Adding GreatStuff Background to filled tank

FishTri

Member
I see lots of tanks full of beautiful fish and coral, but the back glass looks "dirty" with an uneven and splotchy covering of coraline. So I'm ready to do the Eggcrate/GreatStuff backdrop.

The problem is my 210 was filled with RO/DI Salt Water to do the leak check and to get everything set up. I hate to empty it out. No substrate yet.

Any hints on how to install the backdrop into a wet tank?
 
i did mine with water in it but its only a 29...i sunk mag floats in the back of the egg crate to hold it to the back..i would try to do it in sections and you will have to remove water as you do because of the displacement. another hint when appying the foam is to use short burst and dab it into the egg crate it will look more natural instead of laying long beads
 
I like the short burst/dab idea. I've got 8 cans of GreatStuff and two sections of 2x4 eggcrate. If I get a chance I might take a stab at it this weekend.

I'll end up cutting the eggcrate in tall strips to try to form it around the overflows. I was also thinking about using tie-wraps to attach large pieces of Live Rock near the bottom of the strips to anchor them down.

I was hoping someone out there might have a better method.
 
Why chance it? It might release chemicals into the water as it cures. Empty water out and store it in separate containers until foam cures then put water back in. I would still aerate heavily and run carbon before I put anything in the tank.
 
lecher i was nt talking about doing in the tank i was talking about doing it a section at a time out of the tank then puttng them in after its dried completely...fishtri i would not try it in the tank do it outaide then install them sections at a time
 
If I had enough containers to store 210 gallons of fresh RO/DI salt water I wouldn't be having this conversation... :)

The foamed eggcrate sections will be done outside the tank and completely cured. The question is how to install them into the tank when they are ready. If the tank was dry I could silicon them to the back wall. But that's not an option.

If I cut the eggcrate exactly the right length, I was also thinking I could wedge it under the plastic rim that surrounds the tank. The bouyancy of the foam would push up against the rim and the top of the eggcrate would be held firmly in place.

Then I would add the sand to the tank. The sand would keep the bottom of the eggcrate from rotating up. I was just hoping someone else on ReefCentral had dealt with this before and could give me some first-hand experience.
 
Zoos,

Talk about creative! Thanks for the suggestion.

Funny how these things work. I have a bunch of containers, but I thought not quite enough to hold 210 gallons. Your suggestion reminded me that a couple of years ago I bought a 55 Gallon Rubbermaid (on wheels). I've been using it to store strips of wood, but it was originally for mixing Salt H2O. If I clear the wood out, I'll have enough to handle the full 210!

Its a no-brainer now. I'll empty the tank.

Thanks!
 
I purchased the tank and cabinetry from a great guy who did the plumbing installation as well. He swore up and down that if I used tap water for the test I would never get the phosphates out of the system, and I'd have all sorts of algae blooms.

He guaranteed the plumbing for thirty days not to leak â€"œ I wanted to fill the tank and test it out while he was still willing to fix any installation problems. So I went with the RO/DI. Figured at that point, better safe than sorry.

By the time I had all of that RO/DI in the system (215 for the tank, 30 in the sump, 40 in the refugium, etc.) adding salt was a small step. I guess we also needed it to set up the PH monitor/calc reactor/salinity meter, etc. Besides, he said that the salt would help seal any really tiny leaks...

So here I am with a tank full of water. On the plus side, the salt actually helped identify a small leak (I never would have noticed the tiny drop of water, but the salt build-up made it easy to see).

On the other hand, figuring out how to get the substrate and background in has been a challenge. But some comments that Zoos offered connected some of my disfunctional brain cells. Between my RO/DI tank, Salt water mix tank, and a wheeled Rubbermaid I forgot I had, I have enough to empty the tank, without flushing it all down the drain.
 
Please don't tell me that the suggestion was to purchase rubbermaids from HD and then return them when your done.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9886904#post9886904 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
Please don't tell me that the suggestion was to purchase rubbermaids from HD and then return them when your done.

Hey, there's another great idea! ;)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9889294#post9889294 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
Some people actually believe that doing just that is ethical and not theft.

Agreed. Would be a pretty white trash thing to do.
 
Just to be clear, while I appreciated the creativity of a suggestion that was PM'd (vs posted publicly) I will be emptying my tank with containers I already own...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9894425#post9894425 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by perpetual98
You'll be amazed at the buoyancy of that stuff. Good luck keeping it in place. :)

I plan to empty the tank, then use silicon to hold the eggcrate to the back glass, and the two overflows.

Think that'll work? Is there a better method?
 
It may work, I didn't try to silicon it to the tank. I thought that rocks and the sand bed would hold it down. No dice. I wonder if it will just rip from the silicon? Should be a good experiment!
 
I had a old tin boat it ended up under a waterfall the seats had great stuff in them they ripped the rivets out and came to the top.boat never to be Seen again.
 
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