DHaut's Foam Rock Wall Guide

[Deleted User 6]

There are other guides on the site, but I figured I'd do one anyways. Here's my quick and easy write-up. I can post pics later.

 

Here's what you'll need:

 

1. Eggcrate for the frame (light diffuser at lowes/HD - or if you want black eggcrate because some people say the white stuff causes algae growth you'll need to go to a specialty store or order online)

 

2. Great Stuff Foam - I used the Pond variety and bought it online. It comes in a green can and the foam is black. You can also use the regular stuff that comes in a red and yellow can and is at Lowes/HD and the foam is yellow/white.

 

3. Epoxy - I used this 30 min. stuff from a local hardware store. Make sure it's not the stuff for metal. http://www.amazon.com/Devcon-S-31-2-...7230168&sr=8-4

 

4. Dry sand and rocks - this is mainly for looks. You can build in shelves with the rocks like my tank to make it look more natural and give yourself a place to keep coral.

 

5. Superglue or silicone to glue the eggcrate together and to secure the rock wall to the back of the tank.

 

Basic Steps

1. Measure the dimensions of the wall and cut the eggcrate frame. You can see how this was done in my thread. Make sure not to cover over overflows, grates, drains, or returns. You can glue the frame pieces together with super glue or silicone.

 

2. Squirt the foam onto the frame - it puffs up a lot so you might want to practice a bit on something else beforehand. If you want rocks in the wall like mine, you'll want to put them on the frame and foam around them (don't foam over the front). Once the foam cures it will hold them in place. Let the foam cure for 24 hours. Once cured, an optional step is to sand and carve the foam into more realistic rocklike shapes. Otherwise it'll look bulbous.

 

3. Once the foam is cured and sanded, you're going to want to epoxy over every sq. inch. The epoxy is UV resistant and keeps water away from the foam. It's best to do this in small stages. I use a cheapo paintbrush (found several for $.25 each at the hardware store) and mix up the epoxy and paint it on a section of the wall. When I've painted it on, I sprinkle sand all over the wet epoxy. The epoxy hardens in 30 min. After that, I do the next section of the wall and sprinkle more sand. Repeat until the whole wall is covered in epoxy and sand. Let the wall cure for 24-48 hours.

 

4. Put the wall in the (empty - no water) tank and silicone it to the back/bottom. These things will float if not secured. Let the silicone cure for 24 hours. After that, you should be good to go! Add water and rock and start the cycle!

 

There you have it. hi5!

 

 

[bitts]

Dhuat

How does the foam react to water whille cureing. Was thinkin you could use icecubes to help shape the foam. This might allow you to do small caves and such.

 

 

edit there tat looks better.

stupid blackberry.

[Deleted User 6]

Not sure on how it reacts to water. I was able to make some caves and holes by just carving them out with my dremel after the foam cured. I guess you could give ice cubes a shot and see what happens.

[Justind823]

Nice write up!

 

Foam walls ftw

[Deleted User 6]

Nice write up!

 

Foam walls ftw

 

Thanks man.

[ihatesears18]

Excellent guide!

[Noonan]

Very nice! Doing this over the weekend.

[Tanngu87]

Bookmarked and ill do it when i have a chance. im broke

[tony.pham]

Awesome write up DHaut.

 

Thanks

[timdanger]

sweet. you make it sound so do-able!

[Deleted User 6]

It is so do-able

[Billdemart]

That looks incredible.

[Deleted User 6]

Added an earlier picture when i still had the MH over it.

[acropora1981]

There are a bunch of YouTube Vidoes of similar projects, but they use cement over top of foam? Plus they use home depot style foam insulation. Could that be used for saltwater? I mean as long as you let the cement cure...

[Deleted User 6]

There is debate over cement in tanks - whether it leaches chemicals. I don't know the particulars so someone else would have to answer the question. In most nanos, cement seems like overkill to me. What do you mean by "home depot style foam insulation?"

[acropora1981]

liek dis

 

[Deleted User 6]

i guess it would work fine. i've never tried it though.

[Noonan]

So I have pretty much everything that I need to do this. I just feel like Im stuck. I can't decide what to do now.

 

Its a 20 gallon tank. My original plan was to keep one of the sides of the tank up against the wall, and make the front/back/opposite side of the tank be open for viewing. Meaning- the tank was kind of going to be like an island or small room divider. The rockwall was going to be on the side of the tank that was against the wall of the room. My plan at the time was to make the bottom part of the rockwall stick out the furthest, and the top part be the smallest- with plenty of shelves in between.

 

I feel like if I do it that way it's not going to look as good as I am imagining. The whole point of doing this is to have alot of space on the sand and an openness inside the tank. I don't think my plan would accomplish either.

 

I am tempted to just put the rock wall on the back of the tank like usual and put the tank up against the wall :/

 

Suggestions?

[Deleted User 6]

Sounds to me like it'd work fine. You just may have to supplement with other rocks in the open space.