Calling all foamers....

[Mr Cob]

Post your foam reef projects here...

I'll start with posting Mike's (Texreefer) since his tank and use of foam first inspired me to use foam:

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/beforealgae.jpg

same tank year and a half later
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01076.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01290.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01293.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC01300.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/DSC02125.jpg

[Mr Cob]

Some of mine...

My old 120g foam reef (eggcrate, great stuff foam, pvc and zipties, this is when I use to paint the great stuff foam with black krylon spray paint)
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/Mr%20Cobs%20Reef/FTS.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/Mr%20Cobs%20Reef/SSPX0348.jpg

Old 24g Aquapod using Pond/Waterfall foam:
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/Mr%20Cobs%20Reef/img1235268583069.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/Mr%20Cobs%20Reef/img1235268574134.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/Mr%20Cobs%20Reef/img1235268590847.jpg

Created this one for my brother-inlaw's RSM:
(pond foam, dry-rock structure and background)....
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/Ethans%20RSM%20Reef/img1235782699377.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/Ethans%20RSM%20Reef/img1235782816418.jpg

My 144g (pond foam and PVC tunnels/mounting tubes)...
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/Frags%20for%20sale%20and%20trade/144g%20Half%20Circle/DSCF1807.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/Frags%20for%20sale%20and%20trade/144g%20Half%20Circle/DSCF1832.jpg

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

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4040/4526851338_a86c78e009.jpg


Recent 75g I did for a friend: (pond foam and pvc mounting tubes)...
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs521.snc3/29671_1138111549079_1716090084_258872_1743905_n.jp g

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs521.snc3/29671_1138111669082_1716090084_258874_6095357_n.jp g

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs521.snc3/29671_1138112389100_1716090084_258876_484016_n.jpg

My 85g frag tank:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/4909619012_0d723cccc6.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/4875394119_f577d210ec_z.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/4909036033_a373c1bb02_z.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4076/4909631858_6fa37d7172.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4909031037_765a167389.jpg


My process is:

-put gloves on
-apply aquarium sealant under foam
-spray black pond foam over wet sealant
-press pvc tubes/tunnels and rock into foam
-distress foam with a stick (just poke all the big bubbles and move them around)
-sprinkle aragonite/sand/crushed coral over wet foam
-let cure one week

[txav8r]

Great thread Rob!! I want to do this on my next build.

[txg8gxp]

Looks awesome, now I wanna build another tank....Thanks..

[Mr Cob]

I love seeing how everyone uses it differently. Foam really does give you that extra resource for reaching your vision of how you would like your reef to look.

I can't wait to foam the new "temp" tank when I get it. I really want to do something that is more "entangled" like coco worm tubes and tonga branch mixed, but accomplishing that with mainly the foam.

Anyways...can't wait to see some more pics. I have seen some nice use of foam on MAAST.

[phippsj]

I will have to get some pics posted later today, but here is a thread of the build:
http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?50956-180G-Tank-Build-with-Rock-Foam-Wall&highlight=foam+wall

and a thread at the 6 month point:
http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?56404-6-month-update-with-pics&highlight=phippsj

[Mr Cob]

Here...people are lazy and don't click links...so I posted them here for you:


Phippsj's pics.....
http://www.maast.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=3170&d=1241752005

http://www.maast.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=3429&d=1245697551


http://www.maast.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=4776&d=1262107408

http://www.maast.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=4752&d=1261968664

That is one sweet foam job!!!!

[ZeroHour]

Nice work I have a 6 eclipse for the kids room I may use as a practice tank. This may be stupid but do you let the silicone dry before spraying the foam?

[Mr Cob]

^I don't let the silicone dry first. The only reason I use the sealant/silicone is to "seal" the foam. Without it, the foam will peel away from the glass after a year or two...I know because this happened to me. The remedy for me was to apply sealant and then foam while the sealant is still wet..

[Double-O-Zilch]

That last one is pretty awesome. You guy's foam jobs make mine look horrible. I'll post pics after I clean my tank out. Having a problem with detritus accumulating, got some ideas to fix it though.

[phippsj]

Here are two full tank shots, and then a link to the video. I also added some of some coral we recently added.

Unfortunately we just had a bit of a crash... we had a flat worm infestation, and then when we reduced feeded their toxins leaked out of the dead ones. We have only lost 1 fish, but several corals are having a hard time.

82938294

[Mr Cob]

^looks great. I have always wanted to have the foam split so that some of the glass is not covered I think it adds so much depth...but are you able to keep it clean and free of growth...ie sponges etc?

[phippsj]

^ The rocks really shade the actual glass, and it is covered from behind so no light there either. That keeps growth really minimal. I have cleaned it once in 12 months. Much better than I thought it would be.

[StevenSeas]

can you do a whole rock structure, not just the background without any ill effects? would it be like essentially using dry rock like marco's rock or similar?

[Mr Cob]

can you do a whole rock structure, not just the background without any ill effects? would it be like essentially using dry rock like marco's rock or similar?

yes...but it would float unless you used it with dry rock. It's better to use an acrocrete process to make fake rock.

[txav8r]

Here are two full tank shots, and then a link to the video. I also added some of some coral we recently added.



82938294

Got to see this one in the tank tour. A VERY nice foam job!

[Mr Cob]

For the purpose of this thread....here's a link documenting one process of using the foam:
http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?61629-Foaming-your-Reef-tank-by-Mr-Cob

[jrsatx20]

+1 jack. was wondering what was rock and foam. i didnt know until someone pointed it out to me

[Mr Cob]

Got to see this one in the tank tour. A VERY nice foam job!

Yeah, wish I could have made it. I have been wanting to see his tank for some time now.

[chunkymonkey]

For the purpose of this thread....here's a link documenting one process of using the foam:
http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?61629-Foaming-your-Reef-tank-by-Mr-Cob

great link, thanks....great pics. I'm getting the itch to tear apart my 55 and try.....I don't have the "manhood" to try on my 100, lol

[phippsj]

Yeah, wish I could have made it. I have been wanting to see his tank for some time now.

I was actually hoping your tank was going to be on the tour becasue I have wanted to see it for a while as well!

[txmike]

Well not a fish tank but my wife and my first foam viv this will soon be home to our tree frogs that have been in a QT tank for a bit.Wife did all the foam,paint, and plants .I think she did a great job.
http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx7/txmike2/DSC08487.jpg
http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx7/txmike2/DSC08486.jpg
http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx7/txmike2/DSC08485.jpg
http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx7/txmike2/DSC08484.jpg
http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx7/txmike2/DSC08482.jpg

[Europhyllia]

That looks great. Are they live plants? They don't look fake.
Dumb question: if you feed animals they are going to poop. How do you clean vivs? Do you have to throw all of that pretty moss away?

[txmike]

there poop is small and we spot clean them we have 5 viv running now its not to bad to keep them clean .yep they are a real plants down to the moss its all real

[Mr Cob]

Sweet tank Mike! Makes me want to try one.

[txmike]

From Pepper: The other cool thing about the live plants, false bottom, and water feature is that it all becomes a natural feature. The plants help to filter the water for small waste. We are also running carbon to help filter.

[hobogato]

very nice!

[phippsj]

Now I have an excuse to put an aquarium upstairs!

[Mr Cob]

old thread bump...curious to see more pics of artificial aquascapes in action

[rrasco]

Well, it's not a reef, but these are some I made for a few cichlid tanks years ago. Unfortunately, both came loose after 2-3 years of use. These were actually hand carved out of styro with some great stuff foam and then covered in concrete.

55 Gallon
http://www.rrasco.com/AquaticPics/DSC00202_sm.jpg
http://www.rrasco.com/AquaticPics/DSC00257_sm.jpg
http://www.rrasco.com/AquaticPics/DSC00505_sm.jpg

20 Gallon
http://www.rrasco.com/AquaticPics/diy bg 001.jpg
http://www.rrasco.com/AquaticPics/diy bg 012.jpg
http://www.rrasco.com/AquaticPics/DSC00411_sm.jpg

[Mr Cob]

that's nice, I have not seen styro used before. very cool

[Sherita]

Here's my 72g custom reef. There are two rock "columns" one on either side of the tank, the tank background is foam and small pieces of live rock and Texas holey rock. There are four swim through tunnels (that you can't see in the pic) made from 1 1/2" pvc fittings and lots of little holes to stick frags in if I want too. It is stuck to the back of the tank using silicone, but I also made "feet" out of eggcrate that were zip tied into place and then foamed. My coral columns sit on these feet. My hope is that this stabilized the background even more and will prevent it from pulling off the back wall because of buoyancy.

http://www.rosehillwindhounds.com/tank/72g8Dec11.jpg