Very first Do-it-Yourself Viv could use some advice :D

[InfinitysDaughter]

I initially bought a 12x12x18 viv for my Whites cuse a not so experienced associate told me it would be big enough. The tumping at night and the faceplants into the sides while hunting dinner says otherwise to me..... XD

So I'm going to get an 18x18x24 which the girls in the tree frog forum said would be plenty big enough for her. At first I was just gona buy some stuff and hope she liked it but, well, I got curious and saw a few threads about building there own backgrounds and things and thought to myself "you have a dang art degree. make something for her yourself!" So that's what I want to do.

But I dont really know where to start. I know where to get the blue Styrofoam but not where (or what kind) to get sealant or anything else I might need. I also dont know how to attach the pieces to the tank itself. I'm thinking of doing two tanks. Doing the new one for Azy and also redoing the smaller (12x12x18) where I'm moving my little frogs to. So I need something strong enough to hold the Whites as she gets bigger but also absolutely non toxic if exposed. My little frog Percy always finds the tiniest places to force herself into so really sealing around the edges is a must so she dosn't accidentally hurt herself being too curious.

[J Teezy]

well backgrounds can be made lots of different ways. I personally have only done the styrofoam kind. Now i've done two different styles

my first build was like this for a 10 gallon vertical



here it is finished



Now that background all i did was get some polystyrene sheets from a store called Maynards (same type of store as home depot or lowes, and home depot and lowes have it as well). The sytrofoam is basically insulation. Many different thicknesses of this stuff. I used the thinner stuff to make a back panel, and then made rocks out of the same thickness and the next thicker stuff which i adhered to the panel with silicone. A knife and my fingernails were used to carve rocks.

The second one i made was for a 29 gallon horizontal (this is my current build i'm working on still)

For this background i used the same kind of styrofoam but this time i bought a big 4'x8' sheet of it at home depot. This stuff had a plastic liner on one side and a foil liner on the other, i'd suggest not getting this stuff as the plastic is a pain in the butt to peel off. I'll never use that kind again.

I used a stack method i saw on youtube for this one. I wanted to have planters in the background on this one so you can see how i did that if you visit my 29 gallon build log



basically i cut out a bunch of panels from the big sheet all the same size (i made a template out of cardboard to make it fast). Read the build log where i explain exactly how each piece was made

And basically when it was all done it ended up like this



Now people have said to me, "there's no way i can do that" Well trust me it's not that hard. Now i'm not an artist but i consider myself somewhat crafty. I think i just get it from my mom who is very crafty and my dad who is very handy. But when i do this kind of stuff i never really have a plan, i have a slight picture in my head, but i just sit down and mostly wing it. I watched alot of vids on youtube and read alot of other peoples threads on making fake rocks and used what i saw and read and my own creativity (or lack there of) and just did it. The harder you try to make it look a certain way the easier it is to mess up. Just have a general idea and go with it, and remember you can always start over!

I have build threads for both of those backgrounds i made here on this forum where you can get more detailed info about them, but it's pretty simple.

There's alot of other ways to go about making a background, but i've never done any of them. I think the fastest way is Great Stuff method.

This is a very fast background as well

Robc's 3-D Backdrop Tutorial - YouTube

[InfinitysDaughter]

Around here I can get this blue craft foam thats about the stiffness of your typical styrofoam but stands up to carving much better. A friend of mine makes modles and things and he uses the foam to make landscapes similar to the way you made the 29 gallon one (cutting several thiner pieces in a rough similar pattern then sculpting it after there all glued together).

What I'm wanting to know is what sort of sealents can be used? The spraypaints and stuff my friend uses are obviously not frog friendly but I dont know what would be safe.

As for the shaping, I have no real idea yet. I thought about making smaller peices and glueing them with aquarium grade "glue" (I cant think of the right word ^^; ) to the back and sides but now I dont know. I think I'm gona wait till I get the actual 18x18x24 tank and just stair at it for a while, see what it wants. I know. That sounds really really REALLY dumb but thats how I think of art when working with a new medium. I look at the medium and thing "what does it want to be?" and just go with what my instincts tell me.

[J Teezy]

paint with acrylics. As for sealants you have a couple options. I'm using this stuff called Shields All right now on my 29 gallon. It's kind of pricey but i like it. Kind of makes it look kind of plasticy but you can sprinkle sand on it while its drying to break up the shine of it. Can also seal with silicone. I did this on the 10 gallon and didn't like it too much. Silicone is very strong especially when you are smearing it around like that where you are using alot of it at once. Do it outside if you do.

I know exactly what you mean. I was constantly putting my build into the tank and taking it out as i was making it to get visuals. Staring at the tank also to try and get ideas on how to shape it. Been there, done that!