bottom, with a rock waterfall across the whole back of the tank. I am using Habacrete this time. I'm using my same method with the blocks of styrofoam as the foundation of the faux rocks. I feel you get much more control over detail this way rather then spraying great stuff everywhere. It's time consuming, but fun.

I started out with a large block of green styrofoam that you would use to stick silk flowers in.... you can find it at any hobby lobby place. I then cut the shape I wanted using the hot knife. First just a basic shape, then making more details as I went on. This set up will have an overflow type hole that runs behind the rock wall. This way I can access my pump, heater, and water easily. The 4" PVC tube will be the support for the hole. I used a template to decide what shape I wanted the back waterfall to be, then traced it on my foam block. Then the cutting starts.

[RudeReefer]

Using the hot knife tool, you can get pretty creative with the detail of your rocks. If I did this again, I would avoid tiny cracks, and make most of them larger, since the Habacrete mix isn't easy to fill in those small cracks.

I added a couple of small pots for plants. The white piece of foam is going to cover the PVC, and finish off my wall. I later added some green foam to it since it was a little too flat looking. Later I ended up cutting a small creek in my false bottom. I was going to have the water just run into a pile of rocks, but figured what the heck...

[RudeReefer]

I mixed up some Habacrete and started covering the foam today. I made a very runny batch first to get into the cracks, then thickened it up later. After a few thin coats, it was covering nicely. Using a butter knife, I kept the cracks from filling in too much, and kept sculpting the rock formations. I'd mix it in a plastic cup in small batches. This stuff dries fast, so you dont want a large amount drying up in a bucket while you work.

If the sculpted areas looked too much like concrete, I would smooth them out with a wet paint brush. Keep cutting in the cracks with the butter knife before the coats get too dry.

[RudeReefer]

I silicone the foam blocks to the inside of the tank, but I will start painting and weathering my rocks beforehand since it will be difficult to paint once it's placed inside the aquarium. Once I silicone it in, I will then finish off the rest of the Habacrete and then paint the rest of the details. (on the white foam area). I may also add some pots to that side also.

[beckdg]

looking good rudereefer! i'm looking forward to seeing this done.

if you don't mind could you give this a once over and see what you can add to it? good places to buy... please add to it! i'd appreciate it.