# DIY 'Rock' Retainer Wall



## Alasse (Jan 5, 2011)

I've decided to take this tank back to a planted tank....so for starters i wanted a way to separate the plant substrate from the sand i want to use at the front (for my cories) So i decided to build a wall, quite pleased how it turned out actually

So the wall is done. All that was used was foam, silicone and black quartz sand. It is now siliconed into the tank, just have to wait until silicone cures before i can procedd further.

Rough foam draft









Full wall 









'rock'









Close up


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## Daniil (Oct 30, 2009)

looks very nice!!
i'll be waiting to see the finished project. =)


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

what did you use to give it the color? looks really nice!


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## Daniil (Oct 30, 2009)

silicone and black quartz sand.


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## anubias6439 (Sep 7, 2010)

nice, looks like the real deal


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## Alasse (Jan 5, 2011)

Thanx 

Update:

Did a test fill, wall stayed where it was supposed to. So 1 decent line of silicon the length of the wall will hold it down.

Ive started putting the substrate into the plant section, miscalculated how much i would need though, grrrrrrrrrr, i'll need to drop into the lfs and pick up more gravel!

Stay tuned, i'll try to grab pics as i'm 'scaping


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## Alasse (Jan 5, 2011)

Finally picked up the bag of gravel i needed (approx 20kg of gravel/laterite/JBL mix behind the wall) Substrate is now all in


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## Alasse (Jan 5, 2011)

Soooooo its done, well pretty much, needs a few more plants, but this is all i have at the moment.

A pic of wood and some plants being placed









Now filled, lights running. Still gotta fix up the canister, then plug it all in









I myust say i'm rather proud of how it turned out


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## Daniil (Oct 30, 2009)

Very nice


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## Franco (Jun 25, 2010)

Thats awesome. I made a retaining wall with fired clay but it looks like terra cota. Your's looks much more natural.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Beautifully done! What size tank is that?


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## jerrybforl (Jul 22, 2008)

I'm curious as to how you got the silicone smoothed out and the sand so nice over it! Please let us know.


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## Alasse (Jan 5, 2011)

Thanks guys 

Davemonkey - The tank is 2.5ft

Jerrybforl - I used a knife to spread the silicone, very similar to icing a cake. I had the silicone fairly thin so i did the wall in section. Once silicone section was on, sprinkled sand over and gently pressed it in. When you're done you gently shake off excess sand and check for bits you may have missed. If you find any, a bit of silicone on your finger, dab it on then sand over and gently press...


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## Alasse (Jan 5, 2011)

Cleared water. Neons and cories in residence


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

turned out so pretty! well done!!!


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## Alasse (Jan 5, 2011)

Thanx ddavila

Updated pic

Moved to its own thread, can get updates here


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## farrenator (Dec 21, 2008)

Looks great! Nice work.


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## thlim (Apr 2, 2011)

that's really cool stuff !


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## funnytrash (Sep 5, 2010)

is that a jebo tank?


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## Blacksunshine (Aug 11, 2006)

Bravo ! nice work with the Styrofoam.


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## joshp428 (Nov 16, 2007)

that actually looks really nice, great job


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