# styrofoam as false bottom



## A&MGecko (Sep 17, 2010)

I was thinking if it was safe to use styrofoam as false bottom, should the styrofoam be covered with silicone or we can leave it just as it is. I think to reduce weight it could be a good way to take some volume with styrofoam but I am not sure if it would be safe for the animals/plant in the viv. Anyone has any idea or experience on this? The viv will have a water future so the water will be running through the false bottom and in this case the styrofoam.
Thanks for the input.


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## Adamrl018 (Jun 18, 2010)

Whats wrong with egg crate?


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## A&MGecko (Sep 17, 2010)

Nothing wrong but styro can take up more volume so there will be much less water accumulation in the bottom so much less weight to the viv in case needs to be moved. Could be useful way to reduce weight to the viv taking volume with styro.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

i have stryro in some of my tanks, works well!


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## A&MGecko (Sep 17, 2010)

Also styro is much easier to mold in to shapes, could make a cheaper and more speedy build on top of the weight saver for the viv.


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## A&MGecko (Sep 17, 2010)

Do you need to cover the styro with silicone or you can leave it just as it is? Is it safe for the animal/plants?


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## Adamrl018 (Jun 18, 2010)

o nice  just clicked into my head what you meant by it using up more volume and making the viv lighter. Thats awesome!

The Styrofoam will not leak chemicals?


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

i have used styro to do rock wall setups, you can do a search on here and you will find that most of the rock walls are done with styro or foam.


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## A&MGecko (Sep 17, 2010)

That is excatly my question, because every time I have seen it used in a viv is always been covered with silicone or other means to make it more naturalistic look.


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## A&MGecko (Sep 17, 2010)

Yes I have seen all those nice set up but I was wondering if it was safe to leave it just row in the bottom, most waterfall and other set ups I have seen the styro has been covered by silicone or other means so i was wondering maybe that would have made it waterproof and safe or it is safe at all time?


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## andry (Jun 15, 2010)

I think it should be safe all the time even without silicone. But I'm trying to understand what you are thinking of doing. Are you thinking of putting the styrofoam laid flat on the glass bottom so that the substrate lays on top of the styrofoam and the styrofoam soaks up the excess water when watering the plants?

If so, I'm not sure the styrofoam will soak up the water. I've heard styrofoam being used but I believe it was broken up in pieces to serve as a drainage layer, kind of like the pebbled rocks would. But I don't think it will work like LECA.


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## RMB (Nov 26, 2009)

Yes, it is safe. Ugly though. And it will not absorb water, it's closed cell. I assume you're planning on using the packing peanuts right? Make sure you've got the old fashioned landfill clogging white popcorn looking things, none of the biodegradable soy or whatever. Also I'm not sure about how much water it will hold compared to hydroton, I would guess less, and you'll have to be careful not to compact it more than necessary. I've also seen (on a thread somewhere) someone using open celled foam as a drainage layer, probably the stuff from Swiss Tropicals. It would cost more, but it'd be almost weightless, and hold lots of water with less risk of compaction, and it's designed for aquariums so you know it's safe!


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## Adamrl018 (Jun 18, 2010)

Im thinking hes just going to use foam sheets and cut them to the shape of the bottom of the viv. the purpose i think hes going for is the foam NOT to soak up the water but just to take up space. foam -> lighter than water.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Adamrl018 said:


> Im thinking hes just going to use foam sheets and cut them to the shape of the bottom of the viv. the purpose i think hes going for is the foam NOT to soak up the water but just to take up space. foam -> lighter than water.


Where will the water go? You want space so the water can drain into it and not saturate the substrate.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

i use it to hold up the egg crate, rather then going out and buying PVC, i always have styro from stuff that gets shipped to me at the office, it works great to support the weight and does not do any harm to the viv long term.


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## yours (Nov 11, 2007)

Feather-Lite 20 Gal


I just started using this stuff, and so far I'm liking it...



Alex


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## A&MGecko (Sep 17, 2010)

Yes my goal was to make like stripes of them not a solid bottom so the water will have some space to go but would be much less water then normal having the egg grate lifted up, less water in the bottom less weight,  Will work some out on my tank and post PICS to show you what I am looking to do, maybe even add 1 layer of hydroton on top so the water can go to all the open spaces.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

I still don't get the benefit. If you lay strips of it in to take up space so that less water can accumulate, Then that means you have to drain your Viv twice as often before the water builds up to the point that it saturates your soil. If that's what you are trying to accomplish, then why don't you skip the styro and just drain your tank more often?? Or put in a bulkhead/drainpipe with a bucket under it?


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## tachikoma (Apr 16, 2009)

RMB said:


> I've also seen (on a thread somewhere) someone using open celled foam as a drainage layer, probably the stuff from Swiss Tropicals. It would cost more, but it'd be almost weightless, and hold lots of water with less risk of compaction, and it's designed for aquariums so you know it's safe!


That would be me. It is indeed the Swiss Tropicals foam, and I have to say so far it has been holding up great! I have done a few drains since and not even the slightest particulate matter could be found in my drainage water, so there is def nothing getting through my barrier. I did it mainly for weight savings and to make sure nothing gets into the water source below and rots. Other benefits are it can be easily cut/carved to shape, washed and reused, and it looks nice. The only downside is cost.


























P.S.
It makes an EXCELLENT floor for a quarantine tank, just cut to the shape of the bottom of the vivarium and wash and replace when it gets dirty.


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## A&MGecko (Sep 17, 2010)

> I still don't get the benefit. If you lay strips of it in to take up space so that less water can accumulate, Then that means you have to drain your Viv twice as often before the water builds up to the point that it saturates your soil. If that's what you are trying to accomplish, then why don't you skip the styro and just drain your tank more often?? Or put in a bulkhead/drainpipe with a bucket under it?


Well, the problem is when you run a water pump you need a minimum level of water for the pump to work, the styrofoam would take volume from the water to reach that level at minimum weight, even if you drain your viv with a pump you need to leave some water level for the pump to work and there where the volume of the styfoam would come in to play taking weight off the viv, I am planing to make a hole in the back for draining the excess water so the level will never go over that point using minimum amount of water possible for the pump to work and keeping the weight down. So the styrofoam would be just high enough for the pump to work, and take volume of water out, keeping just a small layer of hydroton on top of the styrofoam to allow the water to drain properly from the dirt. Also the tropical foam looks awesome but it looks by volume will not work as well as styrofoam, looks very spongy like but not taking volume away from water.


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## tachikoma (Apr 16, 2009)

A&MGecko said:


> Also the tropical foam looks awesome but it looks by volume will not work as well as styrofoam, looks very spongy like but not taking volume away from water.


Yeah the open cell foam doesn't displace a tremendous amount of water nor does it absorb much. The water just kinda passes through it so you would still need close to the original amount of water to fill the bottom.


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## tachikoma (Apr 16, 2009)

A&MGecko said:


> Yes my goal was to make like stripes of them not a solid bottom so the water will have some space to go but would be much less water then



Also anyone can jump in here if I am wrong. It has been a while since high school physics, but won't you need the same amount of weight as the weight of the water that is displaced to be put on top of the styrofoam to keep it submerged, thus negating any weight savings? (Whew that was a mouthful )

On another thought you could glue them to the bottom of the tank.


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## A&MGecko (Sep 17, 2010)

lol, yeah, my plan was to gorilla glue it of course.


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## A&MGecko (Sep 17, 2010)

Here is a sample of the styrofoam as false bottom, a tank I am working on right now, I had it on false bottom and added about 2 gallon + of water to have the water pump working with the styrofoam now only 1 gallon, not even, a bit less.
Old false bottom.








New one.


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