# DIY 'Rock' retainer wall



## Alasse

I'm setting up another tank and wanted a way to separate the plant substrate from the sand i want to use at the front (for my cories) So i decided to build a wall, quite pleased how it turned out actually

All that was used was foam, silicon and black quartz sand.

Full wall 









'rock'









Close up


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## automatic-hydromatic

very neat!


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## M1ster Stanl3y

Wait that's foam?


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## danilykins

Oh I reallly like that!!! what a cool way to separate plants and sand!!


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## Alasse

Thanx guys 

Yep its foam (below is the rough draft before final tweaking)


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## Brando

this is very cool, can you expand on your process? 

what type of foam exactly? It looks like the stuff that come on appliance boxes and such. ( is this safe in a tank?)
How did you shape it, i think heat would be a good tool.

How did you seal it, how did you apply the sand?


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## Alasse

Yes its packing foam, and perfectly safe for tanks  
To shape it i used both a knife and heat. 
Doesnt need to be sealed, as all products used are fish safe
To coat in sand - Spread silicon (like icing a cake), sprinkle sand over and lightly press into silicon until all of viewed area is covered.

Very simple

I'm now in the waiting stage, the wall has been silconed into the tank, now a 72hour wait while the silicon cures, then onto the aquascaping


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## tscott

Cant wait to see it all together!


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## danilykins

Thats sooo neat. there's no way to do something like this to an established tank huh? LOL Would like to do something like that to my tank, but its already set up and full of water and fishies. Maybe doing something similar but have some sort of weights inside the foam..... *thinking*


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## Alasse

In an established tank would be a problem *L* The foam is extremely bouyant!. Not sure how it would go weighing it down to be honest.

What will be going into this is all the stuff from another tank, decor, filter, heater, plants, fish etc. The canister is not established, so i will need the old filter until the new picks up the slack.


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## snail

Nicely done.


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## majerah1

Looks good.Most people who use foam usually coat it in quickrete for the weight,but then it had to be sealed,and then soaked until it stops changing the PH.I like your way much better.Possibly to weigh it down,(on your next project)Is fishing weights.Looks like your styro is two pieces thick.If so then sandwich the weights in between the pieces?


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## Alasse

I am doing a concrete background one also, having trouble getting my hands on the hydrocrete componant. 

I wanted something quicker though *L* I'm gonna play with weights with the next few. With lead it will need to be sealed, i'm not keen on any lead being possibly released into my water (i dont even use the plant weights). The sinkers would need to be quite large though, honestly the foam is like a cork *LOL* Anyway will have a play with the for sure. I'm looking at my cichlid tank with 50-60kg (approx) of rock in it, i would love to be able to replace with foam rock that i can shape any way i want. Far less stress on the tank base, and no damage if they should happen to fall.

For this tank though, i wanted it siliconed to the base to stop substrate transfer under it.


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## snail

Why don't you just use stones as weights?


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## Alasse

More weight per size in lead sinkers, and they come in precise sizes, makes it easier to work out how much weight is needed to hold the foam down


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## Alasse

Update:

Ok wall stayed where it was supposed to. So 1 decent line of silicon the length of the wall will hold it down.

Ive started putting the substrate into the plant section, miscalculated how much i would need though, grrrrrrrrrr, i'll need to drop into the lfs and pick up more gravel!

Stay tuned, i'll try to grab pics as i'm 'scaping


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## Alasse

Finally picked up the bag of gravel i needed (approx 20kg of gravel/laterite/JBL mix behind the wall) Substrate is now all in


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## Alasse

Soooooo its done, well pretty much, needs a few more plants, but this is all i have at the moment.

A pic of wood and some plants being placed









Now filled, lights running. Still gotta fix up the canister, then plug it all in









I must say i'm rather proud of how it turned out


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## Alasse

Cleared water. Neons and cories in residence


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## automatic-hydromatic

wow, that looks amazing!

great job!


you've giving me good ideas to make use of the 10 gallon collecting dust on my shelf  I want to turn it into a little tank to just put plants in and house my guppy fry when the adults in my 30 gallon spawn...


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## snail

really nice when done. I'm not a fan of fake stuff in tanks but I like this one. Did you use black or clear silicon?


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## Alasse

Ta guys

I used clear silicone on the wall


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## peteyboyny

AWESOME JOB. You have inspired me. Now where did I put that can of GREAT STUFF.


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## Brando

peteyboyny said:


> AWESOME JOB. You have inspired me. Now where did I put that can of *GREAT STUFF*.


 Is that stuff aquarium safe????


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## Galvatron898

Wow that looks awesome!! Great work !! I want to try to build reef looking decor for my freshwater. what would be the best way to seal they fishing weights? Cover them in silicone? Also do I need to prep or seal the foam in anyway?


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## mec102778

love it, so manny uses for it.


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## Alasse

Galvatron898 said:


> Wow that looks awesome!! Great work !! I want to try to build reef looking decor for my freshwater. what would be the best way to seal they fishing weights? Cover them in silicone? Also do I need to prep or seal the foam in anyway?


Ta.

I would fully enclose the weights in silicone 
The foam wall is not sealed
The only prep done was shaping the foam, covering in silicone and sand


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## Alasse

It is holding up extremely well in the tank. I notice the quartz sand i used has a slight glitter look to it, looks quite effective


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## peteyboyny

Brando said:


> Is that stuff aquarium safe????


Yes it is. Just a little messy to work with. Its a little denser than styro. Some ppl have used it to seal styro backgrounds.y


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## J-Pond

Brando said:


> Is that stuff aquarium safe????


Yes it is, as long as you let it cure.


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## Alasse

Updated pic
As it is now


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## tscott

That looks great!


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## bruceaction

Alasse..you have done a great job there and inspired people to experiment,,trail ans error
the way forward,,I to will be playing arround, just to reduce the weight in rocks,would be a blessing...keep up the good work and thanks


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## Alasse

Thanx bruceaction 

a new updated pic


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## snail

Fantastic, I might have to do one of them!


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## squishy

thats freaking cool. cant wait to see it with the fish n everything in it! ::correction u already have a pic with fish in it, i didnt c it b4 but it looks awesome!!::


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## WhiteGloveAquatics

Flat out PHENOMENAL!!!!

Will something like this work with an NPT? 


Allase, hands down I think YOU are one of the only few hobbyists I have ever had the pleasure of communicating with that has a very VERY precise eye for detail, I admire your vision of the final product before its even laid out. Bravo!


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## Alasse

WhiteGlove - Thank you!

I'm not sure what a NPT is?


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## WhiteGloveAquatics

a filterless planted tank. I did some brain pondering today and it will work the exact same way. I am going to do a few for my 210 discus tank though not one side to side, a 6' piece would break to easy I think.


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## Alasse

There is no reason it wouldnt work in a filterless tank wether it be planted or not 

A 6' piece shouldnt break, providing it is well siliconed to the tank base. Mine once fully dry and in tank is quite strong


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