Foam stuff for the "rock work" look????
- Thread starter ToUcHoFeLeGaNcE
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Beenalongtime79
New member
A lot of people have used fusion paint with great success. Just make sure you do a good wash of the aragonite or rock so that you can get a decent bond. I think the most important thing is that you let everything dry off and make sure everything is clean before you paint and then make sure you give a good long period to let it all dry before you expose to the saltwater (like 7 days).
I'll be setting up a tank for my girlfriend and I may try the approach stated by sunny 03, but I might just use the foam and some live rock pieces and actually try the fake deco rock paint and cover it with a clear acrylic paint to protect it better.
Peace,
John H.
Peace,
John H.
I'll be setting up a tank for my girlfriend and I may try the approach stated by sunny 03, but I might just use the foam and some live rock pieces and actually try the fake deco rock paint and cover it with a clear acrylic paint to protect it better.
Peace,
John H.
Peace,
John H.
speckled trout
New member
I didn't say anything about painting the real rock, but you could. I was trying to suggest that you could paint the foam to help it look more natural than just the plain foam. Hopefully, though, it won't take too long for it to get some coralling algae.
By the way, it won't hurt any of your saltwater fish. My father is a marine biologist and some of their tanks have had it for more than ten years. My own saltwater tanks have had it in them for 2 years and contain tangs, angels, blennies, gobies, clowns, wrasses, firefish, and a sargent major.
Have fun and good luck
By the way, it won't hurt any of your saltwater fish. My father is a marine biologist and some of their tanks have had it for more than ten years. My own saltwater tanks have had it in them for 2 years and contain tangs, angels, blennies, gobies, clowns, wrasses, firefish, and a sargent major.
Have fun and good luck
Beenalongtime79
New member
Hey speckled trout,
I mentioned cleaning the rocks because I embedded them in the foam and so would have to spray paint the whole thing if I wanted to do that.
Peace,
John H.
I mentioned cleaning the rocks because I embedded them in the foam and so would have to spray paint the whole thing if I wanted to do that.
Peace,
John H.
Speckled trout,
Can't say no too that..lol...i see its tried and true thanks for sharing that, by the way how long would you recommend the cure time to be?
Rufio,
does the krylon fusion spray paint im assuming, come in a purple color?
this for the people who have arag, dead coral skeletons, and sand on the foam:
Does anyone think it is actually better to leave it unpainted as spraying the rocks sort of seals the rock off and thus giving the microfauna a harder time to turning the backdrop into a Live foam of sorts. Yet, at the same time i have ambiguous feeling due to the fact many threads on this and other boards question its (foam) UV toleration thus painting it becomes a good idea once again. A real dilemna huh?:rollface:...lol can i have the best of both worlds, just tell me I can.
Andres
Can't say no too that..lol...i see its tried and true thanks for sharing that, by the way how long would you recommend the cure time to be?
Rufio,
does the krylon fusion spray paint im assuming, come in a purple color?
this for the people who have arag, dead coral skeletons, and sand on the foam:
Does anyone think it is actually better to leave it unpainted as spraying the rocks sort of seals the rock off and thus giving the microfauna a harder time to turning the backdrop into a Live foam of sorts. Yet, at the same time i have ambiguous feeling due to the fact many threads on this and other boards question its (foam) UV toleration thus painting it becomes a good idea once again. A real dilemna huh?:rollface:...lol can i have the best of both worlds, just tell me I can.
Andres
Beenalongtime79
New member
hey drzl,
They do have a purple color. There are a ton of them so you shouldn't be lacking if you want to express your artistic side.
All I've got to say is: Do it... Do it!!!
Sunny03, Very nice. I really like using the larger pieces of rock, but I don't like using the eggcrate so much because I feel that detritus might settle in each one of those litte holes. I'm already finding a little detritis settling in some of the craggier parts of the foam... just like real rock. Hehe.
Peace,
John H.
They do have a purple color. There are a ton of them so you shouldn't be lacking if you want to express your artistic side.
All I've got to say is: Do it... Do it!!!
Sunny03, Very nice. I really like using the larger pieces of rock, but I don't like using the eggcrate so much because I feel that detritus might settle in each one of those litte holes.
I'm already finding a little detritis settling in some of the craggier parts of the foam... just like real rock. Hehe.Peace,
John H.
Beenalongtime79
New member
Well Sunny,
That is a good question... are you using 1 or 2 or the Tunze 6060? I know that they are rated at 1800 gph. I have a friend that uses 1 6100 on his tank and even then, he still gets some deadspots in the tank. He eventually got a Seio 820 to provide some counter flow as well to remove deadspots.
I think with adequate surveillance you shouldn't run into any problems.
For anybody else trying this method, you could try and just fill up the small gaps with a little extra foam in back, basically just smoothing out the surface of the eggcrate by dropping a dollop of foam in each hole... sure it's a pain in the ***, but at least you won't have to worry about potential pooling of detritus.
Peace,
John H.
That is a good question... are you using 1 or 2 or the Tunze 6060? I know that they are rated at 1800 gph. I have a friend that uses 1 6100 on his tank and even then, he still gets some deadspots in the tank. He eventually got a Seio 820 to provide some counter flow as well to remove deadspots.
I think with adequate surveillance you shouldn't run into any problems.
For anybody else trying this method, you could try and just fill up the small gaps with a little extra foam in back, basically just smoothing out the surface of the eggcrate by dropping a dollop of foam in each hole... sure it's a pain in the ***, but at least you won't have to worry about potential pooling of detritus.
Peace,
John H.
Beenalongtime79
New member
Hey Sunny03,
What are you keeping in this tank? If keeping SPS, I would setup another stream to counter the flow or use some device to increase flow in the tank.
Peace,
John H.
What are you keeping in this tank? If keeping SPS, I would setup another stream to counter the flow or use some device to increase flow in the tank.
Peace,
John H.
Beenalongtime79
New member
comatose said:
And that's why the europeans continue to use it successfully.
I don't think it's a huge problem especially once you have it covered with the various things that tend to cover surfaces in a tank. I've already got some coralline specks appearing on the surface. Only a matter of time before I have a bad *** backdrop!
Peace,
John H.
Beenalongtime79
New member
Also, take into account that it is not really porous because each of those little bubbles seals itself off from the rest of the bubbles, so you'll have to someone perforate all those little bubbles to reach the next one below. That's why it will continue floating unless you weight it down.
Peace,
John H.
Peace,
John H.
comatose
Active member
i decide to write an email to Dow to get their advice on using Great stuff in aquariums. i figured i would get advice strait from the horses mouth. their email and answer is below.
==============================================
On October 20, 2004 at 4:36 PM, James wrote:
>The intended recipient of this message is: DowCig@dow.com
>Comments:
>
> Hi
>I notice some people are using great stuff in their salt water fish tanks.
>is this safe to use great stuff in this way?
>
>thanks Jim
James,
Water will break this product down over time, we do not recommend Great Stuff to be used in this application. Dow has not done any aquatic testing. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact us at 1-888-868-1183 opt. #1. Thank you
==============================================
==============================================
On October 20, 2004 at 4:36 PM, James wrote:
>The intended recipient of this message is: DowCig@dow.com
>Comments:
>
> Hi
>I notice some people are using great stuff in their salt water fish tanks.
>is this safe to use great stuff in this way?
>
>thanks Jim
James,
Water will break this product down over time, we do not recommend Great Stuff to be used in this application. Dow has not done any aquatic testing. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact us at 1-888-868-1183 opt. #1. Thank you
==============================================
Beenalongtime79
New member
Thanks comatose. We've all been warned. Hehe. I think most of us using this type of stuff went in well aware that DOW had not tested this stuff in a saltwater environment.
Trust me, I've mulled over this quite a bit and finding that many europeans have safely used this stuff for years (not only for freshwater, but also for saltwater), I decided to take the plunge and I'm carefully awaiting any deleterious effects, though I highly doubt it. Also, take into account that this stuff is inert and if it does break into small particles, should not harm anything in the tank. The great thing about this stuff is that if it ever does start causing problems, you can rip/peel the stuff right off.
Peace,
John H.
Trust me, I've mulled over this quite a bit and finding that many europeans have safely used this stuff for years (not only for freshwater, but also for saltwater), I decided to take the plunge and I'm carefully awaiting any deleterious effects, though I highly doubt it. Also, take into account that this stuff is inert and if it does break into small particles, should not harm anything in the tank. The great thing about this stuff is that if it ever does start causing problems, you can rip/peel the stuff right off.
Peace,
John H.
South down sand also says on the bag not to use in aquariums, but lots of people including myself have success with it.
Personally I think that it is just Dow covering them selves so they canââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t be responsible if someoneââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s tank crashes with their product in it.
Just a thought.. don't want to take this off topic and make it another SD post....
I am going to try this...
Cam
Personally I think that it is just Dow covering them selves so they canââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t be responsible if someoneââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s tank crashes with their product in it.
Just a thought.. don't want to take this off topic and make it another SD post....
I am going to try this...
Cam
Jpizzle
New member
well the southdown example isn't very good, they only say that because they want you to buy the more expensive stuff.
But in response to that letter, yea they are probably saying that so that they will not be liable in case someone's tank crashes...
but i still don't trust that stuff... maybe I'm just paranoid, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
But in response to that letter, yea they are probably saying that so that they will not be liable in case someone's tank crashes...
but i still don't trust that stuff... maybe I'm just paranoid, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Beenalongtime79
New member
Jpizzle said:
well, there you go... you have people on both sides. If you don't wanna do it, then don't. It's as simple as that. No one is going around claiming anything other than that it makes a cool backdrop and is probably safe for the reef environment.
Most who have tried it, end up pretty happy with the setup. Nothing like seeing hermit crabs scale the wall and your little clown goby resting among the nooks and crannies of the foam/rock wall.
Peace,
John H.
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