# foam rock hardcoats and peatmoss backgrounds?



## dertien616 (Jul 28, 2011)

i am looking for some advice to save me time building vivarium backgrounds. i own my own business making professionaly built enclosures. currently for my rock and peatmoss backgrounds i use polygem 307. I buy it in liquid form instead of putty so i can thicken it to my liking but it still takes forever to cover on my backgrounds. it is like spreading peanut butter. i wish i could use concrete for my rock backgrounds, it is so easy to paint on, but i cant because of weight and can crack over time. the products i have to use need to be non toxic,waterproof and be ok to use underwater for my aquarium areas like epoxy but i am looking for somthing more like paint that wont drip everywhere and i could do multiple coats. and as for my peat moss backgounds does anyone know of a quicker way to stick peatmoss to the foam other than epoxy or silicone? i was thinking maybe mixing a little grout with a fiberglassing epoxy resin might work for my rockbackgounds? and as for the peatmoss backgrounds i was thinking of trying a liquid rubber like the product rubberize it sells and then push peatmoss into the rubber. any advice would be greatly appreciated. i spend a whole day coating my foam backgounds right now and want to cut the time down.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

I was going to suggest Dryloc...but you are probably beyond that simple answer...will be interested in the replies I hope you get... Have you gone back to the forum on construction to pick up on the posters that have made your type of construction...perhaps PMing them might work...but do keep us in the loop. Good luck


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## dertien616 (Jul 28, 2011)

I have read about drylock a little but never used it. Does it get rock hard when cured with multiple coats? And how heavy is it. Also how durable is it?


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## dtown (Jan 5, 2011)

I cover my foam rocks with non sanded grout and the seal it with a non toxic product called " Shields All". Then you can use whatever medium you want to cover it with. 100% silicone then tack on background material


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## Adogowo (Feb 8, 2013)

Its my understanding that adding a filler to the epoxy will allow it to go vertical. But that still takes time. I am working on a light weight concrete that is much like yton blocks without the pressure cooking so we can do it at home. I might get to it this weekend for some trial runs. I will let you know what I find.


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## VivariumWorks (Feb 27, 2008)

Remember the issues with cement. It is not pH neutral and will need to be cured for a full 28 days. After the first 28 days of being wet, the chemical hydration reaction of the cement is mostly finished. Any prior attempts at 'curing' the cement to a lower pH will not work as the chemical reaction is still happening. So if say you get a neutral pH at day 8, it will not be at day 21 because the time between 8 and 21 it was still making the base that mixes with the water and creates the dangerously high conditions. 

This goes especially for grout. 

Mixing materials into an epoxy is the better way to go. The epoxy matrix will bind in the filler and if a proper epoxy is used, it will not leach into the vivarium/aquarium. 

Cement/grout is great. It's cheap. But it's dangerous if not cured properly over time.

The autoclaved blocks are cool. The reason they do the autoclaving is to get to a higher pressure and temperature so that the CO2 they dump into the autoclave chamber can react with the formed calcium hydroxide to increase the speed of the calcium carbonate formation. Basically quick cures the cement. Outside of using an autoclave that can get C02 to go supercritical, it's unlikely to get an equivalent cure speed.


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## ibarran (Jan 5, 2015)

I used drylok for the first time this week to make a fake rock background. So far I really like it. I used it over great stuff pond and stone foam and then painted it with water resistant acrylic paint. It seems like it will hold up very well and since it is latex based it does not appear to crack or break easily. I was also curious about the duribility so i made a fake rock, set it on the ground and then stomped on it a few times and it held its shape very well and did not break. I doubt it will get "rock" hard but that might not necessarily be a bad thing. 
I used grout for the first time on my previous build and although it looked nice, it took a very long time to cure and seemed brittle. I may have mixed it wrong but after trying drylok I don't think I will go back to grout.

Here's a picture of the rocks. They look pretty fake but I spent no more than a few hours carving, sealing and painting. I've seen what others have done and I'm sure you could achieve much more natural results if you put more time into It.


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## VivariumWorks (Feb 27, 2008)

Rub some dirt on those, put some moss between the cracks, and plant vines all over it and it won't "look fake" at all. Good job!


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## ibarran (Jan 5, 2015)

Thank you. That sounds like an excellent idea.


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## Mohlerbear (Feb 20, 2014)

ibarran said:


> I used drylok for the first time this week to make a fake rock background. So far I really like it. I used it over great stuff pond and stone foam and then painted it with water resistant acrylic paint. It seems like it will hold up very well and since it is latex based it does not appear to crack or break easily. I was also curious about the duribility so i made a fake rock, set it on the ground and then stomped on it a few times and it held its shape very well and did not break. I doubt it will get "rock" hard but that might not necessarily be a bad thing.
> I used grout for the first time on my previous build and although it looked nice, it took a very long time to cure and seemed brittle. I may have mixed it wrong but after trying drylok I don't think I will go back to grout.
> 
> Here's a picture of the rocks. They look pretty fake but I spent no more than a few hours carving, sealing and painting. I've seen what others have done and I'm sure you could achieve much more natural results if you put more time into It.



Dude that looks great. Nice work!


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

had to chuckle about the aerated concrete...by coincidence-only- spent a LOT of time online about that very subject...I believe it is worth exploring...and having read about the cure time, had pondered that as well. I wonder how much more time would be needed...sounds as though it would be considerably lighter...and perhaps would just be a coating...I stumbled on it after getting sidetracked (the AADD had kicked in...) reading about making fake rocks...and making old concrete pieces coated and carved like rocks....fascinating...There are several companies that sell the aerating formula, and the coloring agents...I have them bookmarked....


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## dertien616 (Jul 28, 2011)

thanks for all the comments, i just talked to the guys at polygem today and asked them for an easier epoxy to apply to backgounds by brush. they are sending me a product called aqua-gem. its a water based epoxy that they say will not sag or drip if i add a filler to it like sand or epoxy powder filler. i would like to try the drylock but its hard for me to stay away from epoxy since i am building these for customers and they need to last forever. i build large enclosures for iguanas also so the backgounds and ledges need to be extremely durable. hopefully the aqua-gem speeds things up for me. ill let you all know how it works. in the meantime i would be open to more ideas and options.


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## dertien616 (Jul 28, 2011)

Here are a few photos of a larger one I just shipped out. It's for a boa


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## Wusserton (Feb 21, 2014)

Very nice post! I would think there would be some great products for people who build fish tanks that would be light weight, an ex co-worker asked me if concrete would work for his fish tank and I advised him against it based on the weight factor. Has anyome used clay? I know a guy that does a lot of pottery and I havent discussed anything with him but two heads are better than one and all, it only gains its strength after firing it though and shrinkage would probably be a factor


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## dtown (Jan 5, 2011)

Going back to the curing of grout... That is why I mentioned the "Shileds All" sealant. It is 100% non toxic, and keeps the water off the grout.


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## VivariumWorks (Feb 27, 2008)

The "shields all" is a hydrophobic barrier but if the grout isn't cured properly from the beginning the calcium hydroxide WILL find a way to leach into the vivarium. It always will. You're fighting against diffusion and you won't win. 

I've posted on this concept many times here on the board but the idea of taking ANY OPC (ordinary portland cement) material and sealing it make it vivarium safe will not work in lieu of proper chemical curing and leaching out the calcium hydroxide.

I know this first hand as I ended up offing a friend's chameleon this way years ago. 

The idea that you can simply seal the cement or grout, with any number of sealers, and that it will now be safe, is false. What you have effectively done is bought yourself time. By sealing uncured cement you have made a barrier that will prevent water and CO2 from entering the cement. (The two materials needed to mix with the ultra basic CaOH to form the safe CaCO3.) By using a sealer (epoxy, silicone caulk, fiberglass/polyester resin, or any other sealers) you are preventing your cement from curing, and as a result trapping the lye in the matrix and keeping it from being neutralized by the carbonic acid made from the mixing of water and CO2.

So what will will happen is that over time it will find a hole in your barrier and it will begin to leach out into your tanks water. (Ignore all of this for desert terrariums.)

As with anything, 'the dose makes the poison', so if you have a large enough of a body of water and change it out enough it might not be a problem, but if you don't catch it, or the water is not changed out, the base will accumulate and shoot your pH through the roof. The high pH will base burn the plants, effect the nutrient solubility and uptake of the plants, risk base burning your animals, and making the water unpalatable to the ones who drink it.

So while it seems intuitive to use a sealer and call it safe, the chemistry does not back this. How Zoos and other institutions use cement/grout for their designs is two fold. One they cure the cement for over a month +, then they often times soak it in an acid solution, THEN they seal it.

So first you allow the chemical reaction to take place over the full 28 days. Then you try to pull out the base from all the tiny pores of the cement into the water by using an acid that binds and attacks the CaOH. Then you seal the cement, trapping the remaining but vastly reduced CaOH inside.

Skipping these steps and you'll fall into the same issues that literally thousands of aquarium, vivarium, and terrarium builders have had. My self included. It was because of this happening to me that I spend the considerable amount of time to figure out the how/why of it all, and have been working toward a "cement" based way around it.

Moral: Cement is great, cement is cheap, but you HAVE to use it right. No, sealing doesn't work.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

what would be an acid that would be readily available, but effective--vinegar? So the whole tank, or the pieces would have to be submerged? Will this be the same problem with Drylock??? Your post is a cautionary tale for sure....


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## VivariumWorks (Feb 27, 2008)

Citric acid works better than acetic acid which is vinegar. Citric acid can bind 3 molecules of CaOH compared to acetic acid's 2 and is less strong of an acid so it won't attack the cement as much. 

You can buy powdered citric acid for food purposes. Works well.

Drylock is basically just a thick paint. If you are using the Drylock only, it won't be a problem. But if you use the Drylock over the grout/cement, everything I've talked about still stands.

All the cement based parts need it. However this is best done. Submerging is the easiest.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

If making rocks from foam, the "foam coat" from hot wire foam factory looks cool. Carve your rock, coat it, paint it... done. (I think). ( Makes possible painting foams that would usually melt from the solvents in spray paint or plasti-dip)

The entire 4 page product line at this link looks incredibly useful to us...

Foam Coat, Foam Glue and Foam

I'm not sure why anyone would bother with drylok, cement, or resin with this stuff available? (Maybe for large/heavy clawed animals)

Anyone know of any reasons this stuff wouldn't be good for our purposes?


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## VivariumWorks (Feb 27, 2008)

You'll need to seal it with an epoxy. That's what they did for the interior sections of the tanks designed with it. Also sealer needed for 'outdoor' use. MSDS pulls up an acrylic copolymer emulsion with calcium carbonate. The acrylic can hydrolyze with water and go back into solution over time so if you use this for a wet vivarium you'll need to seal it to keep water off it. The chemistry is better for vivarium use than grout in the sense that you don't have to worry about the CaOH leaching, but for a typical wet vivarium use you will need a sealer.

Remember all of those 'flevopol' type builds that were all the rage a while back where people would mix peat with that white liquid "cement acrylic fortifier"? This is in the same family of chemicals. The flevopol method didn't work in wet areas as it would hydrolyze and mix back into the water, no longer gluing together the peat particles. Whole tank backgrounds would just fall apart. So to keep that from happening, a 100% waterproof material will need to be placed down over it. They used a clearcoat from Polygem for the zoo build they show on the site.

I like to keep things simple and just start with an epoxy. 1 material and done. 

If you're making a desert or dry terrarium, then I see no reason why the Foam Coat wouldn't work as is. The occasional water won't be an issue. It's the day in constant dripping wet exposure and ultra high humidity that can get to it.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

VivariumWorks said:


> You'll need to seal it with an epoxy. That's what they did for the interior sections of the tanks designed with it. Also sealer needed for 'outdoor' use. MSDS pulls up an acrylic copolymer emulsion with calcium carbonate. The acrylic can hydrolyze with water and go back into solution over time so if you use this for a wet vivarium you'll need to seal it to keep water off it. The chemistry is better for vivarium use than grout in the sense that you don't have to worry about the CaOH leaching, but for a typical wet vivarium use you will need a sealer.
> 
> Remember all of those 'flevopol' type builds that were all the rage a while back where people would mix peat with that white liquid "cement acrylic fortifier"? This is in the same family of chemicals. The flevopol method didn't work in wet areas as it would hydrolyze and mix back into the water, no longer gluing together the peat particles. Whole tank backgrounds would just fall apart. So to keep that from happening, a 100% waterproof material will need to be placed down over it. They used a clearcoat from Polygem for the zoo build they show on the site.
> 
> ...


Thanks, good info. I'm unclear if the first part of your post was addressing the foam coats or the other guys issues???

So let me pick your brain ...

What about a coat of clear plasti-dip or clear urethane spray over foam coat? (I planned on coating it with something if/when I tried it)

And I've been pimping that advice based on what I know, so If I've been wrong all this time I wanna get it right from here, (and apologize).

Does clear acrylic spray paint (krylon) hyrdolyze? People have been using Krylon in aquariums for years, is that bad, (That specific brand seems to have a good rep from aquarium users)? 

So would that mean an acrylic spray paint on a paintable foam like GS or pond foam would also be a no no in a viv? 

They mentioned the zoopoxy was at least in part used because the exhibits would need scrubbing. Since a dart frog has no claws and we don't usually scrub our vivs, is there a simple/cheaper sprayable option? General opinions on use of plasti-dip or urethane spray in a viv?

Basically I'm looking to carve foam, coat if a non paintable type, then clear seal it for extra waterproofing; preferably all with spray products... How best would I go about that for viv use?

Thanks in advance


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## VivariumWorks (Feb 27, 2008)

I wouldn't use Plasti-Dip as it comes off easily.

The Krylon spray says it is 'moisture resistant'. Which is pretty much what all acrylic polymers can say. Is that it resists/repels moisture, but that is not to be mistaken as waterproof. It's why when you read the fine print on a lot of the various acrylic sealers they all say "not for use near pools or for standing water".

A lot of it though is where is your moisture exposure. If it's high humidity, that's one thing. But it's going to have a waterfall on it 24/7 and a mister system spraying on it all the time... That's another. As with anything plus or minus an inch in variable can make a lot of difference.

Plasti-Dip and Urethane sprays are entirely different chemicals than acrylics. The urethanes are usually a chemical reaction that will make a solid or flexible polymer that can sometimes use the ambient moisture in the air for a part of it's reaction. This is usually a cyanide group that reacts with water to form CO2. That is how our canned GS spray foam works. The GS foam is very chemically close to many of the other urethane sprays and coatings out there and many are waterproof. The kinds I use to make my products are examples. Two materials come together to bind into a single long chain molecule. Water can't attack it. The plasti-dips and urethane sprays are similar. The plasti-dip however is more of a rubber where some of the sprays can be more of a solid or very dilute to act as a thin hydrophobic barrier/sealer. Plasti-dip rubs off though so I'd keep away from that.

I'd stick with the urethanes if you can. BUT, the problem with urethanes is UV. Some are more UV stable than others. The less UV stable the more quickly they will yellow/crack/peel. The good thing is most vivariums have excellent UV protection as our glass adsorbs almost all of it. But using a UV stable epoxy clear coat can sometime be needed if you know you will be using high UV lighting.

To carve your foam, then spray a coating... hmmm... Well to be honest I don't know of a good way of doing that without a sizable investment in very specific machinery. 

You could try to hand mix a long setting epoxy, and use in a paint sprayer gun powered by an air compressor and try that. Just need to clean it out before it set to avoid ruining the gun each time. That would be a 1 and done deal. No need for sealers and such. Otherwise, you're going to brush on a material and then need to seal it. If you want less steps, which spraying sounds like you do, then spraying a semi-liquid epoxy would probably take care of it for you. Or brush on a material and then spray on the epoxy or urethane layer.

If you want true water-proof, in most cases, you need to go with a material that is a two part. Either it mixes with the moisture in the air, or it mixes with other side you add to it. Much beyond that, and there is a good chance water can have an effect down the line.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

I have often wondered about the long term issues of using acrylic paint and Drylock...and other components. I am glad that DD has raised specific questions and that you are obviously knowledgeable about the products. So:

to quote: 
So would that mean an acrylic spray paint on a paintable foam like GS or pond foam would also be a no no in a viv?

They mentioned the zoopoxy was at least in part used because the exhibits would need scrubbing. Since a dart frog has no claws and we don't usually scrub our vivs, is there a simple/cheaper sprayable option? General opinions on use of plasti-dip or urethane spray in a viv?

Basically I'm looking to carve foam, coat if a non paintable type, then clear seal it for extra waterproofing; preferably all with spray products... How best would I go about that for viv use? end quote

Basically it comes down to almost no easy choice--epoxy or a spray Urethane? I have used epoxy but it is so darn thick and difficult to use...and I thought that the glass we use blocks the UVB...so it also blocks UV? Is that with the three general choices we have for lighting? So can you provide (pardon the pun) a good solution to add to the expoxy to reduce the shine, and prolong the open time?


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## VivariumWorks (Feb 27, 2008)

Normal glass blocks almost all UV. It's why you don't get a sunburn in your car and why the plastic in the car can take forever to get UV damaged until the winshield gets broken and the car is put into a junk yard. The UV begins to eat away at that plastic fast.


It's really a choice of how much time you want to invest into your design. You CAN do grout/cement. It is cheap. You just need to cure it properly for 28 days first, and then try to pull as much of the basic CaOH as possible. So what I would do is make my grout feature, then let it dry. Then put it into an tank with partially filled. Let the water wick up the feature. Don't fully submerge it but partially. Then change this water out for a month. The longer it is wet the more the cure happens. After a month, go ahead and flood the entire tank with new water and add some citric acid. The more/longer you do this the less pH effects you can have.

As for the epoxy or urethane, understand these are entire classes of chemicals. There are all KINDS of both. So it is not just a spray vs a pour vs a brush on. Really they are all very similar and with the proper tools you can do all of the above with any of them. Make a pour a spray, make a spray a brush-on and so on.

Epoxy is ideal in that is stronger than most urethanes. Urethanes are more abundant in use. Gorilla glue is basically just GS foam without propellant. It's why you need to add water to one side of what you glue. To activate that cyanide group, and why it foams up similar to GS foam, but at a much lower amount.

It really all depends on what you are looking for. Do you want something you brush onto foam with a paintbrush and be done? Are you looking for a putty that you hand apply and carve over foam? There are all kinds of things out there that can work. It's just a question as to what form you want it to come in the box in. You can change it often from that form to a different by adding various things.

To reduce the shine I don't have a good option. You can add material onto of the epoxy before it sets and this will help. Similar to a glue/glitter. If you get a powdered rock dust this could work really well. You'd need to get as fine of a dust as possible, though perhaps the random size difference would help give it a more natural look.

To increase the pot-life, you need to cool down the material. The colder it is and the less material you mix at the same time, the longer it will take to set up. If you mix say a quart of material at a time and let it sit in the container, it will begin to heat up and that heat will get adsorbed by the next bit of epoxy which starts a chain reaction to cure, faster and faster. So to avoid this I try to use small volumes at a time or just separate them out. Mix a quart but pour them into different cups with higher surface areas. Could even put those cups into a waterbath. (On that note, many epoxies, not urethanes, but epoxies can be thinned a bit with water.)


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

the idea of letting the water wick up into the cement "seams" is interesting...Thanks for such a thorough explanation... I'll bet this thread has gotten some attention because of wondering just how long that peatmoss is going to stick on the background...


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## dtown (Jan 5, 2011)

Vivarium Works, excellent info!! I have a couple of pics of my build and would love your opinion on them. I started with polystyrene foam for the structure and then have done 2 coats of non sanded grout. Still working on second coat, that's why its two different colors. Thought I would check in on this thread before I kept going. My supports which will be fully submersed in water 24/7, should I remove those and replace with pvc, egg crate, or should I let the grout fully cure and then fully coat it with 100% silicone?? I'm not sure if you can tell from the pic, but I plan on having a stream bed running back and forth then exiting the structure back into the hydryton (clay balls) I would love your advice.  And one more thing, I was planning on painting this with acrylics before I sealed it, and siliconed it.... Should I wait the 28 days before painting?? Thanks again for any advice.


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## VivariumWorks (Feb 27, 2008)

Keep it wet for 28 days. Then soak in a lightly acidic solution. Then paint. Then seal.

The 100% silicone sealer isn't a bad choice for underwater sections. I don't like the idea for areas above water as it looks shiny and weird, but for submerged sections it's a great idea.

Or just use colored epoxy and use it as soon as it hardens. It's a pricier option though.


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## Broseph (Dec 5, 2011)

This has been an excellent thread to follow. I'm always trying to figure out when to use Dryloc vs grout vs cement, how to paint, how to seal... I don't know what it takes for a thread to be stickied, but I will be bookmarking for sure.

Thanks VivariumWorks for all the great info.


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## VivariumWorks (Feb 27, 2008)

I should probably do a huge technical write up on all of it. With graphics and data and all that jazz. It would probably help. One of these days.


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## HX (Jun 4, 2007)

Great walkthrough on the chemistry of portland cement, VivariumWorks!
Thank you for taking your time with it.

What I would like to set my 2c for is: pretty much everything leeches. Cement leeches, acrylics leech, styrenes leeche. Even food grade PET plastic leeches.

As you point out, it's all in the dosage.

I sometimes use epoxies or polystyrene resins to enforce the structure or surface of the hardscapes I make, but my favourite material is still cement.
Sure, it needs to cure and yes, it tends to harden water for a period of time.
But I know it and I act accordingly.

Water changes.
Yes, I do them. I replace the water in the tank with water coming from either the concrete chamber of the water tower next to my apartment or the concrete well rings at the ol' summer house.

Concrete is just portland cement and a careful mixture of different sized stone.
And, unless you mix it yourself, a variety of chemical additives depending on the specified usage.

But then, I'm an old rhino. If not a downright dinosaur.

Thanks again for your input in the matter. Great reading!


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## Wusserton (Feb 21, 2014)

So do you need to seal drylok at all or can you just mix color and coat styrofoam, let dry maybe mix up a different color for depth texture repeat as necessary and be done with it? I was thinking of using the cheap exo styro background to make a slow moving river through the front portion of my tank (36x18x18) and want that river set up on an external canister filter and completely independent from my land substrate/water table area which I plan on doing a false bottom in, I dont want water from either side to transfer between the two areas since the substraight water table will be more shallow than the river area ...is it even possible? system will have in/out for canister tubing on both sides with a bulkhead in both sections for the mistking system drainoff. The reason for the drylok is to make that cheap stuff look like a real river bank vs cheap fake rock but does it need to be sealed too? was planning on just siliconing the foam into place, the backside suported by false bottom materials and the front by water, and it needs to be somewhat strong


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## JoshsDragonz (Jun 30, 2012)

Drylok doesn't need to be sealed. 

Here is a build where I have used Drylok in places and Zoopoxy 307 in others. You can't get the same level of detail out of straight foam and drylok vs the 307. I do thicken my 307 to almost a clay like consistency. The foreground rock work is epoxy along with the tree. The background is foam and drylok. 

This tank is 450 gallons (72x30x48")

_DSC6751 by joshsdragonz, on Flickr


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

when you use the word "foam" do you mean stryofoam--like the stuff that is usually used for insulation, or the material that is made of tiny balls...and have you had Drylock ever lose color because of the humidity? Don't forget to post pics when you get the tank done...looks good....


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## Wusserton (Feb 21, 2014)

Judy S said:


> when you use the word "foam" do you mean stryofoam--like the stuff that is usually used for insulation, or the material that is made of tiny balls...and have you had Drylock ever lose color because of the humidity? Don't forget to post pics when you get the tank done...looks good....



Im talking about the balled up white styro that when shaved flakes stuff everwhere, dont know if other people are talking about the blue/pink stuff, either way Im talking about a good 3-4 coats of drylok and silicone to isolate specific areas like a river


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

yah, that stuff is a pain to work with...static electricity is the boss.....


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## Wusserton (Feb 21, 2014)

Judy S said:


> yah, that stuff is a pain to work with...static electricity is the boss.....


Yes it is! lol


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

have you ever tried the insulation type styro? I've read posts on DB that the foam we are both using can be an endocrine inhibitor...but I coat both sides with either silicone, or titebond/or drylock...so I hope that is sufficient...I like the "blue" styro because you can cut it with a hot knife and make some really interesting shapes...(I think we have taken over the OP's thread...sorry....)


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## Wusserton (Feb 21, 2014)

No never tried it but I coat mine 360 with at least 3 coats so Im not worried, the insulation type doesn't look like it would break the same so trying to get a naturalistic looking rock probably wouldn't be as easy to manage, I usually try to stick with cork rounds/flats and driftwood for backgrounds if I can help it and only do synthetic stuff for water features and dividers


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

understood....but the styro can be carved into circles with a hotknife, have holes cut in it for plants/film cannisters....stacked and carved to look like stacked stone...and a whole lot less mess....I carved a tree on both sides...and my next one has a large piece of cork, so I'm carving large leaves like a vine with overlap, and holes through to make little windows--makes ledges the vanzos like....


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## JoshsDragonz (Jun 30, 2012)

I use expanded polyurethane foam in my builds aka Great Stuff.

Judy, I have tanks that are 3 years old with Drylok and I haven't had any fading.


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## JoshsDragonz (Jun 30, 2012)

Here is another 450 gallon I built. The background is coated in drylok. 

Hardscape: 

_DSC4745 by joshsdragonz, on Flickr

Finished tank:

_DSC6517 by joshsdragonz, on Flickr


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## gope (Jun 26, 2014)

Amazing tank there Josh. Almost a shame to cover all that up with plants.

I'm a newby gathering info for my first viv. I've read through this thread more than once and I'm not clear on what you all are referring to as "drylok". Their website has many products. Is it the E1 epoxy floor paint? Has anyone worked with their fast plug hydraulic cement?
Thanks for all the great info!


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

Have you guys ever heard of this stuff?...

StyroSpray Series - StyroSpray - Industrial Polymers


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## Wusserton (Feb 21, 2014)

gope said:


> Amazing tank there Josh. Almost a shame to cover all that up with plants.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Drylok is a masonry water proofer usually used to seal basements










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## gope (Jun 26, 2014)

Thanks Wusserton.


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## stimpson65 (Apr 25, 2010)

This is the product I have experience with:
LATEX BASE DRYLOK® MASONRY WATERPROOFER - DRYLOK Masonry Waterproofer
I haven't tried any of the other products but some of them look interesting.
This product linked above has worked great for me. I can shape the foam, paint it on thick (make sure you get every millimeter, every cranny, every speck completely covered, front, back, edges etc.) and I can paint over it with acrylic paint for a non-toxic, completely waterproof surface.


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