Aquascaping with insulation foam

Ok, I reread that thread, and Tanu said that he used "pur-foam" from a hardware store. I did a search on pur foam, and came up with this on from greenpeace's website:

" Rigid Polyurethane foam (PUR) is commonly used in construction as an insulating foam. There are a number of different kinds of foam which are all rigid PUR - most noteably, boardstock, sandwich panels and spray foams.

...Spray foams are made at the point of use and are literally sprayed into place. They are highly suitable for the insulation of uneven or inaccessible surfaces and are used in storage tanks, pipe work and refrigerated trailers.

...Alternatively, CO2 is currently being used as the blowing agent by ICI and Liquid Polymers Group in the UK, ResinaChemie and BASF in Germany and Nassau Doors in Denmark. Carbon dioxide blowing, in combination with process changes, as demonstrated by Windsor Doors in Norway, is a proven technology for spray foams."

This was taken from:
http://archive.greenpeace.org/~ozone/excuse/18excuse.html

From the looks of it, this kind of spray foam is being developed/pioneered in Europe, hence Tanu could have easily acquired this stuff. I have no idea where to find this in the states. This could become a quest...:)
 
There are large scale commercial versions of that sauce for construction-type applications and I think that the Greenpeace info is kind of geared to that. I also think its what the guy is using in the pic from WetMan's Dutch site. If you don't want to invest in a rig that could insulate a row of houses in a day, you can find very similar stuff in spray cans at your Lowes/Home Depot/local hardware store for a few bucks each ($5 a can?).

The brand I experimented with is called Great Stuff -- insulating foam sealant . Its made by Dow and will be where they keep insulation materials. I played with it a bit and found it hard to control. I decided to go with an approach more like this, from WetMan's Swedish and Danish site. Some differences… I want to do detailed features for a small tank, some background but also floor structures, and… I'm a control freak. Tanu's approach from the ReefCentral thread seems like its well suited to a simulated coral reef and less well so to simulated stone features. The right technique will really depend on what you want the end result to be.

You should be aware that the crushed coral he mentions is fine for a salty tank or a very alkaline freshwater tank (like a rift lake tank), but will wreak havoc on the water chemistry for most other applications.
 
This all has been very helpful and informative.:)

Those were great links wetmanNY, and I don't feel as apprehensive as I did before in terms of the toxicity of the foam. This seems to be a semi-regular practice over in Europe.

Also, the techniques that they used seemed very much geared toward a freshwater tank, where you try to make a mold or imprint of something. For my reef tank however, I just want to use the foam to sort of "hold" the actual pieces of rock/sand in place. So I guess there is little need to carve and shape the foam, the more irregular, the better!;)
 
Eric, if your finished surface is "sanded" with crushed coral and fine aragonite, it will develop a "live rock" surface as the setup matures. If you "sand" the wet final surface with crushed coral first, then follow by dusting it over with finer aragonite grit, you'll get very complete coverage. (My limited experience is in freshwater, with fine gravel, followed by construction sand.)

Will you disguise filter intakes and outlets etc?
 
Well, reef tanks can be a bit more involved when it comes to filteration, etc. Basically, all of the filtration and other equipment will be located in the sump, so the only thing to hide on the intake side is an internal overflow box where the water exits the tank to go to the sump. However, the water is then returned from the sump via a pump to the main tank, so there are also return pipes to bring the water back to the tank. So I would use the foam to hide the overflow box and the return pipes.
 
Minnetonka ;) drove through there today to my buddys house in victoria.I cut the lawn and water the indoor plants at benigans on 394 in SLP
do you shop at forest lake pets?if you have never been there check us out not a salt specitaly shop like something fishy but huge in comparison.Best glass prices around perfecto jetstream (drilled overflow)90g for $199:D Come see me I work thurs,fri,sat,sun,mon the name is eric:cool:
 
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