# MORE FX...Model train scenery use(fake rock?) and simulated rippling water fx light



## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Ok my search for new fx and other stuff that might be useful in vivs has yielded a few more possibilities....

First I somehow stumbled on some stuff for Train sets, another old hobby of mine from child hood and I remembered some of the large sets I'd seen with all kinds of fake rock scenery and ponds etc...etc... and was like "hmm wonder if some of that might be useful in vivs?" Here is some of the stuff I found that looks promising...

Here are some rock molds(just a few)...








Base Rock Mold 10.5x5'' (wooc1243) Woodland Model Railroad Molds Accessories









Outcroppings Mold 5x7'' (wooc1230) Woodland Model Railroad Molds Accessories









Classic Rock Mold 5x7'' (wooc1236) Woodland Model Railroad Molds Accessories









Rock Mass Mold 5x7'' (wooc1240) Woodland Model Railroad Molds Accessories

Pre-made fake rocks(I like these!)...








Molded Foam Rock Pieces -- Sandstone pkg(6) - HO-Scale (noc58452) Noch Model Railroad Miscellaneous Scenery









Molded Foam Rock Pieces -- Granite pkg(5) - HO-Scale (noc58451) Noch Model Railroad Miscellaneous Scenery









Hard Foam Rocks -- Arlberg - pkg(3) Size Range- 3-7/8 x 3-1/8 x 2-3/4'' to 5-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 2-3/4'' - HO-Scale (noc58448) Noch Model Railroad Miscellaneous Scenery









Natural Rock Casting -- Agawa Canyon Wall (isl801) ISLE Model Railroad Grass Earth

Well thats just some of whats on this 1 site that I found in a few minutes of browsing. If yo figure the lil men in the pics are about 1cm-1inch tall that should give you some idea of scale. So to me it looks like much of this stuff is large enough to be useful in vivs, and the prices look pretty good to as do the products themselves IMO  I encourage people to search other such sites for more options. We could be missing out on an untapped resource here for several landscaping products for the viv  The fake water products may make interesting bottoms for viv ponds that have clear water...

These fake water scenery products might be usable with real water. Might have to seal them somehow, or otherwise modify them like ripping off unnatural looking additions, but could be useful...








Quarry Pond -- 8-7/8 x 7-7/8 x 2-3/8'' 22 x 20 x 6cm - HO-Scale (fal171815) Faller HO Scale Model Railroad Road Accessories








Waterfall -- 6-3/8 x 2-5/16 x 11-13/16'' 16.2 x 5.9 x 30cm - HO-Scale (fal171814) Faller Model Railroad Miscellaneous Scenery








Calm Blue Water (pls91801) Plastruct Model Train Railroad Scenery Building Supply
Waterfall modeling kit..








Waterfall Kit (clr701) Color-Rite Model Train Railroad Scenery Building Supply
Preformed pond shapes...








Preformed Pond Shape -- Crooked Lake 14 x 11'' (unr104) Unreal Model Train Railroad Scenery Building Supply








Preformed Pond Shape -- Magician Lake 14 x 9'' (unr102) Unreal Model Train Railroad Scenery Building Supply

Anyways thats just a sampling of what might be useful with some creativity. There is also specialty lighting, controllers, plaster sheets, more molding/modeling kits, tools, etc..etc... that could be adapted to vivarium use.

OK now on to another FX lighting idea. I've been running across a lot of dj lighting and most of it doesn't look like it would be useful but I saw these which might add a nice night time FX to medium/large ponds. My guess is given the output of the lights and average tank heights you'll probably need a pond with around 1 sq foot of surface area for these to be useful, but again this is just an educated guess at best. 

2 of the most promising models...
I think this one is probably the best option overall. It only uses a 100watt incandescent bulb so it shouldn't be super bright...about as bright as 1 26watt CFL screw in bulb. I think this model is discontinued too but replacement bulbs are still available and so is the unit on a few sites. I don't know if you can get it to stop on 1 color, may have to modify it for that...
Blue is probably what we'd want so I'll just post a pic of that color effect...
















Chauvet CH-222 CH-222 [CH-222] - $59.99 : DJ Seller | DJ Mixer | DJ CD Player | DJ Headphone | DJ Equipment | DJ Gear | DJ Lighting | DJ Speaker | Pro Audio










50watt 









Not sure if you'd have to modify them to stick to 1 color or not, here are some more options that are more expensive and brighter but may still work, or may even work better...








Amazon.com: Chauvet Abyss LED: Musical Instruments








Amazon.com: American DJ Hydro Water Effect Lighting: Musical Instruments








Amazon.com: American DJ H2O-LED LED Water Effect: Musical Instruments

If you are wondering what exactly I'm thinking with these colored plastic pond moldes/panels and rippling water fx, my intention is to recreate scenes such as these in the vivarium....










































































Doubt we can get the white water effect since that is achieved by high volumes of water and/or long exposure photography but I think we can get a natural looking blue water effect using some of these products and/or using blue/green led spot lighting, underwater led lighting, maybe even agate or other thin translucent mineral slabs, etc..etc.. Might be necessary to install water proof under lighting in the false bottom for some translucent material. I've also been looking into fish safe color or UV dyes, not much luck there. Although small amounts of club soda containing quinine(which is also used as a fish medication) may give viv water a light luminescence under uv light even at extremely diluted animals safe dosages. Not sure, still researching...may require some experimentation to see just how little I can add and still get an effect, and how safe that level seems to animals. 

Agate slab...


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## leuc11 (Nov 1, 2010)

Truthfully I think were are all going to fast with this Id say we take baby steps on this one First we want it to still be dark for the frogs. With the bioluminesant moss we just get some peices of clay paint them with glow paint and put the just under the moss ot look like the moss is glowing the water I think is cool but needs somthin amazing to perfect it but off to a good start time will pay off on this one


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

leuc11 said:


> Truthfully I think were are all going to fast with this Id say we take baby steps on this one First we want it to still be dark for the frogs. With the bioluminesant moss we just get some peices of clay paint them with glow paint and put the just under the moss ot look like the moss is glowing the water I think is cool but needs somthin amazing to perfect it but off to a good start time will pay off on this one


That might work but one issue might be that those paints need light to charge and to glow...so if they are covered by moss during the day will they get enough light to charge up and glow at night?

Also I recommend to anyone doing FX like this that they only run specialty lighting for just a couple hours a night at most, so the majority of the night the frogs are in the dark, or only have a few glowing object around them, giving them plenty of nice dark spots to hide in.

I honestly don't know if the ripple lighting will be useful, or even if has a nice effect it may just be to bright and over power other fx. I was hoping someone had one, or had seen one in operation and could comment on how likely they thought it was to work and provide the desired effect at much closer operating distances from light to projection area.


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