Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 150 gallon tank that I am in the process of turning into an aquatic turtle tank. I plan to have a large plxiglass platform in the back center but the problem I am having is how to build a waterfall mountain. I have a fluval FX5 that I will be using for filtration. I plan to make a large plexiglass column in the corner to run my return into and I wated to build a mountain around it so the water can overflow and run down the mountain. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about what to build the mountain out of. I was playing with the idea of an aquarium safe cement (if that exists) but if I end up wanting to use the tank for something else later I dont want anything permenentin there. I need some ideas bigtime.

You might try the frog or fish forums, and just start looking. Both communities have people that do some really good work with naturalistic backgrounds and water features (I'm assuming you don't want to just stack some bricks). Most squamate and turtle keepers don't seem too much into naturalistic vivaria.

Spend some time at it - what I think you're talking about can get pretty involved, depending on how crazy you want to get.

"Paludarium" might be a useful search term, wherever you look. "Stream tank" might be another one. Perhaps combine those terms with "build log" or "construction journal". You'll be blown away by the cool stuff out there. It might make you want to go pretty crazy with your build.

cheers,
Jimi

Awesome, Thanks, I will try that

You can use the sheets of foam used to insulate houses. Comes in blue and pink in several thicknesses from 1/2" up to 2". It's easy to cut and can be shaped with serrated bread knives and steak knives, files, rasps and the like. Different thicknesses cut, shaped and layered can give a good effect.

For the area where the waterfall is going to splash down your mountain you might want to use real stones as they will stand up to the wear from the water.

To give it the natural look you can use different colors of bathroom tile grout or mason's mortar with color additives. You should be able to get these at any home center. Mix it to the consistency of pancake batter and brush and dribble on your foam structure. Try to use colors compatible with the stones. Put your base layer on thick. Change colors for the next layer and brush on more randomly so some of the base color shows, next layer same thing. As you build up layers you can get a very realistic stone effect. Once complete you can seal it with several coats of satin finish Polyurethane. You might also want to get some sand. Dusting areas with some sand thrown on enhances the effect.

This will want to float so it will need to be securely attached with clear 100% silicone caulk.
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BigT
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That is an awesome idea for the background. I was googling and saw a tank that had that done. It looked amazing.