# Alternative to Expanding foam Background construction?



## arian1123 (Mar 5, 2013)

I currently have a small 12x12x18 viv for which im trying to build a background. Since my frog lives in the tank right now, id prefer to build a background without using expanding foam, since id pretty much have to redo the entire tank from scratch, which i would want to avoid right (although id definitely make a new tank with expanding foam!). Anyway, does anyone have any experience making a background out something besides expander foam, like combo of woods rocks and soil? It does not need to cover every last square inch of the background but im looking to make something that does cover a substantial amount of the back, and something that would still allow me to put plants in the background. Anyone have any experience with somrthing like this?


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## Deanos (Oct 16, 2012)

Some of my favorite background threads

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/pa...-mosaic-living-drip-wall-pond-method-how.html

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/pa...day-weekend-build-clay-background-method.html


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## my_shed (Feb 8, 2013)

Or lay clingfilm (I think you guys call it food wrap....but i'm not sure), on a flat surface, and spray out a layer of expanding foam, leave it to cure for a few days, then cut it to the viv size. Shape it outside the viv, cover in substrate etc then you have a frog safe expanding foam background that just needs siliconing in.

Dave


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## monkeytreey (Apr 4, 2013)

It sounds like a polystyrene (styrofoam) background might work. I have never made one for a tropical viv but it should still work. What you do is carve and glue pieces of polystyrene onto a polystyrene sheet( cut to fit your viv) then I imagine you could silicone or titebondiii you coir on there and let cure out of the tank. You could also build a great stuff background on the sheet. Then you could attach it to the Back with some heavy duty Velcro incase you wanted to make another later on.
monkeytreey


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

Be careful with polystyrene... It is a known endocrine disruptor, so if you use it you have to seal the whole thing with something before putting it in the viv.


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## JoshsDragonz (Jun 30, 2012)

Polystyrene foam is known to leach a endocrine disruptor. This can be exasperated by the fact the vivs are so humid and stay fairly wet. There are safer alternatives out there such as polyethylene closed cell foam.


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## arian1123 (Mar 5, 2013)

thats an awesome idea. didnt think of that!


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## JoshsDragonz (Jun 30, 2012)

Tom you beat me to it lol.


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## Blue_Pumilio (Feb 22, 2009)

I just use tree fern boards, sometimes I also use some odd tree fern shapes to add dimension, though, in a small tank, a flat back can be nice.


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## my_shed (Feb 8, 2013)

JoshsDragonz said:


> Polystyrene foam is known to leach a endocrine disruptor. This can be exasperated by the fact the vivs are so humid and stay fairly wet. There are safer alternatives out there such as polyethylene closed cell foam.





carola1155 said:


> Be careful with polystyrene... It is a known endocrine disruptor, so if you use it you have to seal the whole thing with something before putting it in the viv.


These are why I recommend (and use myself) the method of using clingfilm and expanding foam. Good luck with whichever method you use, I have in the past created backgrounds in a similar way to the cork bark mosaic method, but outside the viv on sheet plastic and placed inside afterward, to avoid moving the critters out while the silicon cures.

Dave


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## monkeytreey (Apr 4, 2013)

Thanks for posting about Styrofoam, I didn't know that. For desert backgrounds Styrofoam seems to be the standard. The cling wrap sounds interesting I will have to try that next time I do a background like this.


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## randommind (Sep 14, 2010)

arian1123 said:


> ... id prefer to build a background without using expanding foam... It does not need to cover every last square inch of the background ... and something that would still allow me to put plants in the background. Anyone have any experience with something like this?



From empty glass to this in 90 minutes...









redart/bentonite clay with 1/2 cork tubes and fir bark smashed into it, and oh yeah...ZERO endocrines being disrupted!


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## arian1123 (Mar 5, 2013)

Thanks for all the cool tips, but Im going to use dave's method with the food wrap. Hopefully I can started on it next weekend!


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