Foam/Rock Wall for my 265 gallon Tank!
- Thread starter Speckled Grouper
- Start date
hummermaniac88
New member
My god...This is simply awesome! If I ever get another tank...I might just do a foam rock wall like yours!
Speckled Grouper
Sticks Suck!
I'm in Europe right now, haven't seen the tank in a week but before I left my nitrates where 5 (I am dosing Vodka). The phosphates where still at 0.045 but I have some plans for that when I get back. Foam is perfect and coralline is growing on it..Aiptasias also 
. I'll post new pics as soon as I get back.
. I'll post new pics as soon as I get back.atlantiscoral
New member
Spec,
As promised, here are the pics from my 230 Foam Rock Wall build.
Thanks again for the inspiration to start this project! It turned out so amazing! I wish I would have started a build thread like you did during the project, perhaps I should get a new one going for this tank! I have a ton of pics of the foam rock wall project.
Wall and sand is finally in!
Another side shot
Full front shot
With water in it! Added some nice Fiji live rock to get it started.
Another side shot!
Closeup shot!
Another side shot!
Another closeup!
As promised, here are the pics from my 230 Foam Rock Wall build.
Thanks again for the inspiration to start this project! It turned out so amazing! I wish I would have started a build thread like you did during the project, perhaps I should get a new one going for this tank! I have a ton of pics of the foam rock wall project.
Wall and sand is finally in!
Another side shot
Full front shot
With water in it! Added some nice Fiji live rock to get it started.
Another side shot!
Closeup shot!
Another side shot!
Another closeup!
Last edited:
Speckled Grouper
Sticks Suck!
Wow! Now that looks awesome....Great Job!
I got to take some pictures today, so you will know what to look forward to in about 6 months
I got to take some pictures today, so you will know what to look forward to in about 6 months
Speckled Grouper
Sticks Suck!
Hmmmm, I don't look back there
As long as my water tests perfect, I don't worry about it.
I took some pictures for an update but need to resize them still so stay tuned....
Speckled Grouper
Sticks Suck!
Ok, here are some updates. It's been about 7 months....
First, this is why you HAVE to coat the foam. I made these afterwards to prevent fish from jumping and didn't coat the foam at all, it's turning ugly brown already...
Here a good example of the coloration the wall has taken on below the water line (tank is off right now)
Some close up shots of the wall and rock work
First, this is why you HAVE to coat the foam. I made these afterwards to prevent fish from jumping and didn't coat the foam at all, it's turning ugly brown already...
Here a good example of the coloration the wall has taken on below the water line (tank is off right now)
Some close up shots of the wall and rock work
atlantiscoral
New member
Awesome! I cant wait!!!!!
Has anyone noticed a high level of skimmate in thier skimmer using the foam/epoxy backgrounds? I have had mine running about 3 weeks and its been producing high ammounts of very watery skimmate. About 5 gallons a day. No mater how much tweeking I do to my skimmer it just keeps coming. I would think by now things would have calmed down. On my old 75 gallon I didnt have this issue with this skimmer at all, but I wasnt using any foam/epoxy background in the old tank. I am using a aquaC EV-120 skimmer. All my other readings and tests are zero.
atlantiscoral
New member
tdkarl,
Perhaps your skimmer is too low in your sump... Have you tried raising it a bit?
Scott
Perhaps your skimmer is too low in your sump... Have you tried raising it a bit?
Scott
Speckled Grouper
Sticks Suck!
My skimmer works perfectly normal.
tdkarl, 5 Gallons a day is insane, how are you replacing that water?
tdkarl, 5 Gallons a day is insane, how are you replacing that water?
I constructed a foam rock wall using eggcrate intended to cover the back of the aquarium and also a part of the bottom. I used the landscape touch ‘n foam. After everything had dried, the back side is now a little warped with the top bending over due to the weight of the rocks. Because the structure has both the wall and the floor, the wall needed to dry vertically with the floor resting flat on the ground. The height of the wall is approximately 28†tall with the floor part being approximately 10â€Â. It would have been preferable having the back wall resting flat on the ground and the floor being vertical, but since I had the heavier rocks on the floor, this wasn’t feasible. I have attempted to straighten it up as much as possible. My question is that when I affix it to the back wall of the aquarium using DAP aquarium silicon, will it be strong enough to hold over time. Currently, I believe that the rock wall sticks out about a half inch to one inch at the top from the aquarium back. When letting it adhere to the back, I will be somehow clamping it to hold it against the back of the aquarium until it has fully dried. I welcome anyone’s comments.
atlantiscoral
New member
Heres a tip that may help with your problem...
In the areas where the back wall is not flush with the tanks back glass, simply add some extra foam to fill the gaps and make your back wall piece so that it is completly flush with the tanks back wall. Then silicone it in.
In order for it to adhere properly without future issues you are going to need to make the wall as flat as possible before you silicone it in.
If there are gaps, etc, simply adding "more" silicone is not a recommended solution. The flatter the wall structure the better.
For future reference, what you could have done to avoid that problem is to build the back & bottom pieces seperatly, and then seam them together once they are in the tank.
Hope that helps...
Scott
In the areas where the back wall is not flush with the tanks back glass, simply add some extra foam to fill the gaps and make your back wall piece so that it is completly flush with the tanks back wall. Then silicone it in.
In order for it to adhere properly without future issues you are going to need to make the wall as flat as possible before you silicone it in.
If there are gaps, etc, simply adding "more" silicone is not a recommended solution. The flatter the wall structure the better.
For future reference, what you could have done to avoid that problem is to build the back & bottom pieces seperatly, and then seam them together once they are in the tank.
Hope that helps...
Scott
Speckled Grouper
Sticks Suck!
Ditto Scott.
I ended up removing all the eggcrate I had planned to use on the floor and used just the wall parts.
I think one of my pictures shows how we wedged 1 x2's between the wall and glass to hold the panels in place. I don't think you can get all the gaps out, seal it with some more foam....
I ended up removing all the eggcrate I had planned to use on the floor and used just the wall parts.
I think one of my pictures shows how we wedged 1 x2's between the wall and glass to hold the panels in place. I don't think you can get all the gaps out, seal it with some more foam....
Excellent project thread Sp.Grouper! The wall looks great and your pics and instructions make this easy to follow. I will be starting my own project next week on a 265g. Just a couple questions:
1) If you were starting a new project right now, what things would you do differently?
2) Has there been any issue with the non submerged area close to the lights?
3) Did you ever discover any reason for the Aiptasia breakout?
4) How many fish do you have in the tank at this point?
Thanks for the work and being willing to share with such details over such a long period of time. Makes it a great learning experience!
1) If you were starting a new project right now, what things would you do differently?
2) Has there been any issue with the non submerged area close to the lights?
3) Did you ever discover any reason for the Aiptasia breakout?
4) How many fish do you have in the tank at this point?
Thanks for the work and being willing to share with such details over such a long period of time. Makes it a great learning experience!
Speckled Grouper
Sticks Suck!
Hmmm, let's see...
1) I would go straight to the black foam and not try the "Great Stuff", I did only use one can so no biggie. I would be bolder with rocks, shells, dead corals and any other objects, meaning I would put more and bigger pieces right of the bat. That's about it, I am quite happy with the outcome and the looks.
2) No issues whatsoever, definitely coat the foam with epoxy. I have some areas that I built up afterwards to prevent "wrasse jumping" and did not coat, the foam has turned ugly brown.
3) One Aiptasia, two Aiptasia, 100 Aiptasia, that's how it usually goes.... Have tried 2 Copperbands without luck, thinking up Plan B right now
4) I think I'm approaching 40
1) I would go straight to the black foam and not try the "Great Stuff", I did only use one can so no biggie. I would be bolder with rocks, shells, dead corals and any other objects, meaning I would put more and bigger pieces right of the bat. That's about it, I am quite happy with the outcome and the looks.
2) No issues whatsoever, definitely coat the foam with epoxy. I have some areas that I built up afterwards to prevent "wrasse jumping" and did not coat, the foam has turned ugly brown.
3) One Aiptasia, two Aiptasia, 100 Aiptasia, that's how it usually goes.... Have tried 2 Copperbands without luck, thinking up Plan B right now
4) I think I'm approaching 40
