30 cube in the making

How well does the foam hold up? Will the paint harm the reef over time?

I saw a thread of someone using the black pond foam, I like the idea of gray.
 
Hi Erik,

Looks good, The foam thing is a neat concept. Let me know when your ready for some frags, we always talk about seeing each other tanks.

Dave
 
The pvc and the rock wall looks whit in the picture, its actually greyer in real life. Im planning on doing just a handful of nice sps corals in there with a couple challice corals on the bottom. I'll keep updating pics of the tank. Im pretty excited about doing this smaller tank vs my big 180 which was a little much to keep up with
Erik
 
I did change the lighting on the tank, i was going to build a canopy and do a single ended 250 watt mh but the canopy didn't turn out like I wanted. So I picked up a pfo pendant reflector and ballast and i'm running a 14k ushio double ended bulb now. Real crisp white look.
I like it.
Erik
 
Hey everyone! Just sign up and new here!!! I have to say that is the coolest thing seen done to a tank..

Would really be interesting to know how it holds up and if anything will grow to it..

Also, wanted to know about the paint and chemicals if this is a concern in the reef tank and what may happen.....
 
i know the tank is up and running i just want a picture
ithink if you use the right products this is something you can do easily
welcome Mr Neon to reef central
 
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

Mr. Neon

:cool:
 
Thanks everyone!

I see that Erik used Kryon fusion paint??? Was this a special texture paint or just a standard color.. I did a web search and came up this type of paint for plastic and is says it is a water based latex...

I got a Finnex 30 gal comming next week and I woud like to "customize" it and Erik's tank gave me some great ideas..

Erik...the expanding foam you used...was it the water proof type, brand name "Great Stuff" in the black can or the regular red can??

Thanks for all your input...keep the pics comming and updates...I think when the algae grows and possibly some corals, that back wall will really look like a reef shelf.
 
Mr neon, get the stuff in the baby blue can by Great stuff. The kryon fusion paint I used was in a spray paint can. I coated the foam 3-5 times and then let it dry for 48 hours, then I filled it with water and let it sit another 48 hours. Probably a over kill the next 48 but I did it anyways.
The key to getting the foam to look cool and not like worm turds is spray the foam all over the glass, then use the straw that you spray with to make some cross lines through the foam. Then I put sand and gravel ontop the foam and hit the foam with the hose to speed up the curing process of the foam and to make it not expand so much. Thats a insiders secret when working with the foam around windows. Get it wet and it stops the expanding. So thats how I got the cool real looking look to it.

My mistake!!! I didn't seal around the 4 sides of the foam with silcon. My first go round that I have pictures up of floated up on my and was no good. So I started over and used the red foam can from great stuff. Not as happy with the effects as it cured slower with the water.

So all in all I learned, Use the baby blue can, Silcon the foam down, and call it good!
Erik
 
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