The Foam/rock Projects Here Thread
- Thread starter yousmellsfishy
- Start date
yousmellsfishy
New member
Is there a fish in that same hole in the first pic a couple of post back?
seaskraP
New member
great looking tanks guys.
about to try this for my 120, but am thinking about using aragocrete instead of foam between the rocks.
haven't seen anyone try this, is there a thread?
other than the cement shrinking during drying (and the long curing time), i can't think of any problems with this idea.
would it work? any suggestions?
about to try this for my 120, but am thinking about using aragocrete instead of foam between the rocks.
haven't seen anyone try this, is there a thread?
other than the cement shrinking during drying (and the long curing time), i can't think of any problems with this idea.
would it work? any suggestions?
Here's my 60g rock/foam wall:
Marco Rock Rubble pieces were siliconed to 4 - 24" X 12" sheets of plastic canvas. Gaps were then filled with Pond Foam, coated with Zap Finishing Epoxy, then sprinkled with sand and crushed coral.
Vertical edges of the individual sheets were cut into an interlocking wavy pattern so as not to have straight-line seams between sheets. This worked out well, as you cannot tell the location of the seams.
Each section has an integrated return siliconed into it that ends with an FPT elbow. These returns will (hopefully) provide the desirable random flow throughout the tank. In the event that some directional adjustment becomes necessary for the individual returns, to customize the flow according to what animals end up where, (4) 1/2' loc-line MPT adapter fittings with adjustable nozzles can be screwed into the integrated FPT elbows.
There is also an integrated 36" spray bar that will provide surface agitation to promote oxygen exchange.
I doubt that I will have the time to start and maintain a build thread as I had hoped, since I just moved 1500 miles and am starting work on a very large project down here. I’ll try to post progress pics when I can.
Props to Kannin for showing the way, and to yousmellsfishy for the plastic canvas and wavy-seams ideas.
Marco Rock Rubble pieces were siliconed to 4 - 24" X 12" sheets of plastic canvas. Gaps were then filled with Pond Foam, coated with Zap Finishing Epoxy, then sprinkled with sand and crushed coral.
Vertical edges of the individual sheets were cut into an interlocking wavy pattern so as not to have straight-line seams between sheets. This worked out well, as you cannot tell the location of the seams.
Each section has an integrated return siliconed into it that ends with an FPT elbow. These returns will (hopefully) provide the desirable random flow throughout the tank. In the event that some directional adjustment becomes necessary for the individual returns, to customize the flow according to what animals end up where, (4) 1/2' loc-line MPT adapter fittings with adjustable nozzles can be screwed into the integrated FPT elbows.
There is also an integrated 36" spray bar that will provide surface agitation to promote oxygen exchange.
I doubt that I will have the time to start and maintain a build thread as I had hoped, since I just moved 1500 miles and am starting work on a very large project down here. I’ll try to post progress pics when I can.
Props to Kannin for showing the way, and to yousmellsfishy for the plastic canvas and wavy-seams ideas.
Chihuahua6
Premium Member
Bruno I have a few questions if you dont mind.
What type of plastic canvas did you use and where did you get it?
How did you attach the canvas to the back of the tank? I'm assuming you siliconed it.
What type of plastic canvas did you use and where did you get it?
How did you attach the canvas to the back of the tank? I'm assuming you siliconed it.
This is the plastic canvas that I used:
http://www.anniesattic.com/supplies/detail.html?prod_id=2834
I taped the back of the plastic canvas with clear packing tape before I started. This was to make sure the silicone would dry flat and flush with the plastic material. This makes it much easier to silicone the finished product to the back of the tank.
I then siliconed the Marco Rock to the canvas. I tried to find pieces that fit snugly next to one another, kind of like a jigsaw puzzle. I did not use that much foam. About half a can.
After the silicone had dried, I removed the packing tape from the back of the canvas.
I then did the finishing epoxy/sand and crushed coral coating on the exposed foam.
Using liberal amounts of silicone, I then siliconed the finished sections to the back of the tank. I used (4) 10-oz. tubes for this
yousmellsfishy
New member
Lookin good Bruno. welcome to the foam/rock club
Ocean Size????? You in??
Ocean Size????? You in??
OCEAN SIZE
BACK REEFIN'
Wow, I disappear for a week or so and I get called out... *twice*.<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13096584#post13096584 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by yousmellsfishy
Lookin good Bruno. welcome to the foam/rock club
Ocean Size????? You in??
That must be my cue.
I'm going slower than the rest of you because I'm doing a (perhaps) bigger overhaul - my project involves cutting holes through outside walls of my house, building a shed, and spending thousands of dollars I'm still working furiously to earn, but its in heavy planning stages and getting close now.
Right now, the only pictures I can take are of my scale model Play-doh and wire mockup. I'm going to try a few things a little different from what everyone else has done too.
Argh, the gauntlet has been laid down by a man terrorized by a nightmarish Yasha goby. Time to get off me arse and build...
:rollface:
PS big thanks to those who added their pics to this thread, and Yousmellsfishy for reminding me to build. And that I smell fishy.
yousmellsfishy
New member
LOL:lol:
yousmellsfishy
New member
Here's a Link to turtleman10's project. Hey turtleman, how about an update?
Chihuahua6
Premium Member
Bruno-
Does silicone adhere to the rock and the canvas long term?
I know it does not stick to acrylic well so I wonder how it works with the canvas.
Does the canvas structure become stiff enough to stay upright on its own if made into an L shape with a base? I was planning to use eggcrate so that I wouldn't need to attach it to the back wall.
Does silicone adhere to the rock and the canvas long term?
I know it does not stick to acrylic well so I wonder how it works with the canvas.
Does the canvas structure become stiff enough to stay upright on its own if made into an L shape with a base? I was planning to use eggcrate so that I wouldn't need to attach it to the back wall.
yousmellsfishy
New member
The silicone does not stick very well to either the rock or the canvas. With my project, I laid the canvas down on it's back side and siliconed the rocks to it so I had gravity on my side keeping the rocks in place. Once the foam was applied and cured, it was as if each panel was a single piece of rock. It gets even more stiff with the application of the epoxy resin. I made canvas "flying buttresses" and covered them with foam/rock/epoxy when I did my project, that helped to support the panels, plus it provides some interesting formations for your fish to swim through.
Hi Amanda
I can't really predict how the silicone-glued assembly is going to perform long-term. I can tell you that mine is pretty solid and I'm very pleased with the way it came out. I don’t anticipate any degradation of the silicone over time. The foam works real well in adding integrity to the structure, as fishy said. The Marco Rock, which comes dry, took real well to the silicone. In fact, my aquascape will be the larger Marco Rock pieces that I received, siliconed together to form caves and arches and such. All of those assemblies are also pretty solid.
I don't believe the canvas would work well as a stand-alone structure and would suggest using eggcrate for that type of application.
Good luck and post back if you have any questions.
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