# How to Video of Cork Bark Great Stuff Background



## simonphelps (May 29, 2012)

I have done 1 Vivarium in the past and now that I am starting my second I thought I would track the progress and get any input or ideas from anyone that viewed this. With this only being my second full vivarium I thought maybe I could learn something and maybe it can give other people ideas. I always like going on youtube and getting other peoples ideas and I hope it has expanded my creativity a little since my first vivarium.

The plan is to use black great stuff, brown silicone mixed with leaf litter, twigs and peat moss for part of the background and then use cork bark for the rest of the background. 
I am actually trying to use a couple of different ideas that I have seen from other people and my main inspirations for this are found in the two links below.

First Step:



Themartincreek





jgrimmier


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## simonphelps (May 29, 2012)

My intro video of what I plan to do.


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## Azurel (Aug 5, 2010)

Good luck bro..... If you need a few more cork flats man I have some.... Thanks for sharing your build.

James


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## toby Bell (Jun 8, 2012)

where do you get the cork flats?


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## Azurel (Aug 5, 2010)

toby Bell said:


> where do you get the cork flats?


You can get them from a few sponsors of the site but I got a huge 30lb box from Maryland Cork. Some amazing pieces.

sent from my Galaxy S lll


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## simonphelps (May 29, 2012)

Azurel said:


> Good luck bro..... If you need a few more cork flats man I have some.... Thanks for sharing your build.
> 
> James


James
I almost wrote you the other day because some of my cork is old and I was thinking about having all new cork but I thought I would give this a try first. I like the variety of cork and how I can put the darker cork next to the waterfall to have it blend in. 
I did your trick with gorilla glue on the back of my weaker pieces of cork so hopefully that will strengthen them. 
It's all a learning process I guess.


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## Azurel (Aug 5, 2010)

simonphelps said:


> James
> I almost wrote you the other day because some of my cork is old and I was thinking about having all new cork but I thought I would give this a try first. I like the variety of cork and how I can put the darker cork next to the waterfall to have it blend in.
> I did your trick with gorilla glue on the back of my weaker pieces of cork so hopefully that will strengthen them.
> It's all a learning process I guess.


Yea it is.... I do things on the new ones I didn't think about with my first few....You should be good man just take it slow and take your time. Rushing is when mistakes are made....I'm always around man message anytime. Looks good so far.


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## simonphelps (May 29, 2012)

This is the set up after putting in the great stuff. This was much harder than I thought it was going to be especially getting the slate rock in the perfect position so the water will drip off the side of it onto the next rock. It's pretty much a guessing game but I think all the rocks are angled right.

I finished up the great stuff part the other day and began to put my peat moss, leaf litter, twigs and brown silicone mixture on the walls today. I ran out of silicone so I will have to make the hour drive to the store to get some more Brown GEII silicone to finish it up. I will then have another update video.


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## Azurel (Aug 5, 2010)

How is the water going to be pushed up to the top of the water fall? Is the water going to come from the false bottom or is the tank drilled?

sent from my Galaxy S lll


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## simonphelps (May 29, 2012)

I got a hole drilled in the back of the tank. When the water gets as high as the hole it will drain through a filter into a 10 gallon tank below this tank and then it will be pumped back up. I am thinking about getting a piece of glass made to put on the top of the tank and then drilling a hole in the top of the glass for the water to come back in. 
I am concerned about when I put the light on the top of the glass. I wonder if the heat of the T5's will affect my glass and cause it to crack. I may have to call the glass company and ask. I think it should hold up and if I can use glass that will give me a good seal and I can drill spots for the mist king and the tube for the water.


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## B-NICE (Jul 15, 2011)

simonphelps said:


> I got a hole drilled in the back of the tank. When the water gets as high as the hole it will drain through a filter into a 10 gallon tank below this tank and then it will be pumped back up. I am thinking about getting a piece of glass made to put on the top of the tank and then drilling a hole in the top of the glass for the water to come back in.
> I am concerned about when I put the light on the top of the glass. I wonder if the heat of the T5's will affect my glass and cause it to crack. I may have to call the glass company and ask. I think it should hold up and if I can use glass that will give me a good seal and I can drill spots for the mist king and the tube for the water.


Your glass shouldn't crack. In my experience with black foam, it will more than likely peel off the glass. The trick is to silicone the glass and then apply the GS. I also used the slates in a few of my vivs, I used some tool to get them flat, then hot glued them on to the glass, then GS'd around it for support. Why are you filtering drained water?


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## simonphelps (May 29, 2012)

Good to know my glass wont crack. I also took some silicone and smeared it on the glass with a rubber glove. I then applied the great stuff to the silicone so hopefully It wont peel off. I didn't get the silicone on every spot that I applied the great stuff but I hope the silicone that I did put on helps it stay ALL the great stuff to stay. 

As for the drainage hole and the water. I am filtering the RO water that is draining out of the tank because it is inevitable to get small pieces of sphagnum dirt and other things slipping through my drainage every once in a while. If I don't filter this out it can clog up my water pump and I would like to keep this from happening. 
I know not much sphagnum or dirt will be going down my drainage because it will be fenced in with fiberglass screening but I would rather play it safe. ;-)


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## simonphelps (May 29, 2012)

Picture of the mixture I made for the silicone. Twigs, crumpled up leaves, Sphagnum peat moss and dead ferns. I could only upload a small picture though.


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## simonphelps (May 29, 2012)

I finally got my silicone, peat moss, leaf and twig litter background done. I ended up mixing some of this will toluene at times when I needed a thinner mixture. This went on fairly well and I am pleased so far with the way it looks.

I have a large piece of wood that I have for a centerpiece in this tank that I will probably be adding sooner or later. Next Video I will have the complete background touched up and filled in 100% with sphagnum moss.

let me know if you are thinking any different ideas or questions.




Dart Frog Background Rock waterfall how to cork bark great stuff mixture setup - YouTube


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## Azurel (Aug 5, 2010)

Cork up above the water fall might looks good especcially if you could get some moss to grow up there as well as some vineing plants might look great growing above the water fall..... I like the muddy look of the mixture.... Either way it is turning out pretty good bro.


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## simonphelps (May 29, 2012)

The video didn't show up when I posted it last time.


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## simonphelps (May 29, 2012)

Here are a few pictures of what I have been up too. 

Put Silicone on my drainage hole with piping and tubing to my reservoir tank.

Filled in all my cracks with non biodegradable peanuts and sphagnum moss.

filled in the tank bottom with small stones and put down fiberglass screening. 

I'm now working on letting all my plants settle in. I would like to find some sort of vine that will creep along the whole back of my tank. I would like something with very small leaves but has a lots of small leaves. Something that covers so much of the back wall that you see more of the green plant than the cork bark. 
Any suggestions?


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## simonphelps (May 29, 2012)

Here are some pictures of some broms I have put in the tank that a buddy gave me. One of them has a purple flower looking thing coming out the middle. Does anyone know what that is?


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## simonphelps (May 29, 2012)

not sure what the name of this one is but I got it from a local pet store called pruess pets


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## simonphelps (May 29, 2012)

another one I got from pruess pets that I dont know the name of.


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## simonphelps (May 29, 2012)

These 2 I got from a friend and as you can see there is a purple flower in the middle of the one on the right. What is it?


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## Azurel (Aug 5, 2010)

That is the brom blooming.... keep an eye on it...It should/could start to pup off once they bloom they are heading to the end of their life span.

sent from my Galaxy S lll


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