Foam stuff for the "rock work" look????

[Beenalongtime79]

Mike,

You do not want to let this stuff get anywhere near your tank until it has cured outside of water for a few days.

The chemicals used to propel and cure the foam out of the can is very volatile and should not get anywhere your tank.

Once cured though, you are good to go. You can't spray this stuff on frags and then mash them into the wall or rocks of your tank, it's not a glue, it doesn't work that way.

If you want to work with frags underwater, use either epoxy or super glue.

Peace,
John H.

 

[redfernsoljah]

Here is my first attempt at this. WIll post what I would have done different when I have some more time.

 

[NicoleC]

Holy cow! It cost me $35 on top of the $45 epoxy just to ship GROUND.. and of course you don't find out how much until they charge your credit card. 1g of paint is not that heavy; not when I can ship 70 pound buckets of salt for $25. Maybe there's a Hazat fee, but that's really, really high.

If anyone in So Cal is planning on doing this, I suspect I will have a lot left over I could sell you.

 

[woodstockaz]

Sorry about that Nicole, that's why I opted out of that paint. Please let us know what you think of it. OK?
I just used the Krylon.
J.R.

 

[NicoleC]

I will, JR. I gathered the Krylon melted the foam, though, so I figured it was a bad choice.

 

[woodstockaz]

Nicole, It melted most of the foam, but after sitting a couple of weeks it looks pretty cool.
I think it might even be safe.......geeezzz;>

 

[NicoleC]

LOL! Actually, now that I've ordered the $$$ epoxy, I may just silicone rubble to a plastic backplate, and then silicone that to the tank. No long curing and no worries about breaking down, although I could get quite as artistic.

We'll see. I've been waiting forever for my new stand to come in, it seems, and the tank I have now is leaking, so tackling a long, long term project worries me a bit

 

[thrlride]

Good advice about not getting it on your hands!

 

[woodstockaz]

Nicole, do you have a digital camera? Keep us posted.

Thrlride.....no kiding, gotta have gloves.!

 

[Beenalongtime79]

Nicole C,

Siliconing rubble is not as effective because the silicone doesn't stick very well to the rubble.

Peace,
John H.

 

[NicoleC]

Yes, well I also just discovered the hard way that base rock is really really hard to covert to rubble. I thought base rock would be good because I wouldn't have to take a few weeks to cure it. Hmmm.

Well, I have more supplies than I need either on the way or already here. Maybe if I do the suction cup method I can take the time to work with the foam and epoxy and rubble AND get my new, not-leaking tank up.

 

[Plain]

It works !!

It works !!

I did this about 6 months ago... it looks good, and now the walls are filled with algeas, and is crawling with creeps at night

And this is now after 6 months..

Martin - Denmark (Europa :mixed: )

 

[delv]

Very nice Martin. Post a few more pics of construction if you can...

d.

 

[Plain]

some more..

some more..

First I did put some foampieces in the corners and covered them with sprayfoam..

Then I covered it all up with normal concrete mix, that was so thin in mixture that I was sure that every hole was filled...

Then I waited for 12 hours, filled it with water... waited another 12 hours.. and then saltwater

Just be sure to have good help with the hoses

 

[Beenalongtime79]

Very cool idea martin... Did you only take about a day to cure the concrete? I heard it can weeks to months to cure concrete, but I guess it was a really thin layer?

Peace,
John H.

 

[RedEyeReef]

Plain,

That looks great. How was the Alk in your tank for the first few weeks? Maybe not enough concrete to matter.

What are your tank dimensions?

 

[Plain]

chemistry..

chemistry..

Yes.. I only had freshwater in it overnight, then when I filled water i in it the second time, I only had a little high PH because the concrete works as a PH buffer... but the difference was minimal and I went for salt

I was in a rush, cuz I had a 128L with my fishes in, running without skimmer and only with one normal lightbulb !!! I plumbed in the fishes after only one week with saltwater in the tank, and I haven't had one death in the first 8 month it's been up running

The layer of concrete is anywhere from 3 to 10 milimeters because I gave it about 5 layers to make sure that it would not be broken by LR, or crabs picking in it..

My tank is 130 x 65 x 80 ( Cm )

Martin

 

[Beenalongtime79]

Plain,

I'd really like to thank you for the pics and the ideas. It's good to know that you can quickly apply a thin layer of cement and get only a slight rise in pH and alkalinity.

Now, is that a glass tank?

Peace,
John H.

 

[Plain]

all thw way..

all thw way..

Thanks for all the nice words

It's all glass, 12 mm. or what equals Ã"šÃ‚½ inch... and I did nothing to make the concrete bind to the glass... and now it's so hard that I can't even make chips in it with a scraper !!

 

[Beenalongtime79]

Hey plain,

I really like the open structure. I think it would be really cool if you made a pillar right in the center so the fish could swim around it.

I've seen it done, and it really dramatic and cool to see fish spiralling around the pillar and picking at things on it.

Just a suggestion though, looks really cool.

By the way, how large is the tank?

Peace,
John H.