aquascaping question.

julio martinez

julio martinez

FMAS Member/R/C Memeber
Hello there folks.

I am going to start building the foam and rock wall for the 90gal this week. ive got the eggcrate,tie straps,the pond foam and some of the rocks. i should be getting the rest this week, i hope. what i am missing is the epoxy or resin for the sand that will cover the foam. does anyone know where to get the epoxy localy and what its called? also what type of sand should l use? livesand? crushed coral?

thanks j.
 
Julio, get ready to hate life while building that wall. Oh god it's a pain in the ***. Anyway you can get the stuff at most any hobby shop, I got mine at The Hobby Nut off US1 near 120th street. It's a brand called Z-Poxy

If you need any help or questions while building it lemme know.
 
Don't use live sand it's just going to die. Get some dry sand with large grains, trust me. The powdery stuff will make the wall just look like... well the website won't let me say what but lets just say it's a byproduct of love.
 
cool got it..i might just use some old sand from an old tank set up if i can find some. also on last thing. the epoxy/resin, i know that you add some on the foam the put the sand over the epoxy. once it dries and i brush off exess sand do i need to add epoxy/resin over the sand again? im a little confused with that.
 
Spray the foam and let it cure, then add the epoxy and sprinkle the sand ontop (I used a spoon) and let it dry out. I've heard of some people doing 2 coats but I don't think it's needed unless you missed some spots. But no, sand is always on top, not epoxy -> sand -> epoxy

Edit: Also while the foam is kinda starting to get hard (wait like 20m or so after spraying) get a stick and smudge the foam around so it's not so puffy looking. Will look a bit more natural.
 
ok lets think about this if you use live sand and you dry it out gluing it to a foam wall is it going to be live anymore lol as far as the type of sand it all depends on the appearance you want from the wall do a search for foam rock wall and your are going to pull up a few threads that walk you through every little step from start to finish some good results some bad after time the foam can break down from your questions it doesn't look like you have given this much thought or done a lot of research on the diy build imo you may want to read a few of these threads and realize what you are getting into
 
Oh yeah, you should probably get the 'pond foam' as it's UV resistant and meant to be out in the sun all day :)
 
ive read about this for a while now and seen all the post..especially the 180 gal in the uk and so forth. i already bought the pond foam friday, not great stuff or any of that other crap.
i have the egg crate,gloves,tie straps,drill bit fro the rocks, etc etc,. i know that if i was to use livesand once i put all the epoxy on it it would die. the only reason i asked the question about the sand was because in the pics for all the threads i have seen all the sand looks diff. some have different colors and others have thicker sand. but none of them realy mention what type of sand they used. there was only one reefer that mentioned it and he used a combo off crushed coral and old sand from a tank he had taken down. oh and i also have several scketches of what im planning on doing.
dont worry one i have every for the 90 gal i will take alot of pics and put u a build thread.
 
cool thanks..i read some of these already...hence why im going to use crystal water softner salt on the foam..gives it real nice rocky look. i figure that with the sand on it should look real nice. thanks mrx and brett..
 
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