ok so im making my first paludarium and ive carved the Styrofoam off and have been doing research online and here and for the life of me i cant find how to waterproof the Styrofoam or aquarium safe foam sealant plz help a rookie ^_^ ill post pics of it when its done. Its for a 20 gallon tank that will be half full of water with some killifish grow out that i will put in my 55 gallon once grown.
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- Thread starter Arrowanaoscars
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so i carved my foam and made a first layer of quickmortar mix and not sure if its suppose to turn out like basically powdery that your able to rub off i think i just need to make a thicker layer anyone else know if i did it wrong
use drylock or quickcret to coat the styrofoam with and to add texture and color u can use paint and sand as well to give it a different type of feel. and for the sylicone to attach it to the tank i think its like GE 1 sylicone or something like that but let someone else answer that part
I would use just Drylok. It is a cement based paint and has a rock-like texture to it and does not cause the water chemistry changes like concrete or grout mixes. Most people use one or the other. I don't believe I've heard of anyone using both. Tint it with the liquid concrete dyes.
I would rub off as much of the concrete mix you used and just try a section with Drylok and see if you like the results.
Drylok is simply a waterproofing paint used for sealing cement. If used by itself it will only have the structural integrity of the styrofoam; i.e. your background will be more likely deform/break easier.
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Don't mean to hijack the thread but is drylock necessary? Because I have seen videos where all they use is styrofoam and cement
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Drylok over carved foam backgrounds have become very popular in the past few years. Those who have done both concrete only and drylok only claim they like the drylok only backgrounds better.
I haven't actually put on in an aquarium but did build several samples a few years back with both extruded and expanded polystyrene. I only had some left over tile grout which cracked off when I flexed the foam over my knee. The drylok sealed backgrounds flexed fine and did not crack.
Based on that test and from the reports of others here and on other forums I'd go with drylok only if building a foam background.
I'd recommend doing a search for drylok background on this site and find some of the posts who did drylok only.
PS. You may have to try a few different spellings for drylok.
PS2. Don't assume tile grouts are safe for aquarium use. I only used it as a test since I had some leftover.
I haven't actually put on in an aquarium but did build several samples a few years back with both extruded and expanded polystyrene. I only had some left over tile grout which cracked off when I flexed the foam over my knee. The drylok sealed backgrounds flexed fine and did not crack.
Based on that test and from the reports of others here and on other forums I'd go with drylok only if building a foam background.
I'd recommend doing a search for drylok background on this site and find some of the posts who did drylok only.
PS. You may have to try a few different spellings for drylok.
PS2. Don't assume tile grouts are safe for aquarium use. I only used it as a test since I had some leftover.