My DIY Rock/Foam Reef

[customcolor]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11961533#post11961533 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kannin
I like your's... I think that when I saw it 3 to 4 months ago... that's about the time I decided to build an artificial reef.

thanks, i realy like how yours turned out too!! i will be doing it in my 46 that will be a sea horse tank

 

[Pulp Fishin]

great
Many thanks!

 

[TheOtherReefer]

Pulp Fishin, to anwer your question I am not exactly sure the right foam to use, that post was put up by a member who contacted the chemical company and they said certain foams would not withstand the constant exposure to water and break up. They would not release any chemicals into the tank, just come apart. Again, this is from a post I read, I just thought it might be informative to some trying this project.

 

[Pulp Fishin]

TheOtherReefer
Thanks since I posted I contacted my best friend(he works in a greenhous) and he said he sells some foam for waterfalls and ponds but toled me to make sure its okay for salt water first, but I said that if its what I'm looking for then it would break up but not leach.
If its not the right stuff I'm looking for then I do have a Home Depot litteraly within sight from when I leave my home.

I'm thinking because I have some extra time on my hands I might try to make a small peace at first and see how it goes.

Cheers

 

[Kannin]

Last month's TOTM (energy's) used Great Stuff like 4 or 5 years ago and it is still doing fine. His is 1700 gallons so he probably used a few more cans too.

 

[zachtos]

Sweet, I saw when you were starting your project a while back. The final product looks excellent. Very realistic. Not to knock on you, but all the effort to make the foam look more real, wont really matter in 6 months to a year. Corraline and feather dusters etc cover it so fast it's crazy. I wish I did the epoxy trick though from the get go. I just did a great stuff foam background and slathered it w/ a very thin layer of cement (2-3 coats). It cures in about a week or less w/ FW because the layer is so thin. I did a PVC skeleton to zip tie my LR to as opposed to the background because I figured if I ever moved, it would be easier to remove... which it likely wont.

Aproximately 10 month's later you can barely see any exposed cement layering. Picture is a bit out of focus, but the background is where the green star polyp mat is growing. The background is peppered with feather dusters and fairly well covered in corraline. My cleaner gobies live inside some of the little holes in the background as well. I have some returns inside the background as well that come down to the front of the aquarium.

Watch how amazing your foam background will become in the next year!

 

[Kannin]

I can't wait 'til mine looks like that.

 

[customcolor]

the cement is a good idea. it would have blended even better that way for me. then i could have used the $12 acan twards the great stuff instead of the pond foam. the main reason i used black pond foam instead of great stuff is because coraline uses light to grow, so all your caves and crevises and such where light wont beable to reach will still be yellowish i would think.

 

[pledosophy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11968743#post11968743 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by customcolor
the cement is a good idea. it would have blended even better that way for me. then i could have used the $12 acan twards the great stuff instead of the pond foam. the main reason i used black pond foam instead of great stuff is because coraline uses light to grow, so all your caves and crevises and such where light wont beable to reach will still be yellowish i would think.

You can paint that area with PVC primer to make it purple. Completely tank safe as well, just have to paint it out of the tank and let it dry, but I think that was implied. :lol:

I have painted a ton of stuff in my tank purple with primer, has a cool look, I use a few coats. No one looking at my tank has ever noticed any of my spraybars until they are pointed out.

 

[quadracer55]

I dont understand why we have to be so carefull about water whe you are using all this insulation stuff me being in construction I use the stuff all the time. I would think that its going to harm the animals that call that place home. just my 2 cents

 

[Claire7275]

WOW!! What a great thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would like to cover the back wall of my 90 with great stuff/Epoxy. A fellow reefer suggested to me that I could use a sheet of very dense styrofoam to "build" my wall (in lieu of egg crate) What do ya'll think about that?

Thanks,
Claire

 

[Kengaroo131]

awesome job on that looks great!!!!

 

[lloydkeller]

great idea looks great im setting up a 2nd tank and i think im going to give it a shot

 

[Sharkbait1]

Kannin Looks great !
I would love to do this in my BC29. And I love your center section with the pinisula and cave thing could you post / send me more pics/drawings of that section so I can kinda reproduce it.

Again looks great... MORE PICS !!

 

[Claire7275]

Bump fpr my question 4 posts up.

Thanks
Claire

 

[Sharkbait1]

Sorry Claire didn't mean to cut you off...

But I think the Styrofoam as a back would cause more problems as it would try to float away unless it could be jammed in and secured somehow

 

[Kannin]

I agree with sharkbait1, claire. Styrofoam wouls bring more boyancy issues to an already boyant project

 

[Kannin]

I'll see what I can come up with sharkbait1.

 

[Claire7275]

Thanks for the info guys. I guess the thought was to anchor it in the sand bed and wedge it under the top rim. Sounds like egg crate is the way to go.

Thanks,

Claire

 

[yellowtruck75]

Anyone know if Lowes sells the epoxy to coat the foam or an alternative that reef safe?

I have my PVC skeleton done with the rocks attached now all I have to do is the epoxy and sand part. I want to do it before this weekend so online ordering is out.