Marty has been pushing me to post comments on HabaCrete but I've held off as there has been some issues in the past with fullfilling orders,
Click for more info which are finally over.
HabaCrete is a prodcut we invented that dries fast, bonds to wood, glass and rock, has a lower pH then cement products so you won't have to wash it with acid or such, does not effervences (cement/concrete leach lime over time especially in damp environments). Salt is Bad for vivariums.
HabaCrete also dries to a white color so staining or coloring (our pigments or acrylic paints (Chorma airbrush paint is the best)). It can be scuplted with a trowle (sp), cast with molds or handpacked like Mary did above. I hope to get a tutorial up here shortly to show step x step usage, or at least on my site, so you can see how to mold a real stone, make a skin, cast the HabaCrete and how to cover foam for a natural looking rock effect. I've made tree stumps, bark textures and even mudbanks that show errosion with this and since it dries fast, i can go from foam to planted vivarium in a day.
HabaCrete does not need sealing and in fact, by adding a small amount of milled peat to the dry mix, your moss will will grow on it for a more realistic effect.
HabaCrete has been used in aquariums but that's not my field so I won't speak to that. I've built many turtle exhibits, salamander displays and have never noted any issues with toxicity or any reactions, that's why I created. I mostly work with dart frogs, tarnatulas and scorpions, geckos and snakes. I've never had any problems with HabaCrete in the over 300 vivariums I've built since I sent Mary my first revised product, which I think was a year ago, when he did this one.
thanks.
For this thread though, i'd cut or shoot the foam for the type of landscape i want. cast some rock shapes, handpack some habacrete that i set the rock shapes into, making sure i get the right theme going and then color spray the handpacked areas lightly with water to get the agragate to show through for the dirt effect. I'd then get my brown, black and white paint loaded up for the airbrush and start painting the rocks. i'd add orange to the brown and paint the rocks then go back over them with black to fill in the small cracks and such to show the texture of the rock. then with brown and white, paint the "dirt". i'd then "dust" it with the black in areas to add tones. then i'd get the tea sieve and spray bottle and make lichens which i'd paint with green tones. hope this helps.
fake rock?
Linear Mode
