My DIY Fake Mangrove Root

[clay12340]

The roots look really good. I think the main trunk could use a little texture or something, but you could probably pull that off with paint.

[Michael Hoaster]

Agreed, the main root's not there yet. It doesn't look as natural as the others. I'll work on it.

[sandyland]

Looking good, this will be awesome when its up and running.
Also the sink in the background of the photos is awesome.
That gave me a cool idea for an outdoor kitchen.

[Michael Hoaster]

Isn't it weird how we get these little snippets of people's lives through the unintentional and random views of their homes, through the photos they post?

I'm glad you liked the sink! It's a sheep's trough. One thing you can't see is in the bottom, we poured concrete to shape a basin, so the water goes toward the drain in the middle.

Anyway, hopefully I'll have just enough epoxy clay left to get the final touches done on the main root, which doesn't look organic enough.

Here's a view below and behind it, showing the slots and the hole in the bottom to allow good flow into the powerhead inside.



I'm really looking forward to getting this puppy in the tank and see how it works! It's important that the powerhead in there functions well, because I need it to provide the current for the back half of my 'gyre' flow water movement scheme. I think this will benefit both the plants and the animals. And it should approximate the unidirectional tidal water movement of mangrove and seagrass lagoons.

I have another thread regarding overall planning of the tank. It's in the Marine Plants and Macroalgae forum, called "Caribbean Biotope Seagrass tank"

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2391470

Thanks for following!

[Alavaster]

It's looking great! I can't wait to see it in the tank!

[Michael Hoaster]

More work done and more pics. I added clay to the main root structure to make it look more natural. I tried to add transitions to where the 3 roots connect, so there's less of a gap at the connection points. I also made the bottom edge more irregular.





Looks better but not great. I'm hoping the paint's gonna get it where I need it to be. I bought some paints in 3 shades of brown, and my artist wife is going to school me on dry-brush technique, so cross your fingers!

Here it is with all the roots connected:



I've got a tiny little bit left of the epoxy clay. If I could make the main root a little curvier it would more natural. I've got a couple more gaps to fill on the attachment point transitions as well. It's gonna be close…

[clay12340]

Looks good can't wait to see it painted.

[Michael Hoaster]

Tonight was my last chance to get the shape of this thing right. I think I got it.

First I played around with a pic in photoshop to test my ideas. I concluded that if I could give the main root at least the illusion of some curves, it would look more like a real root, instead of a plastic pitcher coated in clay.

So, with only a handful of the clay left, I went to work, giving it a bit of an 'S' curve. I also used the last bit to build up the transitions at the attachment points and smooth out any major irregularities.

Here's what it looks like:


Notice the curvy silhouette?

I'm pretty happy! I'm amazed I was able to finish it off with the very last bit of clay. Woohoo!

[karimwassef]

Congrats. Looks great.

[clay12340]

Looks really good.

[Laardvark]

Wow! I have to admit I was a little skeptical of the method at the beginning of the thread but the result you achieved is just....wow.
Great job!

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks guys!

Almost ready for paint. I'll do a little filing and sanding to get the attachment points tighter, so there aren't big noticeable gaps. I'm hoping the paint will help hide imperfections as well.

I think I'll clear-coat the paint as well. Anyone have any suggestions for that, that is inert when dried? I was thinking maybe a fiberglass resin? I'd love to just buy some kind of non-toxic spray paint. Suggestions?

[Michael Hoaster]

I think I'm going to go with fiberglass resin. I can get a quart at the auto parts store. I know a lot of folks use it for aquarium construction/sealing, so there's a good history of success.

I look forward to posting more pics of the finished product. I'm still trying to settle on a painting scheme. Looking at photos, mangroves come in a lot of colors! Plus they vary by whether submerged or not. I like the look of the red ones, but those tend to be more slender than my roots. Mine look more like the ones that are dark brown and gray, so I'll probably go in that direction.

Of course in the long run, the color may be insignificant, because of algae and whatever other stuff covering them.

I'm already thinking about my next project for this tank - a fake mangrove mudbank. Look for the new thread!

[Michael Hoaster]

Last pic before I paint it:



And here's an early pic:



I think I've finally cornered my artist wife into helping me paint it this weekend, so I look forward to posting more pics!

[Michael Hoaster]

Painted today. Here's a pic:



I have no idea how it will look in the tank-it changes with the lighting. Looks a bit light. I'm gonna live with for a few days and see if I want to make changes.

I'm not liking the shininess and it will get shinier with the resin finish coat. Can I lightly sand the resin to dull the shine? Hope so. That would really help.

Regardless, with time in the tank, nature will smooth it out for me, I suspect.

[McPuff]

Looks really good. I'll be excited to see it fully submerged and surrounded by life.

[Michael Hoaster]

I've been looking at it for the last few days, to see if I want to make any changes. Two things I don't like: it seems a little light in color, and a bit muddy. I may darken the middle area, leaving the top lighter. I think the muddiness is actually a good thing as a base coat. I think adding a dry brush 'patina' on top should finish it off.

Oh, and the shininess-don't like that either. I'm hoping lightly sanding the resin coating will solve this. I may try sanding the paint as well. With the porosity of the clay and the soaking in of the paint, maybe there is enough paint 'depth' to allow me to take off the shine without taking off the color. I'll try this on the back first…

[clay12340]

I'd be worried sanding it would make algae harder to clean off if that is a concern.

[karimwassef]

Put it in water first? see what it looks like

[Michael Hoaster]

clay12340, I hadn't thought of that. Kind of a catch-22 there. I leave it glossy to facilitate removing algae, but then I remove the algae and I'm stuck with the shininess. It just doesn't look like wood. And I want some algae on it, like in nature. But not too much. I hope my plants outcompete nuisance algae for nutrients, keeping it to a minimum.

karimwassef. I'm not ready to put it in the tank yet, but seeing it in there would be ideal. The lighting it's under now is probably pretty similar, but less intense than in my tank. So it will be even more shiny in there.

Right now it's still a freshwater planted tank, with lots of substrate, etc. in the place I want to place it. My fake mangrove root will need to set up on a bare bottom. I guess it's time to start breaking it down. Not easy to do, especially since it's doing so well. But I have been neglecting it for a while, so it's getting overgrown. I'll trade the plants and fish in for store credit at my LFS. End of an era…

[Michael Hoaster]

OK, here's a couple pics with the fake root in the tank. It's painted, sanded, and sealed twice. Notice also, the eggcrate, for the fake mud bank.


This thing is big-it occupies one third of the tank!


See how I cut the eggcrate on a curve, so to not get the straight, vertical seam?

Now I'm experimenting with the pond foam, eggcrate and plastic bottles.

[Michael Hoaster]

I'm going to try to sand off that shine. My main concern is whether the powerhead inside it will still perform to the level I need it to. I'd consider supplementing it with a closed loop nozzle, if I can hide it in the fake wall.

I can't wait to get this tank up and running! It's going to be great!

[sandyland]

Maybe use steel will instead of sand paper to remove the shine.
Looking good!!
Are you going to post the mud wall build on this thread as well?

[Michael Hoaster]

I'll try that, thanks, sandyland! I have a separate thread for the fake mud bank:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2403722

[sandyland]

Wall looks like it will be another work of art! Keep it up