Part 4 (final) Grand canyon vivarium background

[shotgun123456789ful]

yo,becky,

could u make me a city block that has a hide built in to it and a basking spot too could u tell me how much that would cost to have made,I love ur work,it would have to fit a 20x10 cm tank

From

Ethan

[cho944amc]

Live in the U.S

[cho944amc]

Hey Becky, love your videos! I was wondering how much an exact replica of this project would cost if I bought it from you. I would appreciate it, thanks.

[fishymaniac97]

really good like a dream world for a reptile very good how much do you charge it looks like alot of work

[Beckywheeler]

@fishymaniac97 Hiya mate, Prices vary on what you want and the size of the background but prices start from £150-450 depending what you go for.

[jerseydevil4980]

I have some silly questions...Is the background glued to the back of the aquarium glass? and is the styrofoam just glued to the background? BTW your design is awesome!

[initiatededdeano]

can you please list the materials used........

type of pain, eg acrylic or whatever.....brand may help...

type of glue....

type of varnish..... Ie acrylic or whatever again, a brand may help...

Im worried about the toxins in some of other materials I could use,, Ie silicone is toxic and some paints

thanks... Deano

[svee]

@initiatededdeano She shows everything in the vids mate. Paint is at the 8:30 point in part two, Glue she mentions in part one (she just uses silicone sealant as its only to hold the poly together until you get the grout on it), varnish is right at the beginning of this video at the 1:00 mark.

You are right, some paints can be very toxic but if you stick to the water-based acrylic ones you should be totally fine ;)

[initiatededdeano]

Hi, can you please tell me exactly what you use to create these type of backgrounds..

what type of glue and paint are used to cover the grout? Ie PVA glue? acrylic paint?

thanks

[BaronVonBouncer]

Hi, great video, the varnish you use, does it need to be polyvine or will normal ultra stong ronseal Matt coat varnish be ok, can't find the polyvine anywhere.

[TheWushu666]

@BaronVonBouncer I would also like to know this, I just went to home base as I'm on the last step now so I need varnish and I ended up buying just a small tin of normal mat strong stuff as they said it will probs work the same, but if you know where I could get it from Becky that would be awesome! :)

[Beckywheeler]

@TheWushu666 Sorry guys I did reply a couple of days ago but it's not on here?? Hmm??....OK I use polyvine because its waterbased and non toxic, secondly it dries out quicker than any other varnish. I did buy some Ronseal varnish and was not happy with it as it had a brown tint to it even though it was suppose to be clear? And secondly there is no matt finish! only satin and gloss. and lastly it gives off a high solvent smell and the varnish takes ages to dry properly and to be fume/odour free.

[Beckywheeler]

@BaronVonBouncer Sorry I did reply a couple of days ago but it's not on here?? Hmm??.OK I use polyvine because its waterbased and non toxic, secondly it dries out quicker than any other varnish. I did buy some Ronseal varnish and was not happy with it as it had a brown tint to it even though it was suppose to be clear? And secondly there is no matt finish! only satin and gloss. Lastly it gives off a high solvent smell & the varnish takes ages to dry properly & to be fume/odour free.

[maraujo86]

do you make 3d backgrounds/basking rocks for underwater turtles??

[nok1888]

Great video as always cant wait to get started on mine afyer i practice all your techniques and tips

[jaydenl95]

Hi just wondering what varnishing the background does aren't they already like laminated? Also could you explain what order you have to do everything please, i got a bit confused towards the middle thankyou, btw amazing background yoyve created :)

[Beckywheeler]

@jaydenl95 Hiya, Reason I varnished over the background is to give it some protection against the UV as after 6 months they fade and need replacing. As for what order I did everything? There's 4 parts and everything I did should be covered?? basically its polying, grouting, painting then varnishing.

[jaydenl95]

@Beckywheeler ok thankyou youve really helped me out :)

[deadsea60]

wow that was amazing must have been expensive

[jjuday25]

Great work!! Very creative and inspiring! Do you have an email where I could ask some questions? I've built some of these myself, very fun!

[DjHossonthedecks]

Thunmbs up to the Metallica T-Shirt :D

[moonzie3]

Can i ask, how do you clean this? Do you just wipe it down with disinfectant wipes. i thought of using repti carpet as the floor with foam walls and platforms so it would be easier to clean the carpet. Would that work or would i not be able to get the carpet out to wash?

[Beckywheeler]

@moonzie3 Hiya, Just a damp cloth and warm soapy water. As for reptile carpet I personally think it's crap as you can't wash it and your find yoruself having to replace it very often, when I had beardies I used vinyl tiles as it was so much easier to clean.

[MrReptilesrock]

What's the point of varnish?? I know what it does, but what does it do to the background?? Is it worth buying it and varnishing the background??

[lzzrdboy]

Love it Becky! This was truly an inspiration. I'm doing up a Grand Canyon themed background including side panels, hides, etc. for my Leopard Gecko Neo in a bowfront aquarium I just acquired. Thanks so much for the videos and forum posts. You're truly an expert in this dept. I think we all can agree.

[Chasten12]

Hi Becky, great vids! Cant wait to get started on mine. Just one question, how did you do the cut outs for the water bowls? It looks like the ground is sunk in to fit the shape of the bowls unless I'm seeing things! Thanks for taking the time and uploading

[Beckywheeler]

@Chasten12 Hi hun, Right I had 2 exo terra bowls, then I placed the bottom of the dishes on a sheet of poly and drew around it. Then took the bowls off and drew around where I had already marked but this time made it an extra 2cm bigger because once you've done the grouting etc you will want them bowls to still fit.

Once I had the cutouts I then built around it using bits of poly and glueing them with silicone and then grout.

[mzlncr]

Hey Becky,was wondering what you use to stick the desert backround onto the tank? Also do you use a non toxic sealer/varnish..was curious as I didn't see u menchen it and was wondering if I'd need to get something that is non toxic?

[MrLizards101]

This is AMAZING when my bearded dragon gets bigger i hope to make somthing a little like this

[DjGizzy]

thanks for replying, i was just curious as wether to use a heat mat in my project. what do you think? the grout is a water proof grout i presume. just bin told i can use papier mache for vivs but dont think its a good idea.

[DjGizzy]

hi becky, nice vids!!! goin to start a project for my dwarf boa and need some tips really. what are you using to seal the grout with? what sort of lighting are you using for the vivs?

[Beckywheeler]

@DjGizzy Hiya mate, I use water based paints and varnish. As for the lighting I use a reptiglo 2.0 tube and basking spotlight bulb (with guard) connected to a stat.

[isdrake]

Nice. :P