Rock walls in tank

[Vis]

Well I'm planning a rock wall for my 6 foot tank. I am trying to decide between the foam or the mortar from Marco rocks. Has anyone had experience with both? I think the cost is about the same. I'll need 2 mortar kits and who knows how many cans of foam. Only place I can find the correct foam is Amazon . I like the idea of sticking the sand directly onto the wet mortar as opposed to needing to paint the foam with epoxy but I'm open to ideas and any words of wisdom.

Thanks!

[Mitchell]

I really like the mortar kit from Marco rocks, I only did a few rocks though, so 6 feet of it may be more difficult. I never used the foam, but my vote is definitely with the Marco rocks mortar.

 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[AquaticEngineer]

You can buy the correct foam at any Bi-mart in the Portland area for $4.39 a can.

 

Its called "Touch N' Foam Pond/Landcape Foam"

 

If wanna see what you can do with it, check out some of my threads in the DIY, or go by Saltwater FantaSeas and checkout the massive rock I made for them out of foam.

 

If you want to use the sand on top of the foam you can always just adhere the sand while the foam is still expanding and wet before it develops its top "crust". The great thing about the pond foam is that it is designed not as spray insulation, but as a foam adhesive. So it doesn't expand as much as regular great stuff, and its made to stick to stuff, as well as be UV resistant.

 

I did the back parts of my tank that measures 60" x 20" x 36" with about 30 cans. I was being wasteful and experimenting alot. I could do it now with about 20 cans.

 

I've actually been wanting to do a tropical foam background with the black foam, rock salt texture, and then paint it with different shades of purple epoxy that match the color of coraline algaes.

 

I'm doing small tank right now in my garage for use as a coldwater tank, let me know if you wanna come out and see what to do with the foam before you decide which way to go.

[drunkreefer]

Foam party!

[wanareef]

For my 80gal cube, 36"x24"x24" I used 4 cans, total. I used the egg crate as the base, zip tied several pc's of LR on to it and then just foamed. You have to be careful and just use a little bit as it will expand and when you are finished, you will have to "hollow" out the back of it or it'll float and not sit down.

 

foam rock wall with several big rocks "foamed" together to form a bigger rock. Still 'glued" on to this day combined 3 good sized rocks and made one large one.

 

some LR rubble, mostly foam and sand

 

view from the other side, it's hard to see the rocks in front of the wall but they are there

 

the egg crate

[Mr S]

I used foam in one of my school tanks. Even after hollowing it out I had to wedge it in to keep it from floating. I applied it to egg crate. I made little balcony's and cubbie holes for frags. It makes a nice look to the tanks and alot cheaper then LR.

[Vis]

Thanks for all the input! AquaticEngineer,I may just have to pop over to check it out. Charles your tank looks amazing!!! I think I'm going to try it out on the new Solana and see how I like the foam. I may just order some mortar too to compare.

Thanks again for the advice!

You guys are great.

[AquaticEngineer]

The less you let the foam expand the better, that will eliminate a lot of your boyancy issues by removing the air. Also, since the spray foam is designed as an adhesive, if you just spray directly onto the tank it will stay. This only works if your adding a foam wall into a tank thats not running.

 

When I do mine I use coarse grade rock salt to texture it and also to smash down the foam and keep from expanding in places I dont want it to. Then just spray all the rock salt when your down with freshwater and it melt away. That way you only get large areas where you let it expand and you just keep piling on rock salt and smashing it down to stop it from expanding. In your case, if you wanted to have the foam covered with sand, I would swap out using the rocksalt in place of a bag of crushed coral in the size you want to cover it in. That way you can use it to both stop expansion, and to cover your foam areas at the same time.

[Vis]

The less you let the foam expand the better, that will eliminate a lot of your boyancy issues by removing the air. Also, since the spray foam is designed as an adhesive, if you just spray directly onto the tank it will stay. This only works if your adding a foam wall into a tank thats not running.

 

When I do mine I use coarse grade rock salt to texture it and also to smash down the foam and keep from expanding in places I dont want it to. Then just spray all the rock salt when your down with freshwater and it melt away. That way you only get large areas where you let it expand and you just keep piling on rock salt and smashing it down to stop it from expanding. In your case, if you wanted to have the foam covered with sand, I would swap out using the rocksalt in place of a bag of crushed coral in the size you want to cover it in. That way you can use it to both stop expansion, and to cover your foam areas at the same time.

 

Great tips! You make it sound so easy;) I'll keep you all updated on my progress.

[AquaticEngineer]

The hardest part is getting started, don't try and plan to much or you'll be disappointed if it doesn't come out right. My favorite part of the whole process is getting all the rock salt out and sprayed off to see what textures and structures were made underneath.

[Vis]

The hardest part is getting started' date=' don't try and plan to much or you'll be disappointed if it doesn't come out right. My favorite part of the whole process is getting all the rock salt out and sprayed off to see what textures and structures were made underneath.[/quote']

 

 

Thanks! I like the "don't plan too much " advice. I tend to over think things. I'm going to take the plunge next week