First coat of tinted Drylok. At this point the color looks pretty flat. I'm going to add another solid coat and then do some shading and highlights to make it look more realistic.
Here's a pic with a light over the setup. The white balance is off so it unfortunately doesn't capture the color very well
The next step is to silicone all the pieces into the tank and then paint the back black.
One issue with this setup is that once I release a fish into this tank I'm probably never going to be able to catch it again! So no impulse buys for this setup - all the occupants are going to have to be chosen carefully.
I recently discovered your 300g paludarium build and read all of it and was very impressed. I will also be following this one intensely to attempt to get better at vivarium construction. I used your suggestion of Drylok in my own 40g and so far I am very pleased with the turnout. I also live in Chapel Hill. Go Heels.
Saving this thread, I am going to have to attempt this, where do u get inspiration for the rocks? Just a bit unlike any I've seen, and looks so professional. I'm impressed
I'm curious, u said u silicones the sheets together? I would think it would be tough to keep any of the pieces from separating, is there a trick? Is it a specific silicone or specific foam u use? Dryloc seals it up completely, so could you use the green foam blocks from like michaels? I'm definitely going to try this