Foam/Rock Wall for my 265 gallon Tank!

[jefathome]

I'm starting a new build and just discovered this thread. The back walls look awesome.

My tank is 6' x 2.5' x 2' (L x W x H) and I have a coast-to-coast internal overflow that is 7" tall and protrudes 5" from the rear wall.

View attachment 115791

I'm deciding how to incorporate the rock wall on the rear of the tank. If I just put the rock wall in vertical under the overflow I'm afraid it will look odd abruptly stopping under the overflow.

So I'm thinking of building a tapered wall, say 9" at the base and 7" just under the overflow. Then adding a thin 1" panel over the overflow itself.

Is it reasonable to make such a thick wall at the base?

That should be fine. Maybe you can incorporate some shelves in there, or some protruding rocks so that is isn't an even taper along the length of it. Also, I'd suggest that you try to have it taper in as soon as possible without being too abrupt since the foam WILL float if you use too much of it. The silicone shoudl help, but the less bouyent your wall the better. I'd also suggest pressing your foam down a bit as it dries. This will compact it... Make it more dense (less floating) AND make it stronger.

:beer:

 

[customcolor]

How long will it take to cure the foam? Can I use silicone to attach the wall to the acrylic tank? How long would that need to cure before I could refill?

you can get away with doing the foam right on the acrylic...it will stay there and not come off to easy... i foamed right on the plastic back wall of my wifes jbj nano..that was 1.5 years ago and it dont look like it is even thinking of coming loose.

foam cures in 24 hours for under 3" thick any thicker than that will take 48+ hours

 

[Speckled Grouper]

jefathome, nice work!
I covered the gaps with foam directly in the tank too and while it was visible at first, now you can't see it at all.

 

[revjlw]

Thanks for the responses guys. Here is my plan - will it work?

I have 300 lbs of really nice live rock that I want to use to build my wall. I intend to zip tie it onto crate - in sections that will be small enough to lift and put back into the 300 gal acrylic tank through the cut outs in the top, turn it rock side DOWN into a shallow container and fill it with saltwater up to about 1 inch from the crate and then spray the pond foam on the back of the crate. Once it has stopped expanding, I will trim off the back and leave it for 48 hours. I won't epoxy and glue sand to the black foam, but once the coralline algae starts spreading - which it will do quickly due to the live rock - you won't see it anyway.

The rock will stay wet, so I am hoping for minimal die off. What to you think?

 

[Speckled Grouper]

Thanks for the responses guys. Here is my plan - will it work?

I have 300 lbs of really nice live rock that I want to use to build my wall. I intend to zip tie it onto crate - in sections that will be small enough to lift and put back into the 300 gal acrylic tank through the cut outs in the top, turn it rock side DOWN into a shallow container and fill it with saltwater up to about 1 inch from the crate and then spray the pond foam on the back of the crate. Once it has stopped expanding, I will trim off the back and leave it for 48 hours. I won't epoxy and glue sand to the black foam, but once the coralline algae starts spreading - which it will do quickly due to the live rock - you won't see it anyway.

The rock will stay wet, so I am hoping for minimal die off. What to you think?

Take a look a few pages back at the pictures of the 2 overflow covers I made to prevent fish from jumping into it. I did not seal or cover the foam with anything. It has turned an ugly brownish color, looks horrible.....

Use the live rock to make pillars and arches infront of the wall to archive the three dimensional look. Cover the foam with epoxy and gravel, if you don't, you might regret it.....

 

[revjlw]

So, is there a way you can suggest for me to coat the foam and not kill off $2000 worth of well established live rock? There is WAY too much of it to use without using it for the back wall in addition to the stuff that will extend into the tank...

 

[customcolor]

sell some of the great live rock to pay for some marco rock....then you dont have to worry about keeping live rock live and then you can take as long as you want....sorry not trying to be rude.

if you tryed to keep the other rock wet....how you going to silicone it to the tank? need to allow 24 hours for silicone to cure too and that is a must stay dry area wile curing.

 

[customcolor]

Take a look a few pages back at the pictures of the 2 overflow covers I made to prevent fish from jumping into it. I did not seal or cover the foam with anything. It has turned an ugly brownish color, looks horrible.....

Use the live rock to make pillars and arches infront of the wall to archive the three dimensional look. Cover the foam with epoxy and gravel, if you don't, you might regret it.....

or you can grab some becketts pond foam and not have to epoxy it

 

[revjlw]

customcolor, I don't think you are being rude. I appreciate that you are batting this around with me! I was not planning to silicone it to the tank. My tank is acrylic with a ceiling on it. So I planned to hold it in place by installing an acrylic edge in front of the wall. There is no water in the top 1" of my tank and that would be where I would adhere this acrylic edge. While that cured/dried I thought I would use tension to hold the wall in place by bracing it from the fron tof the tank. Does that make sense?

So the Becketts pond foam doesn't discolor but the Touch 'n Foam Landscape stuff does?

 

[revjlw]

BTW, I live in a small town in northern Wisconsin and don't know where I would sell my live rock... not like you ca ship the stuff. I suppose I could list it as near Minneapolis and see if I can meet someone!

 

[customcolor]

So the Becketts pond foam doesn't discolor but the Touch 'n Foam Landscape stuff does?

i have becketts in all my tanks right now...i used becketts on my 125 wile that was running for 2.5 years with 0 problems....speckled grouper used regular great stuff if i remember..touch'n foam has be used (i do believe) in a t.o.m. back in june of 06 or 07 so i would say it wont discolor also.

 

[customcolor]

ohh ...kaukauna is 20 min south of green bay

 

[woody311az]

This was a really cool build and a very pretty tank, I think you should give us an update.

 

[Jamie9169]

I just spent quite a long while reading the entire thread and I must say, this is one amazing build. I am late getting here but I ma glad I took the time to read it. Great build. It has been quite some time since you posted and if you are still around I would love to hear how things are going now.

 

[Speckled Grouper]

I just spent quite a long while reading the entire thread and I must say, this is one amazing build. I am late getting here but I ma glad I took the time to read it. Great build. It has been quite some time since you posted and if you are still around I would love to hear how things are going now.

I'm still here and so is the tank

I have had my problems with the tank as far as the crappy Solaris I have over it, but I am planning to change the lights in the near future. I have also neglected it a bit, due to being too busy at work.

As far as the rock work, it is still as beautiful as ever, nobody would ever suspect it being fake, it has coralline algae all over it and looks totally natural. Nothing has disintegrated, fallen off or come loose.

Would I do it again? Yes, absolutely! Would I do something different? No, I can't think of anything.

Happy Holidays!

 

[Jamie9169]

Thank you very much for responding to my query. I am very glad that it is going so well. You have inspired us to give it a try when we set our 150 up again here in a month or so. I hope you and yours had a fantastic Christmas and New Years and keep up the great work.

 

[gandolf8]

Say Speckled Grouper if you did this again would you use the West System 105B ? BTW love your tank I may do my 180 .

 

[Speckled Grouper]

I have no clue what the West System 105B is........

 

[chuysvt]

hey guys i have a ? what glue did you use to glue sand into the foam..

 

[Rockys_Pride]

hey guys i have a ? what glue did you use to glue sand into the foam..

Z-poxy! An alternative I used can be loc-tite 5min quick set epoxy. I'm inpatient and wanted to avoid online ordering, no local place carried z-poxy.