Foam and live rock combo

J

jmccown

Active member
I know there are several on here (including myself) who are getting ready to set up new tanks. We have tabled the topic of live rock for these new tanks. I have been reading the thread about foam and live rock as a means of aquascaping our tanks which can be found here http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1188352&perpage=25&pagenumber=1 I think those of you like bikencamp will find this thread especially helpful. It will allow the use of less rock and a more stable aquascape. There are some really nice tanks in this thread. Basically you just use eggcrate (can be purchased cheap at Lowes or any hardware store), the foam "great stuff" in the can, some epoxy or fiberglass and either crush coral or sand to cover the foam. The results are amazing. You can stack the rock, build archways, passageways, etc. Check out the link above and give feedback on what you guys think about it. My brother in law has started building his and it looks really good so far. His will go in a 92 corner. I am going to be building one for a 150g. The trick is to make sure it has enough rock to weigh down the foam.

Feedback?
 
this might be a better question for the diy board, but im askin here since its nearly almost on topic..


sprayfoam... vs styrofoam...

why is one better than the other?

i think you have more control with regular styrofoam. its very easy to carve a block of it.

you can get spray foam into tighter spots...

maybe use a combo of each?
 
another added nicety of this stuff is that since it is styrofoam based you could push the styrofoam open and place a plug of a frag in it and not have to glue it.

Alt - the spray foam is better since it can be more easily shaped and carved. I don't know but it maybe be less buoyant since you would use smaller portions of it. Remember, these will float if you use too much.
 
I think one of the main reasons for using the spray foam instead of styrofoam is the spray foam expands between the egg crate and rock to make the rock more stable plus the spray foam bonds to the rock and eggcrate without any extra adhesives.
 
that is so kewl, you know a person could even do this for the bottom of the tank also, keeping the tunze from blowing the sand everywhere by using the crused coral..maybe, just a thought. I wondered, could any small animals get stuck behind that?
 
oh, also, could the epoxy be used to actually stick to the back wall of the tank, thus keeping it from floating weather you had enough weight or not? (same idea if used on the bottom)
 
Looks interesting - I would definitely try it out on a small tank --- not really enough time yet to know how the foam will react in a salt environment over time. Also would depend on exactly what type of flow pattern you are going for BUT this would allow for maximum space for reef structures - Since you are able to silicone the structure to the wall. Adhering the structure to the wall also goes a long way to eliminate detritus build-up behind the reef structure - another plus. The only other gotcha is possibly failing to remember to use enough rock to create an adequate filter for your tank.... Really maybe more pluses than minuses.....
 
Yea I agree not much known long term, one more minus would be that most super glues will melt foam so gluing down frags would not be all that easy.
 
I have been watching the spray foam threads for a while and I am by no means an expert on it but in some of the threads they talk about the long term effects of the foam being very good since it is completely coated with epoxy & sand/crushed coral. As far as the foam is concerned my mother-in-law used the black spray foam and rocks to make a waterfall for her freshwater fish pond and to secure the liner to some rocks with no ill effects without the epoxy. As for supergluing frags to the foam if you use the epoxy & sand/crushed coral to coat the foam you wouldn't actually be gluing to the foam itself or you can glue frags to frag plugs and push them into the foam.
 
It would be great on a freshwater project but the chemistry of SW still makes me nervous. You have to remember I don't even trust the DIY reef rock , far to many uncontrollable and unknown variables for me. As for long term effects I'm not sure as it is a fairly new technique. I would like to see at least a good decade of results before trying it in my reef. I'm sure it's safe but you just never know and with the life in my system I can't take that chance, However I will likely implement this technique on my FW water fall :thumbsup:
 
I to have been watching the thread. The aquascaping looks to be the most realistic I have seen in a long time. The guy doing it seems very knowledgeble. It takes a talent/patience to work with that stuff! I have used it on several occasions around the house! My worst bo-bo was sealing around our bay window. We had installed it a couple years ago. I felt a draft and decided to fix it! I removed all the moldings from the window on the inside of the house. I LIGHTLY filled the gaps. I know better than to overfill. You have to spend hours cleaning the hardend dense foam...using a knife and sanding it down. Back to the baywindow....I got up the next day and the right verticle side had swelled so much it bowed! That was fun trying to cover that up! They do make a lower expansion type. Small areas need that type!

I talked to a couple buddies that have tried just about everything out there. They are concerned about the long term durability of the foam exposed to saltwater. We don't know if it will hold up over time or disentegrate and be toxic over time. I called Fosters about the black foam that was mentioned above. I was interested in trying it out on a small tank to see results. They said it is to be used for freshwater applications only! They also said the salt would break it down over time. I don't know if he was trying to deter me but said the labeling specifically said for "freshwater use only".

I have been buying pieces here and there to build a pond. Last year the city finally fixed a ditch I was complaining about. GUESS who got all the rock they dug out! I got monster rocks! We will have to rent a small bobcat to move the rocks. Some of the rocks are over 5ft long, majority are flat. They will make a awesome pond once we get around to planning it out. We have a natural spring on our property that flows 365 days a year. We dug it out and created a holding area for the water. The water is 8ft deep. We lined the area in concrete blocks and put in a plastic liner. The hole itself is approx 6ft x 6ft. Once the water reachs a certain height it flows down to the next holding area and then on to the storm drains. We originally did this to water the garden...free water, don't have to pay sewer rates. The water is ice cold! I have to pump it out and let it warm up before watering the garden. I would like to eventually get this fresh water partially flowing into my pond. I am sure many of you have built ponds. I'll take any pond information and do's and don'ts learned from experience!
 
Well I've read and read over the thread. It seems like a good idea but for my first tank I believe I'm going with the real deal. But first i've got to correct my first rookie mistake the dreaded seaclone skimmer. LOL what was I thinking.
 
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