Foam/Rock Wall for my 265 gallon Tank!

Speckled Grouper,

Any hints/tricks on applying the two part epoxy on the foam? What did you use?
 
saf, I used the Bob Smith Industries 20 min cure Epoxy.
They are 4.5 oz sets and they don't cover much......I think I used a total of 20 sets! If I had to do it again, I might investigate the West Marine 105 stuff. If you stop, the brush is done and you have to use a new one. I used the cheapy brushes from HD, plastic bristle brushes will melt.

No water yet, unfortunately, I had a setback when I put the panels in the tank, I will post the pictures later tonight.
 
I have also heard of ppl foaming the actual back of the tank. whats everyones thougths on that?

Well, one reason you would want to limit your amounts of foam is the stuff is extremely buoyant. I've had some trouble getting enough weight on pieces in the past to keep them down.

For this type of project (a back wall), I doubt you'd want to foam the back, simply because you'd lose your nice flat surface making it tougher to get a nice, compact fit.

It looks actually beautiful, that "rock" looks extremely real. Those freestanding pieces are great!
 
Foaming the back of the tank directly would work if you can lay the tank on the side, otherwise the rocks would slide down. But I do have a friend with the same tank as mine who actually did foam directly on the back, not sure how he managed to get the rocks attached though.

Anyways, here is the continuation of my project

It's time to fit the panels in the tank
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Well, they "grew" again and had to be trimmed once more. But worse, the right piece that covers the overflow and about 12" of backwall will not fit at all anymore, the radius I made for the overflow is totally off and the angle at which the straight piece is attached is wrong also. If I force the round piece around the overflow, the flat piece is about 2 inches from the backwall, if I force the flat piece against the backwall, the round piece doesn't fit anymore. No...I don't want to make a new piece! So, we sawed it in two, fit it in the tank and refoamed it in place.

Trimming
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That's how much came off
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There where some rocks in the way too
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Here is the piece that wouldn't fit, cut apart
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Well, they are in and getting siliconed to the back wall
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Big gaps between the pieces but I can fix that
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Wow, Andrea, this is awesome. Can't wait for the watered pics!!

I think I am gonna to do this instead of a sheet of black acrylic to my 50g breeder. Where do you get the Touch n foam and epoxy sets? How much do you think I will need for an area of ~36"x18"?

Thanks!
 
Thank you, I can't wait for the water to get in there either....

I found the Touch n Foam at a True Value in Hialeah, you just have to call around and see. When I checked, nobody in Broward had it. If you are thinking of doing it in your 50g, stop by and check it out.

Here is the fixed piece, you can hardly see the "surgery".
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And this is what it looks like today

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The seams are still visible, but I am not to worried about that. I'll have 3 " of sand and then rocks covering the bottom and as soon as I can put some corals in there, it should all blend in.

In case you are wondering about the cat, he is a true partipant in all Fish Tank activities, these pictures are from 2 years ago when we set up the 250g
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Haha...that's the cutest cat! I like the last pic...he was like...I thought you said you got fish in there. lol.

Thanks! I will call around to see I can find some. Also, I searched, but I can't seem to find the first thread about foam wall...anywho, what the epoxy are for? Is it used to protect the foam?
 
Oh, and I always thought Max (cat) was saying : "You got another effing fishtank.....?" :lol:

Check this thread, lots of links to foam projects:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1438807

The general consensus is that the foam, especially the Yellow Great Stuff breaks down under UV lighting, so covering with Epoxy and Sand will protect it from doing that.

In my opinion, better safe than sorry, that's why I coated front AND back and made it one rock solid surface.
 
Very nice work. I think it looks great to this point. Once filled and corals added it will look super nice. Good job. Very inspiring.

Jason
 
Looks great!! I have just purchased a 265 perfecto myself and was wondering what size/model pumps you are running on the overflows?
 
Re: Foam/Rock Wall for my 265 gallon Tank!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13017197#post13017197 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Speckled Grouper
I want to get away from the "Great Wall of China" look...

You certainly achieved a "Great Wall of China" look. You need some funky twists & turns out in the middle! :)
 
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