Second Time Around

[jaree2]

About a year ago I posted construction of my first viv, which was a 35-gal flat back hex now housing 4 Yellow Galacts. After savin up some money, I recently purchased a 24x18x18 Exo and decided to start construction on my second viv, hopefully avoiding the mistakes I made on the first one and of course finding plenty of new ones along the way.



This time, I thought I'd venture into the world of fake rocks and more extensive water feature. Here's the foam I'm using, which I had saved from the shipping materials for a computer:





False Bottom Construction/Installation:









Saw several other individuals use aquarium gravel to fill in around the false bottom, so I thought I'd steal the idea since I really like the clean look it gives:





Making the fake rock is the real wildcard in my plans for this one, so I've been experimenting with a smaller model for now; Not much to look at for the moment (in fact it looks like something you might try to avoid stepping on in a dog park), but after these lighter layers dry, I plan on adding a third (darker) layer and using a wire brush to bring out some shading/weathering:





If I like the resulting look, heres a glimpse of the rock wall plan, which will be complimented by a GreatStuff/wood background in uncovered areas:



Anyway, thats it for now, thanks for looking and comments/criticism are always welcome.

[reptile_jones]

It's looking great!!

[jaree2]

Originally Posted by reptile_jones

It's looking great!!

Haha thanks! Its been a little slow-going, but I thought I'd throw out an update on the fake rock test subject, which is starting to look a little less like dog poop pile. Its pretty addicting to work with, but waiting for the grout to dry is painful. Heres a couple photos after the second layer:





Thats all for now, I'm going to add a couple darker layers tomorrow, start scraping, and see what happens. Thanks for checkin it out.

[moore40]

Hey man keep up the work on the rocks, I like the looks so far.

[jaree2]

Originally Posted by moore40

Hey man keep up the work on the rocks, I like the looks so far.

Thanks a lot. Heres an update after the third layer, as well as some sanding and wire brushing.







Pretty happy with the resulting texture, but I think it could definitely use some color other than the shades of gray. I thought maybe I'd get a shade of brown (if possible), but I think I'll give it some thought before making the extra purchase. Thanks for looking

[Occidentalis]

The rock work looks great. I'd be very happy with it. Once it gets some moss on it and gets seasoned you won't even be able to tell it's fake (not that it looks fake, but without the browns, etc).

I'm curious as to the mesh you used for the bottom. I haven't seen anything like it before.

What brand / style of grout did you use?

[Devanny]

The rocks look real, I like it alot. Can I have a mini snickers?

[R1ch13]

Originally Posted by Devanny

The rocks look real, I like it alot. Can I have a mini snickers?

Haha, I call dibs on that lone candy cane, or any remnants of that Subway

Really love the rock work mate, very very realistic.

Cant wait to see this complete.

Richie

[jaree2]

Originally Posted by Occidentalis

The rock work looks great. I'd be very happy with it. Once it gets some moss on it and gets seasoned you won't even be able to tell it's fake (not that it looks fake, but without the browns, etc).

I'm curious as to the mesh you used for the bottom. I haven't seen anything like it before.

What brand / style of grout did you use?

Thanks! Thats a great point, I guess its surroundings might be able to add all the color it needs. As for the mesh, its just called WeedBlock (creative) and I think its made by the EasyGardener company, or something pretty close to that. I took the lazy way out on the grout, I'm using a Pre-mixed grout made by SimpleGrout. Works great for me since the apartments too small to be mixing my own and its only ingredients are quartz/limestone/acrylic copolymer (I think I'll just have to watch out for pH changes).

Originally Posted by Devanny

The rocks look real, I like it alot. Can I have a mini snickers?

Originally Posted by R1ch13

Haha, I call dibs on that lone candy cane, or any remnants of that Subway

Really love the rock work mate, very very realistic.

Cant wait to see this complete.

Richie

Thanks a lot guys, I appreciate it. Haha and you're both welcome to whatever you'd like, I guess the reason I chose that room to work in is fairly obvious haha. I'll try to keep updates comin, thanks again.

[jaree2]

Well, it has certainly been a while since I've been able to post an update here, but I've finally gotten some time in the last couple weeks to make some progress. Making the rock wall was a learning experience, and I'm glad ended up going that route. Anyway, heres some updated pictures, I tried to speed through the Great Stuff/silicone/cocofiber steps, so I forgot to take pictures throughout (although I'm fairly sure those aren't the ones anyone would be interested in anyway):





Current:





Full view:



Side shot for depth:



The next step is to make some minor adjustments to the water feature to make sure theres not any water escaping into the surrounding substrate. After that is the fun but crucial step of planting, which I plan on putting a lot more thought into this time around. Thanks for looking, and critiques/suggestions welcome as always.


--Also, if someone stumbles upon this thread and has had experience growing Peperomia metallica, does this grow in a trailing manner, or more upright? Thanks in advance.