First build ET 2416

Darth_Geckos · #1 02-06-2011, 11:55 AM

I had already posted this pic in the into section, but wanted to show my "canvas" again. This is my first build and I have taken hundreds of pictures to document what I have done, already, but I do not want to add too many. I will show where I am at as of today, and I can post some prior pics if anyone is interested.

Darth_Geckos · #2 02-06-2011, 12:04 PM

This is where I am at as of today. I can start to build up the rest of the waterfall, now, and I just started working on what will be a cave in the back-left corner.

CLennerton · #3 02-06-2011, 02:15 PM

are you planning on using the wood to guide the water into your waterfall?

Darth_Geckos · #4 02-06-2011, 02:57 PM

Hi CLennerton- Yes, I found a really cool piece of hollow wood that I am using for the top waterfall. It actually has part of a branch in the back that I have for the the head of my hidden waterfall.

Here are some stills that I took of my trial run of the waterfall. The big piece at the top I am going to leave dry for a hiding spot.

CLennerton · #5 02-06-2011, 04:52 PM

that looks awesome...a nice little touch to the waterfall feature....what do you plan on putting into this (plants, herps)?

Darth_Geckos · #6 02-06-2011, 07:49 PM

Thanks. I'm building it for my crestie, Gollum. The one in my avatar. Going to get him a female or two after I get it all built up. He will be moving up from the 12" x 12" x 18" ET tank. I'm not sure what type of plants I will be putting in there. I'd like to get a couple small pitcher plants and some type of ferns. I have different mosses to put in there as well.

This is what I did earlier today. Finally glued my faux-rock panels onto the waterfall structure.

Ma77hew7 · #7 02-08-2011, 02:46 AM

Nice step up for Gollum from the tiny Exo. You have a lot of different materials in there. How do you plan on pulling it all together? Are you using the rock panels, (tinted Quikrete I think), to coat other areas? Rock panels look cool btw.

Darth_Geckos · #8 02-08-2011, 02:15 PM

I'm thinking the little guy will be quite happy, as well.

As for the rock panels, I actually just used black grout. So far, I have 4 layers on the styrofoam. Now that I have them mounted, I need to trim back the GS and I will add maybe two more black layers on top of the GS, up to the wood, and then I will add a few coats of a light brown grout. Not sure if I should add any sand to the final layer before I seal it up.... I read (somewhere) that I can take a wire-brush to the final layer and scour the brown layer off to expose the black surface underneath. This seemed like a reasonable idea, so that is the way I am going with it. Now I am trying to figure out what I am going to do on the left-side. I am thinking about making some caves and I will probably run a couple of red LED's to add a little bit of illumination.

Ma77hew7 · #9 02-08-2011, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darth_Geckos

I'm thinking the little guy will be quite happy, as well.

As for the rock panels, I actually just used black grout. So far, I have 4 layers on the styrofoam. Now that I have them mounted, I need to trim back the GS and I will add maybe two more black layers on top of the GS, up to the wood, and then I will add a few coats of a light brown grout. Not sure if I should add any sand to the final layer before I seal it up.... I read (somewhere) that I can take a wire-brush to the final layer and scour the brown layer off to expose the black surface underneath. This seemed like a reasonable idea, so that is the way I am going with it. Now I am trying to figure out what I am going to do on the left-side. I am thinking about making some caves and I will probably run a couple of red LED's to add a little bit of illumination.

I can't believe that's grout! From one of you pic's, it looks thin as all get out. Tinted & thinned grout? What ever the mix, I'm into it. I would use a fine grit sandpaper not a wire-brush... A little easier to not damage the layers, imo. Test out how the sand does/ looks on a small part,. Then figure out what you like aesthetically. Just in case, be sure to seal it after the layer scuffing.

The red LED's sound interesting... I'm looking forward to see it.

Darth_Geckos · #10 02-09-2011, 12:05 AM

I bought the grout at Home Depot for, I think $14(attached). This one is black, but the other bag of grout that I have is Bone. I am still amazed how well the panels turned out. I used an exacto, a box cutter, and a saw to cut everything. I then took a butane hand-torch to smooth out the surface of the styrofoam.