"Geat Stuff" Foam

[Mr_Cool]

Three questions:

1. Where can I buy this?

2. Does it come in the black coloring, or are you guys painting it some how?

3. How long does it take to dry before water can be added to the tank?

[brewercm]

1. Home Depot / Lowes
2. Yes, it comes in black.
3. I waited a couple of days myself.

[ErikH]

GET GLOVES. DO NOT WEAR ANYTHING YOU CARE ABOUT!!!

GET GLOVES

TRUST ME GET GLOVES.

[jetty]

From what I've read, you want the kind used for outdoor ponds. It is already black and will not break down under the lighting.

[Mr_Cool]

Thanks Cliff. That's what I was hoping to hear. I thought of another question in the mean time.

Can I just spray it on the glass itself, or do I have to have some type of backing (like eggcrate/light diffuser) to give it some texture?

I really just want to cover the back of the tank so you can't see through it while hiding my plumbing. (The tank is not reef ready and I want to have my returns come up in the middle of the tank.) I just figured I could kill 2 birds w/ 1 stone and give the tank a little pizzazz at the same time.

[RayAllen]

GET GLOVES. DO NOT WEAR ANYTHING YOU CARE ABOUT!!!

GET GLOVES

TRUST ME GET GLOVES.

LOL, what were you doing Erik. My Dad and I did his entire 220g tank and didnt get a drop on our clothes. I think you couldnt resist the temptation of playing with it.


Mr Cool
It comes in black as mentioned, but you can also paint it using krylon fusion to give it more of a natural look use several colors.

[Mr_Cool]

Oh, one more question....

Should I use GLOVES when I do this project? :bigsmile:

(Thanks to all for the input.)

[recoiljpr]

GET GLOVES. DO NOT WEAR ANYTHING YOU CARE ABOUT!!!

GET GLOVES

TRUST ME GET GLOVES.

THIS! And also make sure your dogs stay well away from it until it hardens. You have no idea how tedious it is pulling foam from the hair of a hyperactive American Eskimo. I came "this" close to shaving her.

[RayAllen]

Thanks Cliff. That's what I was hoping to hear. I thought of another question in the mean time.

Can I just spray it on the glass itself, or do I have to have some type of backing (like eggcrate/light diffuser) to give it some texture?
.

What we did was glue down egg crate to the glass and make caves and outcrops using eggcrate and zipties. Let that dry then go to town with the foam. You can be very creative with it. I need to take a picture of my dads tank we did. It looks like something you would see at a City aquarium.

[txav8r]

Mr Cob just did this last week. Maybe he will chime in. He told me he put aquarium sealant underneath the area that the foam was applied to help with adheasion.

[Gseclipse02]

yes use gloves i was filling holes with it for a shed and the GF helped me out and got it all over her fingers the stuff wouldn't come off and when it did it took her skin with it

[ErikH]

I should come to a meeting in the adidas sweatpants that I destroyed while making my giant rock. I was shaping the foam by hand so it didn't look like lines and lines of yellow doo doo. :) It was a freakin' mess.

[Mr Cob]

Mr Cob just did this last week. Maybe he will chime in. He told me he put aquarium sealant underneath the area that the foam was applied to help with adheasion.

Yep, it will definitely come apart over time, this happened to me several times with other tanks. Apply a bunch of aquarium sealant to the glass and immediately start applying the foam. I only use pond foam because it's black, but it costs $12-$14 a can. Well worth it. I have used the cheap great stuff too and painted it black with krylon paint and I have used just the great stuff. Trade off is not worth it in my opinion, use the pond foam.

Once applied, I "stress" the foam with a stick of some sort as it bubbles so that it does not make big blobs of poop. Stressing the foam will cause it to not bubble up and make for a more "lava rock" natural look and it will be less buoyant. While the foam is still wet, immediately after it is applied, sprinkle aragonite or some sort of sand to the foam. This will stimulate the coraline growth and look more natural.

In the tank below I added a new step and used large black PVC tunnels. I drilled holes with a drimel tool into my overflows and zip tied the tunnels to it and then applied the sealant and then the pond foam.

Good luck. Hope this helps some. Be creative but remember this stuff FLOATS!!! Whatever you do, have a plan for preventing it from floating. Zip tieing large live rock to your structure also helps.

Here's my build thread:
http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=53634&page=3

Pics...
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/Frags%20for%20sale%20and%20trade/144g%20Half%20Circle/DSCF1829.jpg


http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/img1252224599602.jpg

[Mr Cob]

Remember to post some pics!!! It's always fun to see what others come up with using this stuff.

Remember to let everything cure. 7 days is minimum, but I like to wait 2 weeks with a fan blowing on everything.

[Mr Cob]

Three questions:

1. Where can I buy this?

2. Does it come in the black coloring, or are you guys painting it some how?

3. How long does it take to dry before water can be added to the tank?

To address your original questions directly:

1. Pond Foam and great Stuff: Lowes (just bought some pond foam from them, they keep 1-5 cans, it's in the pond section outside), then check Home Depot

2. Yes, Pond Foam, $12-$15/can though. You can also paint the great stuff using Krylon Fusion spray paint purchased at Hobby Lobby

3. Wait 7 days. I wait 14 days.

[ErikH]

Yeah a bunch of people have used tonga branch and pond foam to seal them together to make for some pretty dramatic looking aquascapes.

[brewercm]

Definately what Mr. Cobb said. I had the same thinsg happen to me. The part that was on the overflows (made of acrylic) stayed just fine but the part that was on the glass eventually started to come apart and slide up.

[floridadog]

THanks for this post. i tried recently to use just the reg wall foam. That stuff worked great but once water was added it would make the whole peice float to the top and wouldnt stay put. Did you mount the egg crate down or how did u keep it in place?

[Mr_Cool]

I finally got to do this project. Here are the details.....

I cut a piece of eggcrate to fit the back pane of glass. Then I cut out a rectangular section to accommodate the overflow. The main goal of the project was to hide the return plumbing, so I attached the PVC to the eggcrate using fishing line and the siliconed the whole thing to the back pane. I turned the tank on it's side so that the back of the tank was on the bottom. This made it easier to work. After applying the silicone to the eggcrate and placing it into position, I put some weights on the eggcrate to hold it down and make sure it was going to be secure. I needed some time to let it set up, so I went inside to watch Ohio State beat up on Wisconsin. (Go Bucks!)

Later that evening, I started with the Pond Foam. I first covered the PVC, then outlined the rest of the eggcrate. Once that was done, I tried to fill in the rest of the eggcrate with a nice textured look. Of course, I ran out of foam after the second can. So, I had to run to Lowe's to get another one. The third can was just enough.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the look. I did forget about one thing, though. Since my return lines will be all the way at the bottom of the tank, I will need to break the siphon when the pump is shut down. I guess I can drill holes just below the water line to take care of that. Or, I can get a couple of check valves to make sure the water does not flow back to the pump. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I've never use a check valve, so I don't know if I trust them. But, it the hole to break the siphon gets clogged or something, I'll have a big problem there, too.

Anyway, here are a few pics. They're not the best in the world. Since the tank is on the back patio, there's a horrible glare from most angles. I'll try to get a few once it's inside again.

By the way, I used gloves. But honestly, I don't thing I really needed them. I used a piece of ridged plastic to poke at the foam as it set up so that it didn't look so puffy. I think I missed a few spots here and there, but it still looks good to me.

[txav8r]

Looks fantastic! Thanks for posting.

[glennr1978]

Here's what I did. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=202837&hl=

[Mr_Cool]

Very cool! I forgot about sprinkling sand on it! I've seen that before and think it looks much better.

How did the foam color up for you? That is, did you get any coraline algae growth on it? I like the live rock pushed in there, too.

[glennr1978]

Very cool! I forgot about sprinkling sand on it! I've seen that before and think it looks much better.

How did the foam color up for you? That is, did you get any coraline algae growth on it? I like the live rock pushed in there, too.


The tank is still pretty young, but I'm starting to get some deep red coraline growing. I'm sure in another month or two it will be completely covered. The sand & LR rubble combo really worked out well for me. Once the foam becomes live and colors up a bit it will be hard to tell that it's synthetic. The texture is very much like real LR.

[jroescher]

It looks really good, but what if 2 years from now you decide to do something different. Is there an effective way to remove the stuff? Some chemical that will melt it?

[Mr Cob]

Looks great! Love the fishing line idea!

[Mr Cob]

John, a razor blade will work just fine....same as cleaning scum from glass.

[Mr_Cool]

I'm going to have to use a razor blade on the side of the tank. The foam started to expand some when I brought it inside. It should be fine, though.

[Mr_Cool]

Looks like the extra expansion is about done. I pulled off what I could, and the razor blade worked like a charm on the glass. Everything is going to be just fine.

[MeteorFlower]

I have a noob question about all this... I've never used this stuff, so forgive my ignorance, but when you talk about curing the foam, you mean air-curing, right? Not underwater? Is there any way to include LR in a foam structure without letting the rock dry out and die first? I was thinking of doing a foam/PVC/LR structure in my new tank, but I don't want to kill 150+ pounds of well-aged live rock to do it! And if the 14 days of curing does have to be dry, can you recommend any place that sells nice dry base rock for this sort of project? Thanks!

[glennr1978]

Very cool! I forgot about sprinkling sand on it! I've seen that before and think it looks much better.

How did the foam color up for you? That is, did you get any coraline algae growth on it? I like the live rock pushed in there, too.


Just a little update.... the foam is coloring up VERY well now. Just takes time, and good Ca levels.