The Foam/rock Projects Here Thread

[cas1069]

just an update of my tank things are looking good so far, just need to start adding corals and watch them grow

 

[geekengineer]

I would like to do a foam background on 29 gal tank. I have never done one but I like how they look on this thread. Is there any good reason not to do one these days? I notice someone was just painting the background instead for instance. How hard you think it be for a newbie to do one? I do already happen to have extra egg crate and clean coral rock to get started with. I have to get some of the other supplies still.

 

[d-man]

It's very easy. Just zip tie the rocks to the egg crate and then lightly foam. This stuff expands a lot so do not apply heavy. Just enough to cover the egg crate. Then tear chunks off when dry to give rough look. You can resin sand on if you want but it's not necessary cuz coralline will cover in a few months anyway

 

[rygar]

Large foam/rock wall help desperately needed ASAP

Large foam/rock wall help desperately needed ASAP

I'm building a large foam/rock wall. The total size of the wall is 96" x 30". Using walt smith 2.1 reef rock and pond foam.
So I'll need a lot of epoxy for this. Those little tubes don't go very far and all I can find is so gooey, there's now way it will work. Isn't there something that is more like the consistency of a thick paint I can use? And available in large quantities?
I've read in the past something about going to a boat place and ask for marine epoxy??? But don't want to get something that is toxic and I have no idea where I read that.

 

[Mk2xflow]

Sorry if this was answered many times, but how do you fasten the egg crate to the surrounding wall to remain stable with all the rock on it. Also would it be at all possible to do this on a already existing reef.

 

[rygar]

lots of silicone GE-1. Load it on the back and stabilize it with something for 24 hours at least. That's what Im doing. Others here may have different ways of doing it. Downside is that it will be very difficult to get it off without destroying the wall. I experimented with a small piece of glass on egg crate. It held very well.

 

[geekengineer]

So someone said in other thread gorilla glue is ok to use instead of epoxy? Could I do that if I want to add some sand?

Anyways I not particular art gifted so I hope this turns out ok, but I going to give it a try.

 

[cas1069]

geekengineer,
ive used gorilla glue in the past for frags with no problem but it has been a few years so not sure if they changed anything or not.

mk2xflow,
when I built the "wall" I made it self standing so I didn't have to attach it to the tank, I did this by having it "L" shaped with a bottom pice that sits under the sandbed.

 

[geekengineer]

thanks for the help there. I did ask around and people in general seem to think gorrilla glue is ok..

I decided to do something else I guess based on some advice I was given and what I read around the forum on aquascaping. I not sure if it was a good idea but it made life simpler not to do a background for the size of tank I had anyways since it was fairly narrow and tall.

 

[jimbow]

I love this idea. I'm setting up a new tank. Back into the hobby after 15 years away. One question, do you epoxy the back side as well to seal it up? Everyone is showing the front and I want to get the back right as well.

 

[sam.basye]

I love this idea. I'm setting up a new tank. Back into the hobby after 15 years away. One question, do you epoxy the back side as well to seal it up? Everyone is showing the front and I want to get the back right as well.

I didn't even think about sealing the back of mine. It looks the same as when I made it almost a year ago. (It's not flush with the glass as I made a built in 'fuge behind my wall). I think sealing it is basically just so you can glue sand to it to make it look more natural.

 

[jimbow]

OK Thanks.

 

[sam.basye]

Here's a pic of the back of my wall that is exposed. No epoxy or sealing done.

There is about a 3" gap between the glass and backside of the wall.

The blurry top half of the pic is algae growing on the glass. The bottom half is accurate.

 

[beachfubar]

really nice post

 

[SFish]

Are people still making these? Have there been any problems with algae growing because of the egg crate?

 

[cas1069]

i just removed what I had and found none. and I wish I didn't remover it it was looking great and was causing no problems

 

[SFish]

Thanks

 

[Becks]

Im thinking about doing this to cover my corner weir, will urchins and sea stars damage the foam even when coated in epoxy resin and crushed coral?

 

[sam.basye]

Im thinking about doing this to cover my corner weir, will urchins and sea stars damage the foam even when coated in epoxy resin and crushed coral?

My turbo snails eat the foam on my wall..
A thicker coat of epoxy and sand probably would've helped.

 

[mmittlesteadt]

Here's my 40 gallon breeder with a fake back rock wall, one year later. It's holding up well and everything is doing fabulous. It was made with styrofoam and then covered in black pond foam and covered in aragonite.