# Foam driftwood?



## spec33 (Jul 16, 2014)

Would I be able to make fake driftwood out of pvc coated in great stuff foam or another kind then paint it with drylok? Also if I could would attaching it to a piece of slate keep it from floating?


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## greaser84 (Feb 2, 2014)

There is a pond foam that is aquarium safe. I've heard mixed reviews about using great stuff in an aquarium, some say its safe others say its not. You could try weighing it down with something inside the PVC as opposed to attaching it to slate, it might be easy to fill the PVC with cement or something similar.


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## Ottoblock (Nov 5, 2013)

It depends on who you talk to, but Fiberglass resin is said to be aquarium safe if done correctly and dried properly.

There's a couple guys on YouTube that have tutorials.


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## PhysicsDude55 (Oct 24, 2011)

Yes you can, there are several people who have done it.

Making it look like wood will be kind of hard. Its much easier to make it look like rocks.

You can just use spray foam (Great Stuff) or pink insulation foam blocks and silicone them together with aquarium safe silicone, and either silicone it to the tank or weigh it down with slate/rocks like you said.

Here's some pictures I found:










This guy said he used some sort of sculpting clay?












I made a foam/concrete background and integrated wood into it, and I think it turned out well.


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## spec33 (Jul 16, 2014)

cool concrete background. So if I made a fake piece of wood out of foam could I attach plants to it?


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## knm<>< (Mar 18, 2010)

I like yours better, integrating real wood looks better. However, the pvc mangrove looks like it could be really neat.


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## lochaber (Jan 23, 2012)

I would suggest just taking a real piece of wood and attaching slate to it instead of making a fake one.

Anyways, check out dendroboard. They have a lot of different builds, some of which sound real similar to what you are doing, or the pics posted by PhysicsDude55

For the coating, I'd avoid the fiberglass/polyester resin. That's pretty unpleasant stuff, it's not real easy to work with, and if you don't get the catalyst/resin ratios right, it can take forever to cure and meanwhile offgas pretty unpleasant compounds.

Use an epoxy resin - It will be a bit more expensive, but it's super easy to work with, mixing is straightforward, and it's not very hazardous/harmful.


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## HX67 (Jul 15, 2010)

I'm experimenting with the idea, too:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=198414

There's also my old (still running) mudsie paludarium:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=134866&highlight=mudskipper


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