that is looking good ...got2envy

Thanks Spook..I will finish working on the second part on Thursday ...here are som pix of what I did so far with it
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...1010007-22.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...1010005-22.jpg


Maria

Very "Tiggsy-esque"

i like the idea of the rock/foam wall. i have a 10g i just might try this with.

Updated pic. 9 ricordea and 1 red shroom mounted on rock wall:

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p...47/1-28-09.jpg

nice update^^^^^

wow!!!!!!!! great thread so many good ideas wish i would have found this before i made my wall but here's my foam rockwall on my 46 bow front

http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...er2525/150.jpg

Woo more pix of your 46 looks great :D I hope mine comes out as good lol

Got2envy,

That looks real good, so your rock wall is only going to partially cover your back wall? Is the remaining part of the back wall going to black?

Does home depot carry any exopy that will work. I've given the foam wall a try 3 times now and never had long term success. I want to do it right this time in the new 120 Im setting up.
Erik

Kreeger1, I am thinking about doing one of these also when I get set up but I think I am just going to cover it in a thin layer of Porters mix cement (like used in aragocrete/ DIY rock) and sand instead of the epoxy, to add a little weight and keep the bouyancy of the foam in check. :)

I used West System epoxy on mine and it worked well. There's a West Marine store in Cleveland.

Leslie

stupid question but....doesn't the foam "rock" wall surrounding the overflows promote little critters swimming/crawling/(flying?) over the overflow teeth and clogging the overflows?

I am just curious, I'm starting mine tonight.

PS. I found Black expanding foam at Lowe's in the outdoor garden section by the pond crap....it wasn't Great Stuff but some other brand....says for ponds and waterfalls.

and the eggcrate (light diffuser) cuts easily with my wife's sewing scissors (shhhh don't tell her)

chort55, good plan. What brand cement will you use? portal type1 2?

Hi all,

I have just started this project and have a question. I used this expanding foam product and was now wondering what type of epoxy resin i should look for. I have had alot of trouble trying to find something that wont eat the foam, is aquarium safe and available here in Australia.

this is what i got & who i got it from & they ship worldwide :)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=320301140138

I used an epoxy paint over my foam. Been wet in the new tank for almost a month now with no problems and already starting to coraline up.
http://www.aquaticeco.com/categories...ng-Foam/169/0/

I am planning on portland type 1, unless I can find type 3 or 5 which I have heard are actually the best 2 to use (although 1,2,3, and 5 are "acceptable... 5 is supposed to be the best but can't remember exact reason). I am still quite a ways out from setting up my tank, but definitly doing research full blast :)

I am actually thinking of making mine w/ DIY aragonite rock as well for a complete DIY set up..... and to save alot of money lol

great thread!

Thanks a million :thumbsup:

Just another question. Did anyone bother putting epoxy on the back of their rock wall projects ?

my fuge area under the Tunze filter..I ordered a 10w hologen submersible light and a rio 50 for flow in there
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...1010010-20.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...1010015-11.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...P1010018-8.jpg

The right corner is left open for a live rock pile and the fuge sits behind it
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...1010002-29.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...1010005-23.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...1010006-22.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...1010009-18.jpg

what do ya guys think?

Can you texture the foam once it dried slightly? Could I press other rock into the foam to give it texture? I would not be leaving the rock in the foam but just using it to texture the foam. This might take away the "bubbly" appearence. I have never worked with the foam so I am not sure.

your bow looks Great!!!!!!!!!!!!! wish i would have used more rock on mine!!!!!

I have a question for some of the foam wall greats!! I have a 180 that after seeing speckeled groupers build thread I decided for sure this is the way I want to go. I already have lots of dry rock to use for the wall. My problem is that the tank is 24 inches deep. The wall will be what, maybe 4 inches thick at the very thickest point? That leaves 20 inches with nothing. What do you all do to fill in the gap. I don't really want to fill it up with rock as this pretty much defeats the purpose of doing the wall, but at the same time I don't want it looking empty either. Thanks in advance!!

Add a few well placed rock "pillars" out front to break it up a little. Some of the tops of the pillars could even arch back and tie into the wall, thereby creating some shaded low light areas under the arches forsome lower light corals. Just an idea.

my intention w/ mine was to create a structure in the middle that took the center 1/3rd of the tank, went about 2/3 the distance to the front glass & was 1/3-1/2 the overall height. in this structure i was gonna place random pieces of pvc & stack rocks around them....thereby creating all these lil caves.

i had also intended on making my rock wall come maybe 1/2 the way up the side walls of the tank. this leaves the sides of the above mentioned structure open & creates 2 "lagoons" & seperate areas for territorial fish

Wow! Amazing tanks guys! This really makes it possible to have an interesting aquascape even if you don't have very much width (doesn't take up as much space). I might now be able to hide my overflows and have a cool aquscape in my 135g (72"x18"x24", LxWxH), where the shallow width has always prevented me from doing anything interesting.

Just 3 questions, and sorry if this has already been answered.
-Does the foam ever become alive and harbor beneficial filtering bacteria if seeded with LR or starter cultures?
-Also, would my 11.2g (18"x18"x8") be OK if I used only the dry rock/foam for aquascaping and seeded it? Or would I need a sump or something to hold extra real LR to act as the filter?
-Final question: do you have to secure the eggcrate/foam/rock background to the tank with silicone, or can it be free standing if it has enough horizontal support?

Thank you very much for your time and creativity in coming up with this awesome idea!

Just 3 questions, and sorry if this has already been answered.

-Does the foam ever become alive and harbor beneficial filtering bacteria if seeded with LR or starter cultures?
yes it does. the biggest concern on the foam has been it breaks down from UV from the lights. the fix has been to coat the foam w/ epoxy resin & while you're doing it, cover the epoxy w/ sand. this protects the foam from uv & the sand gives it the appearance of one solid piece.

here's the epoxy i got for mine & has been used by others.
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/paa/paapt40.htm

-Also, would my 11.2g (18"x18"x8") be OK if I used only the dry rock/foam for aquascaping and seeded it? Or would I need a sump or something to hold extra real LR to act as the filter?
this has been done on a 5.5 gallon tank & looked AMAZING. just seed it w/ a piece of live rock, live sand &/or Purple Up additive

-Final question: do you have to secure the eggcrate/foam/rock background to the tank with silicone, or can it be free standing if it has enough horizontal support?
if you use an over-abundance of faom, it WILL float. cut the unnecessary foam off after it dries & secure it somehow.

some have attached strong magnets to the rack & then another on the outside of the tank, or you can silicone it in. me personally, i plan on attaching a short piece of eggcrate to the to my rear structure along the bottom to sit some rock on & that should keep it in place

Ok so I used the Devcon 5 min epoxy and it still has a smell to it..this worries me also feels tacky on some places :( it says it cures in 24 hrs
Is it ok to go over the epoxy and sand on it now with Bondo fiberglass resin and sand again? or should I take the great stuff off and do it over..thanks
better to be safe than sorry

So i opted not to do the foam wall again. Just to many headaches in the past with them. Click my red house if you want to see my latest updates
Erik

Could you list some headaches please? no matter how trivial it may seem.

I am planning on a rock wall for my current project and would like to know what i'm getting myself into.

Here is what mine looks like inside the tank. I am very happy how it turned out.

http://www.aquaria.info/modules/PNph...iles/tankf.jpg

triadguppies are you going to add sand to the foam...if its not protected. it has a very good chance of breaking down over time...

mine is going to be 2 years old in june and my foam is right at the top of the tank with it still being very firm like it was new..it sits under a 175 halide and the foam is uncoated....i used beckett pond foam.

the pond foam has a carbon additive that protects the foam from UV rays. the regular great stuff yellow foam doesn't have this & breaks down from the UV the tank's lighting puts off & therefore needs the epoxy & sand to protect it

kannin had this trouble w/ his i believe

i think i have read that....that sucks ! his tank turned out realy nice too...i do beleave he is putting up with it though

i know that most say its safe. but i did a 5.5 pico. and just had to cover it with sand. better safe than sorry. plus you dont see foam in the wild. but with corals and coralline algae all over it. it will look good.

Here is my rockwall transferred everything on 3/1/09
I went over the epoxy I had originally used with Bondo resin and let it cure for 3 weeks

I ran outta aquamend and glue so I will have to get back to some aquascaping when I am off again

FTS
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...1010012-10.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...1010005-28.jpg

Thanks for looking!

JPCollo1, I used fiberglass reson too..now Im questioning it. I can not get my skimmer to calm down, I have it adjusted to its lowest level, and its still oevrflowing the cup with water, not foam, water as the bubbles just pour up. Anyways, wondering if you have any problem with your skimmer?
Does anyone else have skimmer issues with these walls?
Im getting ready to rip my foam wall out, even though it looks nice.

When I used epoxy and it still had a smell and I put it in and the skimmer went crazy, i used Bondo resin with this wall and my skimmer is fine...I did let the wall cure for 3 weeks in the sun tho.

Humm...see this tank has been up for 2 months now, and I cant get the dang skimmer to chill out. It was for a few weeks, then it went bizerk again. Its driving me nuts.

bump

marcelft, is your sump level constant? Some skimmers are very touchy to water levels. I have a BK and it would overflow from time to time. Then i moved it to an area of my sump where the water level is always constant, not affected from evap and its been fine.

Hey Larry,
Thanks for the response. I raised the height of the skimmer up to the recommended level. I have tried different water levels too. Nothing worked. I even borrowed a buddies skimmer to see if it was my skimmer and his did the same thing. The water boils over into the collection cup, filling it with water and bubbling out the lid. The skimmer is a euro reef cs6+2. Anyways I don't want to hijack this thread, just wondering if I wasn't alone. Got2envy makes me think it's not the bondo resin. Im a newbe and I naively bought used live rock, that looks like it was taken out of the intercoastal, might be that.

I would like to see some tanks that have had foam walls in them the longest. I know customcolor has had his in for 2 years can anyone out there beat that?

OK so whats the best foam product to use to make diy rock? the yellow (i think called great stuff) or the black pond stuff? whats the benefits one over the other?

i like the black cuz if you do cover it with an epoxy/sand mixture but miss a spot it will not break down. mine is uncovered and still holding up very well. so good infact i did it in 2 other tanks too :)