Adding substrate to silicon >>

[Jon]

I am currently buildind a red eyed tree frog terrarium. I have used expanding foam for the background and for one of the sides. I have a waterfall in the corner that will feed into a small stream leading into a pond at the front.

I am just in the process of preping the backround foam to add eco earth with silicon. Does anybody know if the substrate added to the silicon needs to be bone dry? I had a block of substrate that needed soaking in water to expand and now is a little damp. Any help would be amazing, cheers

[tryme]

Prob not dripping wet but a tad famp would be ok surely it would just dry along with the silicone. In any case its going to get wet any way so if it won't stick now chances are its not going to stay stuck for long when you do get it wet lol

[KingCam]

I disagree with the above poster's opinion. I believe you will get the best results if you make sure the substrate is bone dry! I would not waste my time trying to make it work with substrate that is damp or moist.

[Jon]

Thanks for the responses

I am currently drying the substrate out and it is getting there and only slightly damp. The substrate is going to get damp but my main concern was if it is damp will the silicon cure as well and will the substrate stick as well if it is damp?

I am making some touch ups to the foam at the moment as the waterfall runs down the wall and trickles on the underside of the background so I am just trying to make a lip at the bottom to prevent this happening so I have more time to allow the substrate to dry out even more.

[KingCam]

Thanks for the responses

I am currently drying the substrate out and it is getting there and only slightly damp. The substrate is going to get damp but my main concern was if it is damp will the silicon cure as well and will the substrate stick as well if it is damp?

I am making some touch ups to the foam at the moment as the waterfall runs down the wall and trickles on the underside of the background so I am just trying to make a lip at the bottom to prevent this happening so I have more time to allow the substrate to dry out even more.

Just because it's going to get wet after it's already cured doesn't mean you want it wet while it's curing. I will admit to having no person experience, but I'm getting ready to do the same thing you're doing and I've been reading a LOT of step-by-step forum posts and youtube how-to's. Multiple people have stated the benefits of using COMPLETELY dry substrate on the silicone. Also, you will want to press the substrate into the silicone with some force, otherwise almost none will adhere to the silicone. Leave about an inch of extra DRY substrate on top of what you pressed into the silicone until it's mostly cured. Then stand the tank up, and brush the excess coco fiber off. I personally would let it cure for at least a week after standing it up before exposing it to moisture of any kind. That's probably overkill, but I'd rather make doubly sure it's done right than have to start over on such a project.

[rivkah]

Being a fish keep for to many decades, I have used silicone for all sorts of applications... damp or bone dry will both work. With both you will have to look at it after it cures to make sure that no spots were missed and repeat as necessary You will get better, faster results is it is dry. But because the dry fibers will fall out exposing the bare spots. Whereas damp filber will stick to one another until dry.

To dry the substrate quickly... if you dont want to want until it dries "naturally", spread tin foil over a cookie sheet, spread the substrate over the tin foil and place in a 180-250 degree oven for apprximately 1 hour or so. Basically the lowest setting for you oven. The low heat will not burn the coco fiber, simply dry it out. This also great method to make sure that selected, found or questionable wood is safe for terrarium use.