Pre-Construction Advice

[ARod]

Sand....hmmm. That may be a better solution than the coco fiber.

Perhaps I could still use a piece of plexi and hit the water side with foam, sculpt it to a smooth, rock-like shape/appearance, and throw some epoxy and sand on it.

How well does that hold up underwater?

 

[Ozymandias]

not sure actually you might look torred and foam and ciment would probably look good. cant find it tight now (on my phone. i know reefers do this for some of there tank (nanoreef forum), also i have seen set up that use grout for leopard gecko tank (vivarium forum)

 

[ohbly]

Sand....hmmm. That may be a better solution than the coco fiber.

Perhaps I could still use a piece of plexi and hit the water side with foam, sculpt it to a smooth, rock-like shape/appearance, and throw some epoxy and sand on it.

How well does that hold up underwater?

here is a link to my build http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136377 The first couple of pages shows how I made the divider.
On page 15 I went into detail on how I coated the foam.
I wouldn't use coco fiber under water for a couple of reasons- the coco will eventually rot, and water will wick up over the divider by capillary action and flood the land side.

Using the plexi with foam would work if you are going to use greatstuff.
I think it would be easier making it out of solid foam and gluing it in after carving and coating it. I made a mistake and glued mine to the glass with epoxy, it worked at first but soon leaked so I ripped it out and used silicon the second time. Its held up well for three years now...

 

[mellowvision]

I gotta say, it may work out for some, but the whole divider idea is where most projects I see fail... whether short term or long term. it's more work, but you'd be far better off with a false bottom under your land areas, than trying to divide off what gets wet and what doesn't. this way circulation and drainage don't become big problems.

 

[ohbly]

^^ good points, esp since the water is only going to be a few inches deep

 

[wespastor]

Here are two sites that I have researched for my background. The guy says he has been soaking some of his test background in tanks for about a year and a half with no water perameter changes. The first link is his journal and he references the seconcond site in his journal. It's a long read but well worth the efforth of study and information.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/pa...tank-rear-access-artificial-vines-stumps.html

http://www.bragdonent.com/gfguide.htm

Best wishes

Wes

 

[ARod]

I gotta say, it may work out for some, but the whole divider idea is where most projects I see fail... whether short term or long term. it's more work, but you'd be far better off with a false bottom under your land areas, than trying to divide off what gets wet and what doesn't. this way circulation and drainage don't become big problems.

Right, I agree with that as well. However, in my rattled thoughts, it would not matter if it leaked and water came into/under the land area. That would not be the end of the world. I'd just have to add more water. I am still planning to do a false bottom for the land area. My main issue was the transition from land to water, but I think I have a decent idea now.

ohbly,
You mentioned that the epoxy didnt hold up as well as silicone. What type of silicone did you use?

 

[dundadundun]

one big mistake i see many people make is their choice of materials when it comes to dividers. i've seen dividers stand the test of time and i've seen them fail in a matter of weeks. the ones that fail (most dividers in general) usually do so because someone has tried to mix glass with a substitute (lexan, acrylic, etc.). there are epoxies and even a silicone made by ge that claim to do well bonding the different materials but in reality the only thing you can really count on is one material, one adhesive.

for example silicone works great on glass. we all know that. so, if your tank is glass and you use a glass divider with silicone it should not fail.

methylene chloride adhesives work well on substitutes. it doesn't really adhere them it melts them together creating a permanent bond. so using an acrylic divider in an acrylic tank, lexan to lexan, etc. makes sense and should work well... and be somewhat permanent.

however methylene chloride does not melt glass and silicone does not adhere well to the alternatives. basically mixing materials is asking to fail.

 

[ohbly]

ohbly,
You mentioned that the epoxy didnt hold up as well as silicone. What type of silicone did you use?

The epoxy bonds very well to the foam and for coating foam but it doesn't stick to glass well.
I used 100% silicon to glue the epoxy coated foam to the glass.

 

[ARod]

The epoxy bonds very well to the foam and for coating foam but it doesn't stick to glass well.

I used 100% silicon to glue the epoxy coated foam to the glass.

Oh okay! Noted! Thanks for the heads up on that.

What type of epoxy did you use for your build? Is it something I can pick up at a hardware store or does it needs to be ordered online?


Thanks for the info about the divider. I can get a piece of glass cut for the divider, no problem.