Finally got some youngsters

[Fatal_S]

Very cool. What do you use to make it safe for the fish? You should do a post in the OT forum about how you make it

[Niels D]

How do you clean the background?

Don't need to clean it. I never clean the backgrounds of my newt tanks. You can establish a perfect ballance in a cold water aquarium inhabited with newts. They don't produce a lot of waste and with the use of snails, shrimp (Caridina and Neocaridina species can cope with lower temperatures) and water plants the water quality remains perfect. I only replace the water that has evaporated. Of course you need circulation. Here we can use the tap water without treatment, so that's quite convenient.

What do you use to make it safe for the fish?

I'm using grout (different colours) in combination with an acrealic polymere (here we have the brand "Flevopol"). There's no need to treat the background with an epoxy resin afterwards, so you don't get that plastic look. After I'm finished with the grout I just apply a thin layer of the polymere without anything else. When it dries it becomes transparant. To get different colours I'm using the wash method. Start with a layer of light coloured grout. Then a lyer with darker grout, only to rub it away on the proud parts. The dark colours remain in the holes and cracks. You can repeat this with multiple layers of grout mixed with polymere, just make sure the last layer is darker than the previous ones. End with a mix which is as thin as water with only black coloured grout and immidiately wash it of with a wet brush for a finishing touch. After a couple of days it's completely dried. Wash the background with water or let it remain underwater for a day. Afterwards it's completely safe to use. As a base I'm using roof isolation hardened foam (Kingspan, Roofmate), which can be carved out easely.

When I'll start making a new tank I can post a building thread. Learned the basic of this method on dendroboard.

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

For the skinks though, if they poop on it or something, how would you clean it?

[Niels D]

You have to clean it with hot water. Don't rub too hard though, because it can get damaged. I think I'm going to use an extra thick layer of grout if I'm going to use this method fot the skinks.

[Niels D]

They're loving snails here! I'm glad they're eating well.

[Niels D]

The aquarium is finished! This tank is for my Pleurodeles waltl. Hope they will enjoy it. The exhaust of the water pump is hidden behind the trunk. Water will be streaming on the little platform so I can put Java moss on it.



Finished a little tank as well.