Jump to content
SaltCritters.com

Natalia's Sculpture Bowl is almost a year old!


natalia_la_loca

Recommended Posts

natalia_la_loca

Equipment list:

 

1.75 gallon blown glass bowl from Amazon.com

Lid from 1-gallon Anchor Hocking terrarium

Black architect lamp from Amazon.com

ABI 12W Tuna Blue Par38 LED

Betta Stik 7.5 watt heater

Inkbird temperature controller

Dry Marco Rock

TOM Stellar Air Pump rated for 10-20 gallons

Bare airline

Some sculptures I made

 

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
On 10/27/2017 at 2:30 PM, natalia_la_loca said:

Equipment list:

 

1.75 gallon blown glass bowl from Amazon.com

Some sculptures I made

 

 

 

Ok, I'm veeeery curious about this part. 

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/28/2017 at 10:46 PM, Rene said:

Ok, I'm veeeery curious about this part. 

As am I! I believe we may be on the same track here, though I wouldn’t consider mine a “sculpture”...

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
natalia_la_loca

Update time! I seeded the bowl with some rock and gravel from the existing reefbowl, waited a few days, and added a few coral frags. Unfortunately, nuisance algae (diatoms? Looks like there’s some GHA too) took hold really quickly, before I could get around to adding snails. Hopefully the snails will clear things up. 

 

And of course there are sculptures. 

 

Pics to follow when it looks a little less embarrassing :blush:

  • Like 6
Link to comment
natalia_la_loca

Okay, the snails are making better progress. Here it is. I’ve added a couple of bubblegum digitata and nephthea frags from the main reefbowl, and some zoas and an acan and an acro from the LFS.

 

And of course the sculptures. Think “garden of earthly delights” by Hieronymus Bosch, crossed with 20th century surrealism and Ancient Greek shipwrecks, and you have an approximation of the weird (and possibly slightly disturbing) mix I’m aiming for. 

 

Can’t wait to get some more corals and colors in here. And possibly more sculptures.

 

37786882314_4a28400b3e_b.jpg

 

  • Like 8
  • Wow 4
Link to comment
1 hour ago, natalia_la_loca said:

Okay, the snails are making better progress. Here it is. I’ve added a couple of bubblegum digitata and nephthea frags from the main reefbowl, and some zoas and an acan and an acro from the LFS.

 

And of course the sculptures. Think “garden of earthly delights” by Hieronymus Bosch, crossed with 20th century surrealism and Ancient Greek shipwrecks, and you have an approximation of the weird (and possibly slightly disturbing) mix I’m aiming for. 

 

Can’t wait to get some more corals and colors in here. And possibly more sculptures.

 

37786882314_4a28400b3e_b.jpg

 

Very creative! Now, where in the world did you find those sculptures?! :lol:

 

Wait you made them!? Wowza very cool! 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
1 hour ago, natalia_la_loca said:

Okay, the snails are making better progress. Here it is. I’ve added a couple of bubblegum digitata and nephthea frags from the main reefbowl, and some zoas and an acan and an acro from the LFS.

 

And of course the sculptures. Think “garden of earthly delights” by Hieronymus Bosch, crossed with 20th century surrealism and Ancient Greek shipwrecks, and you have an approximation of the weird (and possibly slightly disturbing) mix I’m aiming for. 

 

Can’t wait to get some more corals and colors in here. And possibly more sculptures.

 

37786882314_4a28400b3e_b.jpg

 

Fantastic! What materials did you use to make the sculptures?

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment

I really like the statues.  Even though they are not Asian in style the vibe is a sunken Thai temple.  Bangkok will be under water in a few decades, perhaps this can be a diorama of the underwater city.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
natalia_la_loca

Thanks guys :flower:  @JoeR, the clay i used is paper clay, which is clay with paper mixed in. The paper burns away when fired in the kiln. It’s easy to work when wet and lightweight when fired. I thought it might serve well as live rock when colonized by bacteria. I suspect it may also be leaching some nutrients into the system, hence all the algae. Hopefully over time that will even out with all the 100% water changes I do.

 

@OldManSea, you’re right on to the sort of thing i was thinking as I made this. I think of the corals as nature rising from the ruins of civilization. 

Link to comment
1 hour ago, natalia_la_loca said:

Thanks guys :flower:  @JoeR, the clay i used is paper clay, which is clay with paper mixed in. The paper burns away when fired in the kiln. It’s easy to work when wet and lightweight when fired. I thought it might serve well as live rock when colonized by bacteria. I suspect it may also be leaching some nutrients into the system, hence all the algae. Hopefully over time that will even out with all the 100% water changes I do.

 

@OldManSea, you’re right on to the sort of thing i was thinking as I made this. I think of the corals as nature rising from the ruins of civilization. 

I’ve never heard of paper clay but it looks awesome. After working with concrete to do mine, I realized I should have used clay for sure. Concrete is a very difficult material to use and it doesn’t lend itself to detail work like clay does. Oh well, now I know.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
19 hours ago, JoeR said:

I’ve never heard of paper clay but it looks awesome. After working with concrete to do mine, I realized I should have used clay for sure. Concrete is a very difficult material to use and it doesn’t lend itself to detail work like clay does. Oh well, now I know.

I tried out fimo clay, and it's just too soft to work with, so no complex structures could easily be made.  Did you go with straight portland cement?  I'll be curious about the alge with this paper clay. I didn't have a kiln available, so skipped the clay idea.  But sure does look awesome.  

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...