new 20 vert Varadero build... work in progress with fake rocks

I hit up the dollar per gallon sale at petco and picked up 3 new 20H aquariums :-) so more builds on the way. I started with a Varadero build... crappy cell phone pictures with bad lighting - sorry guys.

The plan:


Vertical vivarium tree roots/trunk growing in a rock wall... I've always wanted to do fake rocks, but I've never really put aside the time to do it right. In the past, I've gone the foam/silicone/and clay rout which has provided good, but crack results. This time I really wanted to turn the rocks and wood into a solid centerpiece that stands out. I wanted detail and convincing fake stone.

For the fake stone, I decided to use use great stuff foam carved with a steak knife. I used Durhams putty to harden the outer surface (no waterfall in this one so I think it'll hold up to misting):

I mixed in some acrylic paint - something like 3 parts black, 2 parts brown, 1 part green, maybe a touch of white... heavy on the putty and low on the paint. I let it harden for a day:

several rocks.
Once hard, I repainted and touch up the rock with acrylic. And last, I watered down some black paint into a spray bottle and spray down the rock to fill in the cracks, leaving some light surface on the higher points. The final product:

I'll post more as soon as I can