29 gallon build log

[J Teezy]

oh man Friday the 13th hit me. today i was loading up my car to take my stuff over to my place (i had been working on this at my parent's house because they have utility sink and other stuff that makes it more easy for me to clean up brushes and ****). So i stuck my background all my other supplies in my car, then about an hour or so later I had decided i was going to do another coat of Shields All so i went out to get the background out of the car. What i saw gave me a bad feeling in my stomach.

For some reason the areas where the Great Stuff was used had started to crack. Its almost as if the foam had decided to expand a little bit even though i did the foaming almost 2 weeks ago. I really i'm baffled on what happened as the cracking only happened in areas where the GS is. All the other styrofoam where there is no GS is perfectly fine. Now its about 65 degrees outside and probably a little bit warmer than that in my car where i had the background, but i find it hard to believe that a tiny bit of heat caused the GS to expand more (2 weeks after i applied), but who knows. So of the cracks are pretty extreme, and i'm very pissed off right now. So my ideas were either throw it away and forget about it or figure out some kind of solution. Well i really don't want to start over on this so I decided i'm going to try and see what i can do. I got out some black acrylic and my paintbrush and started trying to fill the cracks with paint so that the color of the foam isn't showing. It kind of messed up my paint job on the rocks but it doesn't look too bad. I hope the cracks don't get worse or i'll have to just toss this background which would really make me mad.

Here's some pictures of the cracks before i tried to fix them with paint














I'm really bummed right now in fear that this background is done for, hopefully i can fix it. Man i'm pissed right now

[AReaHerps]

That sucks man. So sorry. I think it will look great after you fix it. Don't toss it though! Keep your head up. Fantastic looking background either way!

Sent from my Android Tapatalk App!

[J Teezy]

messed around with the brush and some paints and was able to fix the areas. The cracks actually make the rocks look even more realisitic now, but my fear is that this is going to keep cracking. I'm going to leave it alone for a day or so to see what happens to the cracks.

[bigwilliestyles]

messed around with the brush and some paints and was able to fix the areas. The cracks actually make the rocks look even more realisitic now, but my fear is that this is going to keep cracking. I'm going to leave it alone for a day or so to see what happens to the cracks.

I was thinking that those cracks just make it look more authentic. It seems a bit weird that it cracked? Perhaps it had something to do with the grout drawing moisture from the foam? My foam backgrounds with peatmoss havent had an issue with cracking. Although they do shrink a bit with time.

I am looking forward to seeing this all planted.

[NatureLady]

Oh man. I was just able to load this thread and sorry about the cracks!!!
It looks really amazing though and I hope that it has decided to stop cracking!

[J Teezy]

I was thinking that those cracks just make it look more authentic. It seems a bit weird that it cracked? Perhaps it had something to do with the grout drawing moisture from the foam? My foam backgrounds with peatmoss havent had an issue with cracking. Although they do shrink a bit with time.

I am looking forward to seeing this all planted.

It wasn't the grout that cracked. The foam expanded somehow and cracked the grout, Can tell it was the foam because of how spread the cracks were. I fixed it for now hopefully. I'm just waiting on this guy to get back to me about drilling my drain so i can move on with the build, he's holding me up at the moment

[J Teezy]

drain is drilled eggcrate is made, glass top coming in next couple days so almost ready to plant this thing

[Nano]

Hey Josh,

Did you manage to get vents drilled as well?

[J Teezy]

i'm not going to vent it. Probably just put a fan in it

[Nano]

Oh, ok. Something like that won't work for me. Some of the plants I have are quite sensitive and if I don't turn on the rain or spray quite regularly their leaves start drying out... if I put a fan I think they will just die straight away.

Sometimes I think my tank is too humid, but I don't know for sure as I don't have a gauge to measure humidity yet.... I think I will have to fix that soon

[J Teezy]

my fan will only kick on for a couple minutes after the misters go off just to clear the glass mainly

[GrifTheGreat]

I'm pretty sure JT that the foam expanded due to the heat absorbed. From sunlight being concentrated through the windows of your car. Heat cause all objects whether it be metal or even glass to expand with heat and shrink when cold. Perhaps a sudden contraction of the particles in the foam became warmer just as sudden and caused the particles to expand hence cracking the paint. I've seen such things happen.

[ndame88]

Josh,
so since you are making the background outside of the tank, how are you going to get it to stick to the back glass panel? Silicone?

Thanks

[J Teezy]

it won't attach to the tank at all. I make my backgrounds so they can be easily removed if needed. It will just sit inside the tank up against the back glass and left side glass.

By the way the background is completely sealed and done. Just need to get myself to the glass shop to get my tops then it's pretty much ready for soil and plants

[DonLisk]

messed around with the brush and some paints and was able to fix the areas. The cracks actually make the rocks look even more realisitic now, but my fear is that this is going to keep cracking. I'm going to leave it alone for a day or so to see what happens to the cracks.

I wanted to reply last night but was to exhausted to think. :-)

I like the cracks since they make it more natural looking, like when plants just sprout up out of nowhere and begin to grow in the tank.
Josh, have to punched some holes into the thicker GS areas to see if any air or gasses have built up and need to be released? Not sure if that would be the reason but its a thought.

[J Teezy]

I wanted to reply last night but was to exhausted to think. :-)

I like the cracks since they make it more natural looking, like when plants just sprout up out of nowhere and begin to grow in the tank.
Josh, have to punched some holes into the thicker GS areas to see if any air or gasses have built up and need to be released? Not sure if that would be the reason but its a thought.

Yeah i punched a few holes but probably not enough. All is good though, it was doctored up with paint and looks fine now. I sealed it all with Shields All and went ahead and smeared some clear silicone over some of the areas that i know will be more wet than others.

I converting an old dresser into the stand so i need to sand it and paint it then i will be ready to move on

[FrogLoving17]

It's looking really good can't wait to see the whole thing done! I got a few questions.
What kind of silicone did you use to put the styrofoam together
Do you have to grout before you paint
Does all silicone dry clear?

[J Teezy]

GE Silicone I Window and Door
yes it dries clear
you grout then paint then seal

[FrogLoving17]

Thanks!

[J Teezy]

glass tops cut, just need to drill them, light fixture and substrate ordered, just need to refinish the stand i'm going to be using, once that is done, plants get ordered and tank should be up and running