Starting my very first Dart frog tank.

[chellabella]

The gaps and cracks stuff is something suggested off of this forum actually. I have been reading on here a lot and have read some things on here about using foam but still feeling nervous for some reason.

[chellabella]

the gaps and cracks is the type by the way, it is made by Great Stuff.

[deranged chipmunk]

the gaps and cracks will work well. i actually prefer the new foam by ge. i find that it cures with smaller air bubbes, but c&g will suffice. as far as control, there is very little. it will expand as it wants to. and the c&g will expand more than the others. get yourself a few cheap, dollar store steak knives for carving, they work well. although i prefer a combo of steak knives and various exacto knives and wood rasps.

[DartEd]

I would recommend rubbing a thn layer on the glass before applying the GS. Let the silicone cure, then apply the GS foam. GS wasn't intended for bonding to glass so it can separate without the silicone. Lay the tank with the background facing up. Spray a bit of foam at a time until you get the feel for it. If you want to layer the foam up, let it cure for a day and then add more or it takes FOREVER to cure or it will fall over becoming frustrating. The spray foam is fun to work with.

Let the foam cure. The foam expands a lot and then shrinks a bit. That's why I silicone first. When it shrinks, it stays attached to the glass.

Once the foam has completely cured( about 36-48 hrs), carve it to your liking and sand it down to eliminate the tiny cracks and crevicesformed by spraying it in. The foam dries smooth making silicone a bit tough to spread. If you rough up the smooth spots with sand paper, the silicone holds better and is easier to apply.

Apply the silicone in small sections. I recommend mentally sectioning off the tank into thirds. Silicone, coco or peat. Silicone then coco or peat. Until everything is covered. If you can, use brown or black silicone. This way if you miss a spot, no big deal, it's brown.

SUPER IMPORTANT

WEAR GLOVES AND SKIN PROTECTION.
great stuff is not great on skin. It does NOT come off skin except for peeling off while taking skin with it.

Good luck, take pictures and let us know how you're doing.

[chellabella]

so if I want to be able to take it out to put on the coco I would want to not put the silicone down first right? I was thinking originally that I would use the foam, then let it cure and then remove the foam piece to cover it with the coco before then using the silicone to stick it to the back of the tank. is one way going to be easier or will the be about the same?

[deranged chipmunk]

if you want to be able to remove it, the foam a piece of egg crate the appropriate size and do the work out of the enclosure, then silicone the eggcrate in. be cautious though, this procedure is a painstaking process. since it will take quite a but of trimming and tweaking. you could always just use some pink construction insulation foam, carve it out and then silicone it in. once cured to the glass, the great stuff will not come out in one piece.

another option for covering the foam is my favorite the titebond II method. instead of silicone, you use titebond iii wood glue. it stinks less, is water proof and you can re-apply it to cover any bare spots. something you cannot do with silicone.

[DartEd]

Silicone is definitely tougher to work with. I've never worked with titebond but lots of people love working with it. As Bill said, the foam will not be removable once to spray it in. You can use styrofoam like he suggested. Most craft stores sell it and its pretty cheap and much more forgiving than GS is. Then you can seal and cover your background outside of the tank like you wanted. An advantage of the styrofoam is that you can carve crevices and glue pieces to create ledges.