Expanding Foam???

[StormVixen]

Hi!
Im thinking of building a land/waterfall thing for my FBTs... I would like to use the material that the ZooMed Turtle Dock is made from, which is some kind of expanding foam i think, does anyone know what it is or what i could use?
Cheers Muchly xXx

[JohnEDove]

Try using "Great Stuff" that is what about everyone uses in their backgrounds.

[StormVixen]

what is Great Stuff? Does it float? thanx for the quick reply!

[Waterkeeper]

GS is expanding foam insulation in a can contractors use to fill in gaps and seal up pipes and whatnot. Pretty sure it floats.

[StormVixen]

hmmm... now im guessing this Great Stuff is a US product...? Are other brands of expanding foam ok to use as im in the UK and i've never heard of Great Stuff before?

[JohnEDove]

Someone from the UK posted a similar question in the last week or so but for the life of me I can't remember which forum they posted it on.
What I do remember is that they were able to find GS in the UK.

[froggsong]

GS floats VERY well, lol... I made an island in my frog tank, and I did not silicone it down because I wanted it to rise and sink some with the water level, and (lol) it floats a little more than I would like... It wouldn't be an issue if I had found some way to at least keep it in one place before I added my critters... My FBT's REGULARLY push it across the water area (thank goodness there isn't much room for it to go, other than where it is supposed to be). You should be able to make a perfect landing like those turtle docks with it, just make sure you rig it up to stay in place horizontally, but still have room to move up and down.

[StormVixen]

what im thinking of doing is... getting a big block of polystyrene and carving it to the basic shape then cover it with expanding foam then covering that with resin or waterproof pva mixed with acrylic paints wouldthat be ok do you think?

Thanx xXx

[strange_screams]

the foam and expandable foam thing is pretty standard, but i think you need something water safe to paint over it with, either a fiberglass concoction of some sort, or concrete which you can buy paints and stain for

[froggsong]

You shouldn't need to cover the polystyrene with GS, and I have read many logs where people were using it, and the generally cover it with concrete (habbacrete is supposed to be safe for pets without the long curing time or whatever) and then paint it with acrylic paints, I believe (just keep in mind that acrylic paint IS water based). You could also cover it with silicone and then milled peat moss/coco fiber/moss/sand/rocks/whatever (as long as it is safe for your herp).