diy foam background questions

sk8zeroatskewl

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 25, 2009
126
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0
Nebraska
ok i am thinking about venturing into building a new diy background for my 125 gallon aquarium i just bought but first i have some questions what is the best foam to use for the price first of all? what is the best thing to use to carve it? and also what should i use to coat it i dont really want to play with that whole coat in quickcrete then rinse like a hundred times? is there a safe paint i can pick up locally that wont leach any input would be great please.
 

rotccapt

Candiru
MFK Member
Jun 7, 2009
311
11
48
oklahoma
for the foam check out your local home improvement store "lowes, home depot" and look for at least 1 inch thick foam

to cut it you can use just about anything. common items include: knives, hot wire/knife, files, rasp, blow tourch

for coating most people use drylock paint. you can get it in quorts and gallons in the paint department. you can use quickcrete cement colorants to tine the paint the color you want
 

pacu mom

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Jun 8, 2006
3,310
2,105
179
northern CA
ok i am thinking about venturing into building a new diy background for my 125 gallon aquarium i just bought but first i have some questions ... what should i use to coat it i dont really want to play with that whole coat in quickcrete then rinse like a hundred times? is there a safe paint i can pick up locally that wont leach any input would be great please.
Polygem makes a fish-safe epoxy putty that can be used in background and decoration applications. The epoxy can be painted with acrylic paints and then sealed with a fish-safe clear epoxy paint. Pigments and colorants can be added to the epoxy putty when it is being mixed.

http://polygem.com/zoo/zoopoxy.php

We are in the process of transforming our PVC pipes using zoopoxy 307


PVC



Pond Foam (we used Pond Foam for the basic shaping, as it was less expensive than the Zoopoxy)



Zoopoxied and ready for painting




If I were making a 3D background, this is the stuff I would use to cover my sculpted foam. Fake rocks would be really easy to make using Zoopoxy.
 

sk8zeroatskewl

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 25, 2009
126
0
0
Nebraska
i went to the hardware store and got a sheet of 1" thick foamular. now do i need to seal the foam or is that safe to be in the fish tank without sealing. i would like to know i guess a specific paint brand that i can use or something a little more in detail. the local fish store owner said drylock paint has anti mildew stuff in it that might leach into the tank.
 

rotccapt

Candiru
MFK Member
Jun 7, 2009
311
11
48
oklahoma
the foam is fish safe and if you do a search for diy 3d backgrounds your will find tons that use drylock with no problems
 

ecl

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 5, 2012
25
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0
nevada
What I used was some foam out some packages we had got. The next time I need some Im going to go to my nearest rent a center or aarons store and pull out the foam i want out of there trash bins( stays clean since they really throw boxes and foam in there after shipments). What I used to coat the foam is was Drylock, and added a little cement coloring it to get the colors I wanted. I like the drylock cause it doesnt need the curing time that the cement needs. If you know the shape you want and have a full day to work on it you could get it done and in the tank in a day cause the drylock dries pretty quick.
 
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