# No more great stuff and silicone!



## vjf000 (Jun 14, 2008)

Try using Gorilla glue and brown or black food coloring. Mix the glue and food coloring in a plastic cup, spread on the glass side of tank you want to cover, spray on water if you want more depth, cover and pat down the coco husks or coco fiber (ground), the glue will foam up the more water you spray, watch and pat down the rising areas for 5-10 minutes, after 15-20 it will harden enough to move to the next side. I did a 10 gallon tank, both sides and back and finished it all within one hour. No waiting for fumes to clear etc. It can be used within a couple of days. Try covering a rope in the cup of colored glue, coat with coco fiber and position in desired shape and let dry, makes a nice vine. If the glue foams through or you don't want to wait and pat it down, you can cover areas that come up bare with your desired color of non toxic water based acrylic paint from Michaels. Make sure you use gloves or the glue will stick to your hands for over a week. About 1/3 of large Gorilla glue bottle can cover inside of ten gallon tank on three sides. Use glass, hinge and thin acrylic for front. The latter will glue directly to plastic tank rim with acrylic glue. Drill hole to make latch to hold glass door up and your done.


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## poimandres (Mar 28, 2009)

Interesting. I'll definitely give this a try at some point though I don't really mind GS and Silicone. I like to set up my vivs well before I ever plan on adding frogs, but good to know for those last minute set-ups.

I've only used Gorilla Glue in dabs to mount Tillendsias and patch up areas of the GS poking through, how much does/can it expand?

do you have any pics that you can post?

thanks


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## vjf000 (Jun 14, 2008)

I do silicone the lower panel of glass to the tank and seal inside of frame with black silicone first. i will add pics


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## vjf000 (Jun 14, 2008)

some pics to look at


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## frogmanroth (May 23, 2006)

ummm looks like those luecs could use some place to hide,


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## vjf000 (Jun 14, 2008)

good point, I thought they were getting closer to heat source up there.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

You're a genius! 

I think I'll give this a try on my next tank, glue-rope-viny things and all.

eta: oh wait, one possible drawback. Can you stick things into the glue background?


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## davecalk (Dec 17, 2008)

frogface said:


> You're a genius!
> 
> I think I'll give this a try on my next tank, glue-rope-viny things and all.
> 
> eta: oh wait, one possible drawback. Can you stick things into the glue background?



Yes you can. As it cures, it becomes expanding foam. You can also use plastic food wrap or plastic grocery bags to compress, shape, and sculpt the foam background as it expands. That way you can sculpt and shape the foam as it expands which is easier and faster than waiting until it partially sets up like you are doing now. The foam will not adhere to the polypropylene plastic. You can give your background a rock like texture. 

I describe the process in a fair amount of detail Making Colored Foam / Rock Walls / Etc.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Thank you, that is great info!


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## Arrynia (Dec 27, 2009)

Awesome! I've been thinking of ways to do a background on my next viv and really didn't want to do the great stuff/silicone method. I'll give this a try!


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

Can you post a video of this next time you do it?


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## Nicholas (Mar 16, 2010)

frogface said:


> You're a genius!
> 
> I think I'll give this a try on my next tank, glue-rope-viny things and all.
> 
> eta: oh wait, one possible drawback. Can you stick things into the glue background?


Yes you can I use Gorilla Glue to stick things (EVEN EXTREMELY LARGE THINGS) to the back ground. Gorilla Glue is much much stronger than Great Stuff, and takes a fraction of the time to cure. These to unique qualities allow you to place large objects with on end hold it for a few minutes or support it with something else and it will hold there for a VERY VERY long time.

IMHO it is better than Great Stuff & Silicone method and above all CHEAPER!

Gorilla Glue is pretty expensive as is, but it is cheaper than buying a couple cans of Great Stuff and Silicone. 

It will expand as much as Great Stuff providing you use enough water and glue so a little experimenting prior to using would be advised. and a little of the stuff goes a long way. (always remember that little bit if you decide to use Gorilla Glue... A Little Goes A Long Way)


their is only 1 draw back from using Gorilla Glue that is have found. is that it is not a foam, it is a Hard curing glue, this means you cannot sculpt it like you can Great Stuff. So again IMHO: its best used for back grounds (superior than Great Stuff / Silicone) but it is Inferior for sculpting things and making landscapes. but if your using Great Stuff for sculpting you can use Gorilla Glue, in concert with Great Stuff to sculpt.

Its all user preference but Gorilla Glue is definitely worth trying and experimenting with. and if you are like me and have a extra aquarium laying around give it a shot! you may like it more.


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## jdogfunk99 (Oct 16, 2007)

Very innovative idea, but one warning; unlike great stuff, Gorilla glue is very very strong and if a mistake is made you can't just scrape it down.


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## Nicholas (Mar 16, 2010)

This is very true... like i said above practice on a spare aquarium or even some left over cardboard to get the hang of it...


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## davecalk (Dec 17, 2008)

Here is a very detailed journal that I posted many years ago of how to make colored foam that is water proof, is structurally harder / stronger than great stuff and can be molded into rock forms as well as made into vines, etc. It is similar to mixing pigment into gorilla glue but is is faster reacting, is easier to work with, texture, etc than is gorilla glue, and it scrapes off of the glass easily if needed.

I have had this foam rocks and vines in tanks for over 10 years with no deterioration or problem. No painting needed as the color is integrated into the foam and you can make any color that you want.

Detailed journal for making colored foam.


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## Woodswalker (Dec 26, 2014)

Good grief! That is one monstrous thread. My iPad is not being terribly cooperative with it, but in just skimming through it, I have to tell you that I am quite taken with your use of plastic wrap to create rock shapes, effectively making your own one-off mold as you go. I've used plastic wrap in the past when making spray foam rocks, but only as ground protection, since it peels away from cured foam so easily. 

I have done a great deal of reading around the forum, yet I entirely missed this very innovative thread. Thank you for bringing it out of the archives.


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## Ravage (Feb 5, 2016)

I've used Gorilla glue in a similar way to make a cork mosaic. You can buy cork chips really cheap, so I got a bag. Spread the Gorilla glue on the clean glass surface, spray with water and then place a layer of chips over it. i then sprinkle moist coco coir on top, spray again and then push. Every ten minutes you push the foam back down, just like Dave says. After it stops foaming you can stop pushing. I let it cure overnight, but that might not be necessary. It looks really great and is really easy.
Most of it I have done is covered in plants, but here's a section that you can still see since the viv isn't too grown in yet. This mosaic was done with pieces of cork bark around so it really looks like a chunk of cork bark, but it's not- it's scraps used to make a cool effect


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