Foam stuff for the "rock work" look????
- Thread starter ToUcHoFeLeGaNcE
- Start date
thinking about this for my new tank. I was thinking of doing it out of the tank on plex, cutting it into wide strips with a band saw (small enough to fit through the top opening and then reassembling it in the tank.
Question is how would you attach the new plex w/ foam onto the tank.
Thanks
Question is how would you attach the new plex w/ foam onto the tank.
Thanks
lucubrator
Member
You might be able to do it with silicone, but it seems that it's best to use attached base rock to keep it down, and the minimal adhesive in the back serves to just keep water out of the back.
DRZL-sauras
New member
i put the foam first on a acrylic sheet the size of my tank back wall, then siliconed in place...thats the best way..the sinking w/ baserock is more of a way when you have an established tank and you just want to add the backdrop in.
Silicone all the way in the back bro, itll save u a lot of hassle with weighing down and such
Silicone all the way in the back bro, itll save u a lot of hassle with weighing down and such
lucubrator said:
lucubrator as you can see my backdrop are not cover with the form. i make use of the form as a bonding agent between the rocks and eggcrate. As for the expose formbefore it dries, i stuff it with corals chips or smaller frags of rocks. try to cover every corner of the expose form
guys i also include a plastic mash at the other side of the eggcrate. this is to prevent fishes to swim throught the eggcrate to the back of the backdrop.
to keep it from falling is that i cut the eggcrate same size as my back glass wall 4*2 so that it will sit nicely on the back glass wall.
Like i said eariler on i uses big and heavy rock as base rocks and bond it with the form. so the base will be heavy.
Next i will pour in sand and the sand will make the structure more secure. as it cover 2 to 3 in of the base rock. that means if u are planing to use a DSB it will secure it better.
As my tank have euro-bracing all round on the top. i secure the top part of the reef with suction cup to prevent it from toppering.so my backdrop will be as straight as my glass wall.
i dont really like the ideas of sprinker sand on top of the wet form.
As i think it might falls off as the time goes by just like u sprinker sand onto wet silicone
shouldabenacowboy
New member
Someone asked earlier about a DIY foam background project on a freshwater site....I think these are the links you were looking for:
DIY FOAM BACKGROUND #1
DIY FOAM BACKGROUND #2
I hope this helps, they are quite interesting sites...
SBC:rollface:
DIY FOAM BACKGROUND #1
DIY FOAM BACKGROUND #2
I hope this helps, they are quite interesting sites...
SBC:rollface:
tgreene
Reefer
Here's what I did with my new 72" 125g tank this weekend... 
This is a non-drilled tank, and the 180gph Amiracle overflow is located on the far right corner of the tank.
In pics #2 & #5 (same island), you'll see the 2 CL returns that have been embedded into each of the 2 islands. The 3/4" PVC feed lines are embedded behind that foam/cement wall, and other than seeing the elbows at the top, nobody would ever know they exist. All 4 CL returns (2 on each side) point inwards, at different angles
The outside areas between each island and the sidewalls, will be deep sand, LR rubble and macros... These 2 protected areas were designed specifically for pod growth, because it would be very difficult for fish (or other critters) to get at them .
The main sump returns can be seen as the 4 black jet-nozzles that are in the center of the tank, at the top edge.
I used 3 layers of cement & Rit Dye to achieve the colors I wanted. The first layer was a thick NAVY BLUE (pic #3). After setting up, I used a stiff stippling brush to dab on grey non-dyed cement in large splotches. Immediately following the grey, I used a watered down thin layer of cement (blotched on with a soft stippling brush) that was dyed ROSE, to look like Coraline growth. The reason for the thin wattery layer of ROSE, was so that is would fade into the other colors and not be too overpowering.
The end result is a reef setting that would appear to be very natural, with old growths of Coraline patches of varrying densities.
This is a non-drilled tank, and the 180gph Amiracle overflow is located on the far right corner of the tank.
In pics #2 & #5 (same island), you'll see the 2 CL returns that have been embedded into each of the 2 islands. The 3/4" PVC feed lines are embedded behind that foam/cement wall, and other than seeing the elbows at the top, nobody would ever know they exist. All 4 CL returns (2 on each side) point inwards, at different angles
The outside areas between each island and the sidewalls, will be deep sand, LR rubble and macros... These 2 protected areas were designed specifically for pod growth, because it would be very difficult for fish (or other critters) to get at them .
The main sump returns can be seen as the 4 black jet-nozzles that are in the center of the tank, at the top edge.
I used 3 layers of cement & Rit Dye to achieve the colors I wanted. The first layer was a thick NAVY BLUE (pic #3). After setting up, I used a stiff stippling brush to dab on grey non-dyed cement in large splotches. Immediately following the grey, I used a watered down thin layer of cement (blotched on with a soft stippling brush) that was dyed ROSE, to look like Coraline growth. The reason for the thin wattery layer of ROSE, was so that is would fade into the other colors and not be too overpowering.
The end result is a reef setting that would appear to be very natural, with old growths of Coraline patches of varrying densities.
Last edited:
Beenalongtime79
New member
Very nice... you have done a great job of figuring out what you wanted! Although, let's get serious, those little humps will do nothing for keeping your pods safe from the fish.
Also, choose your macro carefully, very carefully, a small bunch of caulerpa can easily turn into a nuisance real quick.
peace,
John H.
Peace,
John H.
Also, choose your macro carefully, very carefully, a small bunch of caulerpa can easily turn into a nuisance real quick.
peace,
John H.
Peace,
John H.
Good looking job, tgreene, but I have a couple of concerns. First, if the cement you mention using is portland cement (concrete), are you planning on curing it? I know that it will mess with your pH for months if you don't. You could find info on this on freshwater pond sites. My other concern is over the adhesion of the cement and the polyurethane foam over time. How thick of a layer did you apply?
This is so inspiring...it's enough to make a newbie's head spin!
I have a 55 gal reef in progress but there's so much I want to do. My wish list is growing daily and before I can do much of it, I need to take a bucket loader to my garage so I can have a place to work.... Thanks folks for all the great ideas. Keep them coming.
I have a 55 gal reef in progress but there's so much I want to do. My wish list is growing daily and before I can do much of it, I need to take a bucket loader to my garage so I can have a place to work.... Thanks folks for all the great ideas. Keep them coming.
tgreene
Reefer
Just sand, in a 3|1 ratio.Bishop said:
Unfortunately though, through the drying & shrinking process of the cement, the foam has been compressed and forced to pull up and away from the glass. This in turn has created gaps up to 3/4" in areas that would allow water and critters to get between the glass and the foam, which means that the entire aquascaping must be removed in order to prevent an inevitable disaster.
This totally sucks, but I guess it's better that it happened now, rather than after I put water in it. I'm resigned to replacing this fiasco with a simple black painted background, even though this was such a sweet looking configuration.
Oh well, such is life! :mad2:
Ouch. Sorry to hear this.tgreene said:
If you get inspired again before committing to the plain background you might consider starting with a piece of high density urethane foam. Part of your problem was that you had a material that was irregular in thickness and made of multiple curing materials. In starting with a sheet material you would be sculpting into a fully cured uniform density material. The stuff is really easy to sculpt. It is available from specialty foam suppliers and custom surfboard manufacturers and is essentially the same stuff that you used, but in manufactured sheets. I'd go with a 4 lb. density material, a bit more dense than Great Stuff but still easy to work with.
My upgrade is a room divider tank, so I won't be doing a rock wall, but I plan to use a sculpted layer of urethane foam with a coating of sand and epoxy as my substrate. Museums and public displays use this material all the time.
trgreene: you don't necessarily need to pull it out just yet, let it continue to shrink and cure and then fill the spaces with epoxyed cheesecloth (to provide a subrstrate for: ) and cement which would prevent things from getting in the back.
I had this same issue on the 10gal I first experimented on and ended up cutting stress relief lines to make it lay flat and then going back with more cement to cover them up. My roommate has it up and running now as a freshwater tank and it's doing great.
I had this same issue on the 10gal I first experimented on and ended up cutting stress relief lines to make it lay flat and then going back with more cement to cover them up. My roommate has it up and running now as a freshwater tank and it's doing great.
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