# DIY waterfall?



## Mongo1960

I'm hoping to add a waterfall to my terrarium, but the ones I've seen for sale are not very attractive. I was thinking about constructing one out of the foam stuff they use for filling in space behind drywall, but I'm worried about it being toxic to fish. Any suggestions?


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## karideskisehir

If you cover the meterial with fugapool, you can use surely.


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## Mongo1960

Huh! Never heard of this stuff. Many thanks for the suggestion!


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## Kehy

you could probably do one using a fountain pump hidden behind some piled up slate, that then spills over the slate. Or, you know, any other rocks.


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## Mongo1960

Yeah, I thought about this; may still pursue this option, as it looks so cool, but it sounds like it would be harder to make it water tight


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## Kehy

The way I suggested means you would have to have a container for the water so that it could continuously circulate. That might or might not be a good thing for what you're imagining. Get a big enough container (3+ gallons) and you could possibly have a fish in the water part. Or keep it much smaller and shallower, and you could still grow some aquatic plants emersed, like crypts and anubias.


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## Mongo1960

Very good idea. I will certainly consider it. Thanks!


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## bigcountry10

A simple waterfall could work something like this, since it's not going to be completely full of water you would have a reservoir you could make this out of Plexiglas or Styrofoam covered with quikrete for a more natural look. Then you could take some Styrofoam and carve it into the desired shape for a water fall basically you would just cut a notch out of the middle for the water to go through. Then build the fill chamber out of Plexiglas or just use a premade plastic container, drill a hole in the bottom for PVC pipe. Hook a piece of PVC up to your pump then to the container (one side should be unscrew able so you can take the system apart in case of malfunction) or if you want to take the easy way just do some flexible tube from the pump to the fill chamber. Paint some quikrete onto the Styrofoam waterfall (3 to 4 layers) watch this video it will show you how DIY Aquarium Background Part 1 ( materials & cutting ) - YouTube. Then let it soak for a few days in some water to leach out the acidity. Then turn it on and let your friends drool and writhe with jealousy.


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## Mongo1960

Wow! I'm drooling without the jealousy... many thanks bigcountry10!


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## sonardesigns1

The spray foam you are asking about is called "Great Stuff" and they make a pond & Stone crack filler that is non-toxic to fish and the like.


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## Mongo1960

Any idea who sells this?


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## sonardesigns1

A quick search online will give you a lot of online results. One place is amazon

Amazon.com: Dow Chemical Co. 283064 Great Stuff Pond And Stone Foam: Home Improvement

Local landscape & Pond stores will work too. not sure about home depot.


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## ecl

another option is DryLock, got mine at home depot in a one gallon can. It a sealer that you can color with cement dyes. I've used it on 2 styrofoam backgrounds with no issues so far and I still have about half the gallon left after 3-4 coats on a 10 and 35 gallon tank backgrounds.


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