# Help with creating a background in my enclosure



## mikepb123 (Jan 23, 2014)

Hi all, I'm new to this site but been keeping Chinese Water Dragons for a few years and I have them housed in a vivexotic AX48, my idea is to make a background and sides with an aquarium on the bottom, so if you imagine the top glass doors being the height of the background and the bottom glass is the aquarium, what I want to make is a background with a waterfall coming from the top and back into the aquarium, I'm gonna use an external filter for this as its easier to clean, I'm not sure what wood to use for the direction of the water to run off to make the waterfall, I'm gonna use the out pipe as the exit into the waterfall, I want to put plants in the background so it has to house some soil also near the bottom of the background I want to make a deep shelf where I can put soil in so the dragons can dig and lay eggs, I want to make it so it looks like a rainforest effect, so what materials do you suggest to seal and colour and also to make the background? Should I use polystyrene? Or something else? Thanks for reading this. I look forward to all your input.Mike


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Mike. My first worry would be the vivarium you intend to use. It's roughly 4x4x2 yes, so with a large aquarium you'll loose a fair amount of floor space. CWD's aren't my expertise but it may not be suitable for life, I can't really help with that side of things but I did question it. 

On to the decor, how I would do it is this... Use insulation board such as celotex, kingspan, etc. you can use polystyrene but in my experience it isn't as good, much cheaper but doesn't carve as well, I guess it depends on what finish you're looking for. Once you've finished building up your background you'll need to cover it all with grout. You can at this point add acrylic paint to colour. Once finished grouting you can finish any painting touches with acrylic paints and then seal. Polyvine dead flat varnish is very good, dries clear and dull but is more than splash proof, deals extremely well with heavy spraying. Any areas that are to be submerged such as the waterfall would have to be sealed with something better such as yacht varnish or even better aquarium sealant or epoxy. 

That will do the trick and as long as you are patient could look very impressive. I plan to do something similar in the future for AWD's or similar. 

Hope that helps, Tom.


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## mikepb123 (Jan 23, 2014)

It does help thanks tom, ive had water dragons for years and mine don't tend to go on the floor even though at the moment there is substrate with rocks plants etc. They tend to stay in the trees high up. I had an aquarium in my last enclosure with these dragons and they loved jumping off the branches into the water. Will see what i do, it's still early days and im open to suggestions, problem is ive already bought the filter and media

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## Rabb (Jan 13, 2010)

Hi Mike

I would suggest you forget the idea of real plants and stick to fake. I tried it with my AWD's and they just jump on the plants, squash them and tear them to shreds. I replanted several times before giving up.

I used a pre-formed pond in my viv and made the water fall out of a pond water course up on end. Then blended this with the background I made out of carved polystyrene that I then covered in self levelling compound made up thin enough to paint on in several coats. It dry's very hard and has lasted well. 

I painted with a number of paints some of which where the spray on textured paint once dry they left no fumes that I could detect and seemed splash proof enough that I didn't use any sealer so had a more natural looking matt finish. 2 years on there is a little ware but still looks good.

One of the key factors is your filter I use a filter capable of dealing with 2x the amount of water I have, as lizards are allot dirtier then fish. I also boost the filter with a bacteria filter starter designed for turtles and terrapins to help brake down the waist.

This is the pic form the first planting I did. It's all been replaced with fake plants now but looks just as good.


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## mikepb123 (Jan 23, 2014)

I have a filter that will filter a 6ft tank so should be fine, im not gonna put a fish tank in the bottom, gonna put a water dish and cover around it and put soil over the other end but gonna plant fake plants in it and put them in the background. Dont know what effect i want yet for the background, dont want just a rock effect, gonna put wood in it and seal it and that will be the waterfall but what should i seal it with? Gonna do a zig zag effect from top corner and end above pool area, may out rocks in water fall so its not as powerful. Anyone got any ideas on how to seal wood like bog wood as it will be constantly wet. Im also gonna put ledges and caves in the background for them to sit and hide in. Any ideas? 

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## mikepb123 (Jan 23, 2014)

Also what mm polystyrene do i need to get. What i was thinking of doin was measuring the back and then adding onto the base polystyrene so should i use thicker for back and thinner for shaping? 

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## mikepb123 (Jan 23, 2014)

Anyone?


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## mikepb123 (Jan 23, 2014)

Hi, 

What is the difference with G4 Pond Sealer and Yacht Varnish? i will be creating a water fall within the background but it will be contained and running through cork bark, what would you recommend to seal the cork bark so it still looks natural and not shiny etc, also i would rather use one type of sealant, so it needs to be completely waterproof as im gonna make some fake rocks for the pool area and put them in so they will live in the water if that is possible anyway,

also another question what glue do i use to join the polystyrene together?

im gonna go for black as a base coat then grey then use brown and green colours to make it look natural these will be acrylic paints, i will grout it 3-4 times before hand, i seen yesterday in B&Q there was normal grout and then waterproof grout am i right and thinking i dont need the waterproof grout as im sealing it all anyway?

please reply.

thanks mike


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

G4 pond sealer is of course for sealing ponds, yacht varnish is for varnishing boats, both will work, I'm not sure which one I'd suggest. To stick the poly you can use instant stick adhesive such as no more nails or a hot glue gun. Doesn't matter what grout you use at it will all be sealed anyway.


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## mikepb123 (Jan 23, 2014)

Thanks tom

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## mikepb123 (Jan 23, 2014)

Ive seen grout and adhesive and thats cheaper than grout on its own, is that ok? 

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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

mikepb123 said:


> Ive seen grout and adhesive and thats cheaper than grout on its own, is that ok?
> 
> Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk


In honesty I wouldn't know, can't see why it wouldn't be and is being sealed anyway so won't make a difference.


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