Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok I tried posting some questions on a different forum...I know i'm a trader haha...but noboday seemed to want to give me any answers so now I'm back in the better forum. Questions...

1- I'm making a wall out of Great Stuff and this wall will be attached to a landing in which I want to have suspended above the ground floor level...make sense?? But I don't want to permenantly attach the wall or landing to the glass walls of the tank what are other ways of doing this...I'm thinking velcro? Whatever it is it needs to be something strong enough to support the wall and the landing and be able to support the weight of a WTF as it sits, walks, climbs, and takes a bath in its water dish/waterfountain which will be in this suspended landing area. I want it to be suspended in midair so that the ground floor can be left for cricket hunting and so that the crickets will not die from drowning.

2- I got this stuff to put over the Great Stuff its called Fleck Stone thats in a spray can. Anyone ever heard of it and is it safe to use? I got the Fleck sealer that you are suppose to use with it. If it isn't safe to use could I use the Fleck Stone but not the sealer and instead put a definitely safe aquarium sealer on it. I'm also thinking about putting bed a beast on some parts of the wall. If the Fleck Stone is not safe I could just use acrylics and acrylic sealer I guess just thought the Stone would be cool looking and easy. I wanted to get black silicone but couldn't find any.

3-Can aquarium background go on the inside of a vivarium tank instead of the outside?

Okay I think thats all my questions for now....til tomorrow when I get to working on this thing haha.

Hey! try anywhere and everywhere (including other forums) to get your information..There are lots of good resources out there.

As for your questions..
1 - Great stuff will expand considerably as it dries.. as a result, the only way to ensure a snug fit is to either have a mold of the back of your tank, or spray it inside the tank and allow it to dry in place. This will also help to seal between the foam/glass keeping animals and insects from getting between the two and becoming trapped. Great stuff can be removed completely with a little elbow grease.. and you will get a much better fit by installing it inside the tank. Also, if you want a cliff or landing that will be supported by the great stuff, the added torque could cause issues if it is just an insert. I would form you landing out something (foam, plastic.. I have even used cardboard in the past.. ) then cover the back wall and the ledge with great stuff.. you will get a much safer and better looking product.

Without an msds sheet, I can't say for sure.. but I would lean towards the no end.. If you want a gravel/rock texture, you can do this with silicone and aquarium gravel.. or if your looking for the large rock texture, you can use a concrete primer or motar and dye it to suit you. Honsestly though.. In my opinion, silicone and coco coir is the easiest and most natural (along with economical way to coat it). The sealer that is with it will be much much different in composure and purpose than anything in the aquarium industry..

3. Not to be a smart ass.. but sure it can.. but I would not advise it. The humidity and water involved inside the tank would ruin the paper in a short time.. then you have a mess..
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Thanks, Ok so let me see if I got everything right.....I should apply the foam to the inside of the tank and make a landing out of something, i'm going to use eggcrate...but do in order to have it suspended in mid-air do I just stick the eggcrate landing onto the uncured tacky foam wall and then put foam over top the eggcrate?? How strong would this be, strong enough to hold the water dish/water fountain thing? How hard is Great Stuff to get off of the tank sides because I don't want to permenantly keep this tank as the frog's tank, I'd like to give it a bigger tank as it grows even though one WTF can live in a 20gal. tank. Ok I won't use the stone stuff, I'll use acrylic paint for the water dish/water fountain and acrylic sealer (just regular acrylic paint sealer will do right?) and for the other parts of the walls I'm going to go the coco route...question though how do you apply the silicone ..it comes in just a tube and seems like it would take an awful long time to apply is there such a thing as a brush on silicone? Also after I apply the coco fiber do I need to put a sealer on top of it? The background seems like it would be waterproof so I figured it would be ok inside the tank but i'll put it on the outside I guess. Just thought it would make for a cleaner look if it was on the inside.

If you wanting to canti-lever it out from the background, I am not sure if eggcrate will be strong enough to support the weight, and there is no way that great stuff alone will hold it up. Consider putting some sort of brace under it if you determined to go this route. (pvc columns at the corners or something.. ) I have however made short ledges (4"-5" that will support plants and frogs canti-levered with no problem. I would position the ledge where you want it, and silicone it to the glass.. then great stuff with the ledge in place. Once it cures, it will be there.. and fairly strong.. You can also cut the eggcrate so that it touches the front and back, along with one side of glass.. and silicone it all the way around, then greatstuff.. it might hold that way.. I have never seen what you are wanting done though.. so I can't say for sure. If the only reason you want this shelf is to prevent crickets from drowning.. it wont work, they can climb the background and plants.. and will still get to the water..

Great stuff can be ripped out in hunks if you want to tear a tank apart... what is left can be cleaned up with a sharp razor blade and some finger nail polish remover.. Silicone will get on the glass too.. it comes off easily with a sharp razor blade as well..

As for coating the background, get a good stiff paint brush and some latex gloves. Put the gloves on, and lay the tank on its back, then squirt some silicone on the background, then use your fingers to spread the silicone over the background.. try to cover all the foam. Then, put the coco-coir over the silicone, and press it firmly into the background. Allow it to dry for an hour or so.. turn the tank up right and use the paint brush to remove the loose coco-coir. Put the gloves back on and get what you missed.. sometimes it takes 2-3 times to get it all.. It is pretty much waterproof with the silicone on it, but even if it is not, it wont hurt anything..

MAKE SURE TO USE SILICONE AND GREAT STUFF that DOES NOT have mildew inhibators in it..

I have personally never used acrylics either.. but I have seen it done.. I typically use dyes when possible.. but acrylics will work, make sure it bonds completely with the painted surface and cures 100% though

Good luck with it..
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What do you mean by canti-levered??

cantilever is an engineering term.. it basically means "a projecting beam or member supported at only one end" So it is basically an object that extends out into mid area, beyond the supports..

Take your broom and lay it on your kitchen table, with about a foot or so hanging off the edge. The part of the broom hanging off the table is cantilevered..

Clear as mud?
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Ah ok figured thats what it meant but was making sure. Can't wait to get started on this thing, not sure how I'm going to do everything yet but I'll work something out. I would go the easy route and put the stuff straight onto the walls as long as it definitley can come off with not much work. I didn't think silicone would come off so easy though. Would I have to silicone the Great Stuff onto the tank wall or put the Great stuff directly onto the tank wall? And as far as the crickets go yeah I didn't think about they could climb plants and all but I'd still like the water and everything else to be on higher ground so that it clears up bottom floor space. We'll see how it goes. I drew up a picture I'll try to post on here.

Well.. I am not sure what you call "not much work", but greatstuff and silicone will come off without a lot of trouble.

If it was me, I would not go the route with the ledge and such.. but, if you insist.. good luck with it.. and let us know how it works out..
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