Dendrobates tinctorius 'New River' vivariums

[Todd S.]

Hey guys Ive been planning this project for months now. I finally started in on it once the rest of the supplies came in.

2 18" ZooMed cubes.

The first attempt from Sunday was a fail. I tried to do the background without using foam and silicone. I was unable to stabilize the rocks by packing in substrate between them. I had to tear down and clean the tanks and the rocks and start over.

[Todd S.]

Here is a pic of viv 1 failed attempt from Sunday.


Todd

[Venomos]

Could you possibly get away with using the epoxy used for reef tanks? I used some on my live rock when I had my reef tank going. I would have to check what I have left to see about curing outside of water...I would assume it would since its a two part mix that you squeeze together like clay.

[Philsuma]

Are those real rocks Todd ? I remember you buying some fake rocks....

[Todd S.]

Phil the rocks are fake. They were cast out of light weight resin.
I have already finished foaming in most of the rocks. I plan to carve on Friday and start siliconing Friday night or Saturday.. hoping to have all the background completed for both vivs by Sunday night so I can allow a week or so for airing out.
I will upload some pix in a few minutes of the current progress of both vivs.

Todd

[Todd S.]

Foaming is all cured. Im going to carve it out by Saturday and start on the silicone/coco fiber Saturday night
Viv 1

[Todd S.]

Viv 2 just before I finished filling the last few gaps under the sides of the rocks



Todd

[Philsuma]

that looks good ! and probably pretty solid and safe.

[Todd S.]

Yes its much better. I think part of the issue is that these rocks have almost no weight to them. That seems to make them wobble in the substrate. The foam seems to have stabilized them greatly

[Venomos]

Sheiiiit...Nevermind my idea then! I thought those things were real! They look AWESOME!!

[schreff]

That looks amazing!!! Where or how would I get some "rocks" like that?

[Stu&Shaz]

very interesting Todd,like how its shaping up i appreciate what your saying about the lack of weight and stability,as you might have guessed i would also love to know more about the fake rocks l,especially how they were made,some skills for me to learn there. They are very very good!!!

Stu

[Todd S.]

I cannot take credit for the casting of the rocks. I found someone in Texas who casts them. They were not cheap but a fair price. I was asked not to share any links yet as he is working on the site and also was not able to handle a ton of orders yet last I spoke to him about it. I will ask him at some point this week if he is okay with me sharing the link yet.

Todd

[Girlwithafrogtattoo]

That looks really nice. Viv's with rocks are my favorite layouts.

[Todd S.]

I dare say the vivs will be amazing looking when they are finished. I havent had time to work on them much this weekend. Carved a little bit of the foam in both.. probably still got a little carving in each then I need to set up the coco fiber for drying out and maybe do a little of the silicone each night after work this week

Todd

[Todd S.]

Hey all, I havent really been working much on this until this past weekend. I got almost all the carving done and am about to start the silicone part but unfortunately during carving a few holes were revealed so I need to fill those first.
Currently the coco is expanding and I expect to finish this weekend at the latest.
I will post some photos of the current progress today or tomorrow.

Todd

[Todd S.]

Hey guys,

I just got some photos of the carving phase just before I moved onto the silicone/coco fiber step.
Please enjoy.

Viv 1


Closeup of upper right corner


I will post pix of the coco phase tomorrow once it dries.
Not sure if I will start silicone on Viv 2 yet tonight or not.

Todd

[mordoria]

Can we see a pic of the inhabitants? Am I jumping the gun?

[Todd S.]

I already have a separate thread of them.


I wont add any photos of the inhabitants to this thread until they are living in these vivs

Todd

[Todd S.]

Okay heres some pix of Viv 1!
Before shaking off excess coco fiber

Excess shaken off


Closeup of upper right corner


I will start Viv 2 tonight and then patch up Viv 1 tomorrow.
Enjoy! And please feel free to comment!