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[rg]

I have a 125 gallon tank and I want to put the great stuff foam on the back glass and on the overflows. My question is do I just spray it on or do I have to put eggcrate? Also how do I give it a rock figure? Do I have to paint it or in time will it get covered by coraline?

[erikharrison]

You can just spray it on the back glass, but to make shelves etc, you would use PVC and eggcrate. It will naturally get covered in coraline as long as your existing rocks have some coraline on them.

[hobogato]

You can just spray it on the back glass

nope. to get it to stick to glass you have to put a thin layer of silicone on the glass first. after that cures, spray the foam onto the silicone. be sure to add sand on the foam after spraying it so it will cover with coraline faster.

[erikharrison]

nope. to get it to stick to glass you have to put a thin layer of silicone on the glass first. after that cures, spray the foam onto the silicone. be sure to add sand on the foam after spraying it so it will cover with coraline faster.

:bigsmile: my bad.

[hobogato]

btw, that may not even be a sure thing.... it has worked for many, but didn not work for the 180gallon that we are putting together.

[emac]

Defiantly use silicone on the back. I've even seen people take a mesh screen and silicone it to the back so that the foam will hold even better to the back of the glass but, just using plain silicone seems to work well for me.

What kind of sand do you use?

[hobogato]

araganite sand and crushed coral.

[sharkboy]

could you use small chunks of live rock imbedded in the foam to provide areas to place frags?

[sharkboy]

Did you decide to foam the background after all?

[caferacermike]

could you use small chunks of live rock imbedded in the foam to provide areas to place frags?



One of the main reasons some people choose foam is that they can glue the frag to something like a plastic toothpick and then just push it wherever they think they want it. Decide to move the piece, pick it out and push it in somewhere else.

[bronck83]

I was thinking of doing this foam thing on my new tank but someone told me it would take a really, really long time for the foam to cover with coraline unless I ran reactor(s). With just dosing & no reactors, how long am I looking at if I were to go the foam route along with some live rock?

[Texreefer]

full coverage?? probably 6-8 months

[sharkboy]

I siliconed some eggcrate to the back walls of my corner tank...how long should i let it dry before applying the foam? Also, I am unclear as to when the sand and crushed coral should be applied to the foam....does the crushed coral and sand need to be rinsed first? If so, can it be applied while still wet? What is the time frame for allowing it all to set before water is added? I know it is a lot of questions, but I don't want to make unnecessary mistakes. Thanks for your help!

[Texreefer]

apply the sand and coral while foam is still wet
no need to rinse right now
foam is hard in a couple of hours but i would wait a full day before adding water.
once everything is in place in tank. then rinse just to get loose sand and gravel off, otherwise no rinsing needed