Looking for REEF SAFE Foam for aquarium

[baldwinaquaman]

I'm looking to hide some pvc in my aquarium to make it look like rockwork, what is the best, and safest foam/selant to use. I want it to look as much like rock as possible, also any other ides would be appreciated. The pvc is only on the bottom of the tank, and not on the back wall.

[troylee]

Pond foam it can found at home depot outside in the garden area where the pond liners are....hth;)

[baldwinaquaman]

Are their any foams made specifically for saltwater tanks?

[novahobbies]

I've had the standard tan-colored expandable foam in different saltwater tanks for over a year now, and I've yet to experience any ill effects. It doesn't break down under PC or T5 lighting (I have no experience personally under MHs) and it colors up with algae and coralline as quickly as the rock does. Recently I've been experimenting with "pre-painting" the base structures with krylon fusion and a few others....these are acrylic paints and are supposedly completely inert after they dry. So far, so good. The main reason I've tried the prepaint tecnique is 'cause I'm not a fan of the plain tan or black (as in the pondfoam) color.

[baldwinaquaman]

Anyone else have any ideas, i really need the rock to be light colored as my other rocks are very light.

[edub_50]

I hope this helps more than hinders, but I had read many threads on R/C about 'great stuff' expanding foam (the stuff at homedepot for like 5 bucks). It suddenly stopped showing up. My cousin used it with great success (Its almost white in the tank initially by the way) but I had read a few posts that said not to use it. It colors up really well and can look like rockwork in time with algae so I'm not sure why it wouldn't or shouldn't be used. Just be careful, its very, very buoyant.

[MaLi]

Greetings,

Building a foam wall, can the wall be place in the tank right after the epoxy cures ?

Thanks,
Marian

[Freds]

I can't find the thread here, but there was correspondence posted with the great stuff manufacturers who stated that their concern would be the foam breaking down due to the UV present in our tanks. They stated that the regular foams (not the pond version) were not designed to be under the UV that is in our tanks. Over time they stated the foam would break down and begin to possibly leech chemicals into the tank.

The Pond foam however, was designed to be hit with UV light and designed to be permanently underwater. They stated that the black pond foam would be the foam to use for our application.

[novahobbies]

This is exactly my point. The foam I've been using is the regular, plain ol' Great Stuff expanding foam. I've had it in different applications under saltwater for over a year, and no ill effects. I'm pretty sure the amt. of UV radiation from T5s and PCs is negligible. I don't have any experience with this foam under metal halides, so I can't speak to that end, but I don't think there's a risk of foam degradation under fluorescents.

Just as an aside, I've had some of this foam outside in regular daylight conditions and it really starts to turn yellow within a week, and gets brittle in a month or so.

[dez_2121]

great info on foam walls
best info on it IMHO
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1375191

also good read same person started this thread as well
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1438807

[MaLi]

The amount of UV from a reef lighting source anything other than MH at the level to affect regular foam is negligible.
If you have MH than a glass lid will filter about 90% of UV, so again no real danger here.

hope it helps,
Marian

[mtbiker41]

I have 2 tanks set up with foam aquascaping.my first is a 90 gallon corner reef tank thats been up for over 2 years now with no problems whatsoever .it has 2 walls of regular yellow foam from wal-mart with base rock embedded in it for corals to set on and I have a metal halide light.I used a refugium with miracle mud .the water is crystal clear the corals are overcrowding the tank.believe it or not I haven't done a water change in over 6 months and the parameters are always dead on .I used to add trace elements and buff regularly but haven't for over 3 months and according to test results they're good.I only have to scrape the algae on the glass every month or so .I had an msx 200 on it and the ceramic pin broke so it hasn't been on for 2 months.when I talked with leng sy about miracle mud he told me that water changes wouldn't be needed as much and I was skeptical but he didn't lie.My 240 fish only has the whole back wall done with the black pond foam and base rock for 10 months now .parameters stay good also although I do have to clean the glass at least a couple times a week.If you practice you can make it look like rock formations. the yellow foam does turn kind of olive colored after awhile so it looks like algae until algae can grow.Oh yea I mixed crushed coral with regular automotive fiberglass resin and coated the foam background so it looks more natural.I soaked the foam in saltwater for a month in a tub before installing in the tank.hope this helps Butch

[customcolor]

here is the center shot of my 2+ year UNCOVERED BECKETT POND FOAM. there is no epoxy over it and its under a 175w halide in the center since day 1...i used the crystal salt molding like making diy live rock with portland cement.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s193/customcolor/center-1.jpg



here is a shot of my wifes 28 gal jbj when it was new with the pond foam and new un cycled marco rock....

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s193/customcolor/jbj%20nano/70w10k.jpg


here is the same tank 6 months later....remember i said the rock was uncycled so we had some hair algie in the tank....its on the rock mainly....it looks much better now (3 months later) little embarrassed about the pics!

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s193/customcolor/jbj%20nano/DSC01145.jpg

and a closer look at the foam that day

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s193/customcolor/jbj%20nano/DSC01146.jpg

[krowleey]

pong foam or great stuff is safe to use.

[RLHornbeck]

Both are said to be safe by most people. If you want to make extra sure use the Becketts Pond Foam.

[customcolor]

pong foam or great stuff is safe to use.

yes both are safe to use but if you didnt cover the great stuff with lots of epoxy good enough it will break down.

[baldwinaquaman]

Great info guys, I decided to go with gorilla glue already though. Anyone have any info on the best way to create a cave, or ssome nice cave shots?