Rebirth of the Foam Wall, A new build

[jaynkeel]

Really cool build! What are your livestock plans?

Not sure yet? Gonna need some suggestions for fish though. Something active, I wanna go quality on coral selection though and just pack it. Thanks for stopping in.

[Marc.The.Shark]

That's starting to look pretty Bad Ass!!

[Mr. Microscope]

Not sure yet? Gonna need some suggestions for fish though. Something active, I wanna go quality on coral selection though and just pack it. Thanks for stopping in.

What's the volume? Looks pretty small. For fish, I think a trimma might be the only way to go. For corals, I'd zoa it up!

[jaynkeel]

Almost forgot to add the view from above. Really wish my camera worked, using this cell cam just doesn't show the gradient in color that well..

 

 

Again the details I really wanna show are lost in this.

 

[jaynkeel]

What's the volume? Looks pretty small. For fish, I think a trimma might be the only way to go. For corals, I'd zoa it up!

 

Yep, exact reason I built that arch the way I did, zoa bridge. 5 gallon tank.

[Mr. Microscope]

Yep, exact reason I built that arch the way I did, zoa bridge. 5 gallon tank.

5 gallons?! cool. That's a bit bigger than I thought. Yellow Clown Goby then (as long as you're not planning any acros). That's a really cool fish.

[Polarcollision]

Interesting build you have started - it will look great with your zoa plans.

[xmas_one]

Really cool project! I did a foam wall FW vivarium out of a bc8, never thought to do a reef like this. What did you use to get that color?

[Horerczy]

I see a little man in there.

[jaynkeel]

Really cool project! I did a foam wall FW vivarium out of a bc8, never thought to do a reef like this. What did you use to get that color?

Had the paint people tint some epoxy paint a few diff shades for me.

[jaynkeel]

I did a fresh water empty tank test last night while the insert was drying, before I silicone the foam wall in place. This little Hydor pump moves some water!!! I played around with the lower intake area and decided I will just leave it open to draw water from the lower section of reef. It lines up pretty close to my cave area so it should pull water through the cave and work pretty decent as well as provide circulation behind the foam wall for the water that seeps through..

Did a temp check as well this morning, house is 70*F and tank with the lid on is holding 76*f without heater just the pump running. So looks like a very small heater will fit the bill.

[jaynkeel]

So forgot to ask, Does everyone think the color is right or ok? Tried to match dry rock as much as I could but turned out a little creamer than the usual whiteish look more of a bone color with darker accents.

[jaynkeel]

So the sealer I am using is a matte finish, but as it's drying it looks to have a slight sheen to it still, well more so than my vision of matte. Might have to put a few extra coats on and then lightly ruff the top layer up with some 3m scotchbright pads to knock the sheen down. Time to order the black vinyl for wrapping the sides where the cutout profile is and silicone this sucker in...Gonna have to order some black silicone as well, can't seem to find locally. Ughh.

[jaynkeel]

Another question for the masses. I plan on adding around 3/4 to 1 cup of sand to the bottom, basically just a dusting. Is this enough for shrimp/ goby. Because I provided a cave in the foam wall and as long as I put a few pieces of small rubble in could it work? Not a big deal either way just looking for ideas. The sand is gonna be mainly used to cover the front edge of the insert, alternatively I could wrap the black vinyl around the front as well about 3/4 of an inch high to hide the transition. What would you do?

[michaelrzachmann]

shot calla

[Horerczy]

Need more than a dusting. My tiger/tangaroa shrimp/goby combo burrows in an inch or so of sand and like to pile sand towards the side their cave resides.

[jaynkeel]

Need more than a dusting. My tiger/tangaroa shrimp/goby combo burrows in an inch or so of sand and like to pile sand towards the side their cave resides.

Thats what I figured.. Will have to think of something else then.

[jaynkeel]

Foam wall is now siliconed in, clamped down and drying. Because I have short sausage fingers I have some messy spots to clean up with a razor when everything dries, and being a small space didn't make getting the caulk gun in there any easier and had to use the old finger for some spots. But all in all great day and one step closer to getting done.

[jaynkeel]

Just cleaning up last of the silicone and putting a coat of paint on sides then it' s a wrap, pics to come soon.

[sassymare]

This is awesome! I found something on doing foam walls on pinterest and considered trying it for a freshwater tank.

[jaynkeel]

Would look killer in fresh as well. Could even add in roots and the like or a nice overhang if a big tank.

[jaynkeel]

A still dirty preview of the side painted and the insert secured into place.

 

[jaynkeel]

[dyceskynes]

Nice progress, looking forward to see it with water. I have a new Spec v and looking at options.

[Danyal]

I realize it might be a bit late now, but why not silicone some sand and crushed coral to the foam? I've made a couple foam backwalls for my vivariums and have always used silicone and peat moss to hide the foam. I've got a friend who made a foam background for his reef and sealed it with a mix of epoxy and sand and his looked just like a rock