First attempt at making fake rocks in a 30 gallon

Booba5185

New Member
Messages
13
Location
MO
Hey guys,

I always wanted to try fake rocks when I used to keep Cichlids, but I never got around to it. Now that we have Steve (the gecko), I had to try it. Steve went on vacation to his summer cabin (10 gallon), and we went to town! Here's before:
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Picked up the foam, and started cutting. I used tooth picks to hold it together during the carving, and used hot glue to hold it together once I knew how I wanted everything:
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"Hot hide" with a ramp up to the bridge, removable top for cleaning:
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Cool, soft hide, also with removable top:
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After that, we coated it with some grout, I let it dry in the 250w heat lamp with a box fan drying them. I gave it 4 hours in between coats, rearranging every so often for the heat lamp. After the 3rd coat (4th in some places), I let everything set for 10 hours, 3 of which in the sun.
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Then my wife accented the rocks a bit, and I sealed the rocks.
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Steve investigating:
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After some fake plants and a new background, we love it!
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The kids and Steve LOVE it, he explores all over the place, but seems to like the left (hot) hide the most.
 

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