Any helpful info on how I should do this would be great.

I was told to get great foam espanding foam and silicone to seal it...

I am doing this for my 55 gallon hermit crab tank..so it has to be safe and look like a real jungle.
I am getting things I need over time when I get the money..so this is going to take awhile to finish. I found some driftwood and I have lots of things already in the tank I want to use so I only need things like plexiglass for the pools and waterfall filter/pumps..

umm the foam and silicone and somehow need to put the driftood and the suction cup caddies in there as levels...so need hlp here too.

I don't want the foam to get too thick and tak up too much spce, but I need it to be strong enought to hold the driftwood and caddies filled with moss and forest bedding.

I have 2 half logs and 3 huts and I don't need all this in there but this is what I have to work with. i have fake ive vines..mayb egoing to get some more fake plants and those strong neat vines in Petsmart for them to climb. I have a net I need to hang maybe glue some hooks in the foam?

any helpful advice would be wonderful!

Thanks, Paige

The foam you are referring to is called Great Stuff.
What sort of critter are you planning on putting in here?

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Hermit crabs, Merlin

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Duh! Thanks Nate!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Here is one of our guides that may give you some ideas.

http://reptileguides.herpcenter.com/...136.html?t=136

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

thanks venus for that info. I guess then it would be hard to clean..and hermies are hard to clean anyways with sand and EE as substrate?

I have a 55 so how much should I get?

I think maybe this is over my head lol. I really love how it looks though.


This is my tank now well it is changed from the pic, but:



I like this, but it would looks so much better with that cool background stuff for them to climb.

How would this stuff hold up to cleaning the tank out?

hey hey, I have done this on now two vivariums.

Coat the walls you want background on with the sillicone. be sure to use GE sillicone II. Once its dry its non-toxic.

Tilt the tank so the side you are coating is flat on the ground, start applying the great stuff. Use a practice piece of wood for one small test try so you know what it will do. You don't need a thick amount. Place the wood and items you want to stick in it while wet and it will set. I stick in pieces of bark too. Be sure whatever you are sticking in there, to heat in the oven for 30 minutes at 300 degrees. You should need about 2 cans of great stuff.

Once the great stuff is dry, use more GE sillicone II to attach dry coco husk. I dry mine out in the oven for half an hour at 200 degrees. Smear sillicone, sprinkle and pat down husk. I recommend wearing latex gloves.

As for cleaning, there really isn't anything to clean.

Here are photos of my 90 gallon and progress steps.
schlegelbagel/90gallon - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

To expand on what Liz said, once the Great Stuff has set and you begin the silicone/coco fiber step, you'll want to work in small areas... a little silicone then coco fiber and move onto the next area. If you try to cover too large an area with the silicone, it will begin to set and the coco fiber will not stick to it.

Also, the Great Stuff can be carved, so if you get it too heavy in a particular area, you can cut it back a bit.

Good luck!

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~~Steph

"This I believe: That the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world." John Steinbeck

Thanks for the additional words Steph. I'm not always the best in describing things!

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Thanks so much for the help! I was wondering if the door or window expanding foam will be good for the project instead of the great foam. My fiance (carpenter) said this doesn't expand quite as much. I didn't want to loose too much space so I wa hoping this would be the same effect with less expanding?

Plus, I have some EE and sand mixed together I wanted to use.also some coco bedding I wanted to use as the finished layer? Would this be a good substrate for the wall? I think the crabs will be able to climb the wall then too! I am so excited..but nervous about doing tis myself.

I did read about the silicone and EE application being a bit tricky. I have been trying to learn as much as I can before I get over my head.

I really think this will look so great! I am using an old tank (freebee) so it isn't a big deal =) if things go wrong..just want it to be nice.

Will the foam be strong enough to hold driftwood? I plan on putting some into the wall as an extra level to climb up to. Plus the cool pieces I already have in the tank..but I am not going to permantly put those in the wall..I will add those later maybe.

I am still thinking on how I want it to look.

Thanks so much everybody!