[Guest]

okay i had this idea while i was looking at all of this eggcrate i had left over from the false bottom im putting in my twenty high. I was thinking that if I cut the egg crate into diffrent sized ledges coat the ledges with foam, silicone, and coco bedding and then put the foam down for the background and place the ledges where i wanted them that it would look pretty cool Imo. The reason why I decided to do this was because my local petstore isn't reliable for corkbark or anything along those lines, so i will give it a shot and keep people updated if interested. I shall post picks when i can.


jake

 

[fleenor1]

Hey Gecko...
I actually did this type of thing in one of my 20 gallon tanks.
It isn't really a shelf but, more of a planter for some hanging vine type plants. I didn't use egg crate but, I just formed a huge glob of foam. I let it dry and then hollowed it out pretty good. It turned out great and my Coasta Rican Auratus love jumping up and checking things out from there.

I wasn't really expecting the frogs to jumps up there at all. I will try to take a picture of it tonight when I get home. I am sure that you can do what ever you want to with GreatStuff foam just as long as you don't really rest too much weight on what you make.

Later,
Brad

 

[Iheartdarts]

I'm planning my first viv and was thinking about doing this....glad to see that it was worked for others.

I was thinking about making it out of foam as part of the original background with the standard coco fiber over it. Couple questions though.

If you hollow out the shelf to make it a land/planter area should you drill holes in the bottom to drain it out? Wouldn't the substrate stay very wet otherwise?

I suppose you could plan on it being wet and use plants that prefer those conditions up there.

Pics would be great!

Thanks

-Dave

 

[snmreptiles]

Mike has also done this in one of his first tanks. He made them out of just great stuff alone and then carved them to the shape that he wanted. He made one low ledge and then another larger one a step up from that one on the other side of the background. The frogs loved them! The just used them as steps to get up to the higher ledges and often slept up there.

-Shelley

 

[fleenor1]

With mine I carved out the greatstuff to make a planter and then coated the inside of it with silicone. I went with the coco fiber as well and yes, I did drill some holes for drainage.

I just started another 20 gallon tonight so, I will be able to take some pictures of it soon. I guess then I will have to learn how to post the pictures....

I posted a few pictures in my personal gallery of my first 20 gallon viv but, you can't really tell that there is a ledge. If you look it is on the upper right hand of the tank.

Check back in the next few days for pictures of my second 20 gallon viv that I am making right now. I just sprayed the inside with the greatstuff about ten minutes ago.

Later,
Brad

 

[Dane]

Ledges and other protrusions from the back wall can add a lot of cool shadows and planting options. It makes for a much more interesting tank. Good luck.

 

[Guest]

i used the large glob of greatstuff as well and then hollowed it out in my 15. it worked great and its not the sleeping spot for one of my blue auratus. he kind of dug a small hole in there and just sleeps with his head barley pokeing out.