where else to get Handi-foam?

[tgreene]

I just used the 2-part Handi-Foam on Saturday, for a 1000g reef system that I'm currently building.

http://www.foampower.com/store/two_component/index.html

I first siliconed eggcrate to the walls, then after 24 hours of silicone curing, I sprayed the eggcrate with the foam... Once the foam was cured, I painted it with epoxy resin and covered it all in sand.

 

[ReefEnabler]

very cool idea. eggcrate gives it more surface to grab onto

I like what you've done, mixing the foam+resin+sand.

I think I'm going to head more that route, but I'm going to fasten a few pieces of base rock in there to break it up (probably with pvc fatened to the eggcrate

 

[tgreene]

The foam alone would easily pull away from the tank as it cures, but the eggcrate keeps that from happening, since it's alreay well secured. Also, since eggcrate is polystyrene, the eggcrate and foam will basically become one.

The 2-part Handi-Foam that I used is a closed cell foam, and it becomes rock hard in a matter of seconds, not hours like open cell Great Stuff does. It also gets very hot due to the chemical reaction that takes place when the 2 parts are combined at the spray nozzle.

I had every intention of stuffing a lot of rubble in the foam, but it wasn't possible due to how quickly it set up... The entire tank took all of 3-4 minutes to spray! :eek2:

-Tim

 

[A. Grandis]

I thought about that tgreene, but my problem would be the type of foam, I would think. I´ve thought about lots of possibilities.

It´s very nice to have your pictures here and and know that it is possible to do with the egg crate + silicone.

Well, 2 days ago I´ve got some egg crate and white cement to make the back wall of the tank. Hope I won´t take too long to cure, once sometimes that´s the problem with cement!

Maybe the other tanks worked better with the foam because they were acrylic?

My foam looks concave now and is history! Can´t use for nothing!

Aloha,
Grandis.

 

[tgreene]

A few years ago I tried foaming directly to the glass, and the results were exactly as you described... I've done a ton of research since then, to learn about what does and does not work.

-Tim

 

[daveverdo]

Just though I would add this link to the discussion for those interested.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1188352

Dave

 

[tgreene]

Yep, that's the method!

The obvious difference between Tiggsy's and mine, is that his are free standing pieces and mine are built into place on the walls, because of the scale involved. His method would be easier to keep the sand attached until the epoxy cured, because it's burried in sand and laying flat. There were areas that I had to replace the sand that had fallen off in small clumps, due to the weight and gravitational pull.

-Tim

 

[A. Grandis]

Ok, I think I´ll make the egg crate/silicone/foam for the back ground of the tank.
Questions are:

What type of finishing resin should I use to aply the sand on?
I believe that the resin is not a must, am I right?
Is there any of these resin from Home Depot?

I was really sad when the black foam shrank!
Got the egg crate on the back glass today.

I´ve got 2 of the Great Stuff foam from HD (red can, not the black can) also.

Thanks again,
Grandis

 

[tgreene]

Home Depot sells 'Bondo' resin and Lowes sells 'Elmers'... They are the same thing.

I used a $.50 cent 3" brush to paint the epoxy on in sections, then I hand tossed sand all over it before the epoxy started to set up.

Keep in mind that the 'Great Stuff' will take forever to set up, so it will need to be applied flat, or it will slide down.

 

[tgreene]

.. double tap ..

 

[A. Grandis]

Thinking about the dead water spots (not a regular water circulation rate) between the glass and foam plus the foam could get rotten (?).

I´ve read some threads with those comments and now the doubt of doing the eggcrate+foam comes to play.

Maybe I´ll go with the "old" heavy white cement artificial live rocks instead.

Anyone?

Grandis.

 

[tgreene]

I seamed the edges of the eggcrate with silicone, and it's 100% covered, so there will not be any water behind the eggcrate/foam walls...

-Tim

 

[A. Grandis]

Well, got the white cement rocks done and curing.
Question:

In your experience what´s the best way to cure that?

I don´t want to have to trust pH monitors. It must have a better practical way to cure them.

I´m talking about when to know that we can use the rocks in the salt water tank without any harmful pH rising.

Grandis.

 

[tgreene]

I can't answer that one... Sorry.

 

[A. Grandis]

Well... thanks anyway.
I guess better buy the pH monitor.
Grandis.

 

[ReefEnabler]

cool, I'm glad you got your rocks going

Any picture by chance?

I received a bunch of dry rock from marcorocks and I'm ready to build my aquascaping pieces, but I'm waiting until the tank gets here before 'assembling the pieces' because they will be covering some overflows and plumbing which i want to measure myself first.

Ryan

 

[A. Grandis]

How do we get the pictures to be bigger than the ones I´ve posted? I placed the ones I´ve posted in this thread in the photo gallery but coudn´t go too big.

I´ll find time to take and post the pics when I finish the curing process.

Grandis.

 

[ReefEnabler]

well the file size is 50k, which can be eaten up pretty quick depending on how you compress your images.

I am able to get larger 1024x768 images down to 50k jpeg easily using photoshop, and just adjusting image quality down until the file size is under 50k.

I'm not sure what other jpeg compression software is out there, but I'm sure theres alot. Just do a search to jpeg compression and you can probably find some programs for free. To make the files fit, just adjust quality until the filesize is under 50k and you're good to go.