fibreglass for background

[BJC-787]

am looking at building a fake rock background for my new enclosure, and i was just wondering if anyone has used fibreglass to cover the foam.

 

[Marzzy]

I thought about it being so easy to clean, waterproof, tough durable but not sure about the cost....
Depending on how much fibre glass layers you do you could probably get rid of the foam all together.

Though haven't done it myself...

 

[mike_k]

I've been planning a similar project as I got a large enclose I want to build and keep light. It's pretty hard to find much information, but I found searching aquarium backgrounds got the best results. I'll pm one of the links I found helpful

 

[BJC-787]

thanks for the link.
I would still use the foam as a form to get the shapes i want, i was not thinking about the weight just it would be less steps than covering it with grout and then waterproofing it, my background will be big it is 1.9m long x 1.5m high and want to build in a basking shelf and also ledges for them to sit on.

 

[mike_k]

Alot of what I've read, people have still used a layer of grout for the rock effect. Like you I wanna skip that step. I bought pigment for the epoxy and I think I may have to experiment with it a bit. Only thing I was worried about with not using grout was that the resin might end up all bumpy like the foam. Not heaps sure though.

 

[mike_k]

So how'd you go? Did you find any other info on using resin for a background?

 

[Erebos]

Fiver glass pigment is so hard to use you can't tell on your second coat/layer if there are any slight bubbles. You can't fiberglas over foam! It will eat the foam away your best to fiberglass over thick cardboard and for about $110 bucks you will be able to do a 4x4 square with about 4 layers.


Cheers Brenton

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Fiver glass pigment is so hard to use you can't tell on your second coat/layer if there are any slight bubbles. You can't fiberglas over foam! It will eat the foam away your best to fiberglass over thick cardboard and for about $110 bucks you will be able to do a 4x4 square with about 4 layers.


Cheers Brenton

You can't use POLYESTER resin over polystyrene foam (the common white stuff), but you can over POLYURETHANE foam (the foam that surfboards are made of, and the foam that comes in the cans from Bunnings) - polyurethane foam is not affected by solvents when cured.

But you can use EPOXY resin over both sorts of foam - it is more expensive and a bit harder to find, but a better product in most repects. Both POLYESTER & EPOXY resins can be purchased from Barnes Products, who have an excellent delivery service - I've ordered stuff from them late in the afternoon and it has been here in Port Macquarie (from Sydney) early the following morning.

Neither product should be used by anyone unfamiliar with the hazards of these chemicals by the way.

Jamie

 

[mike_k]

Yeah definately a few things to watch out for, but would love to hear from somebody that has used it for the purpose of enclosure backgrounds.

 

[Frozenmouse]

I have many years ago i used a 5mm x 5mm rodent wire frame work to make my rock ledges ect out of and glassed over the top of it i did 2 layers of woven cloth then i sanded any spikey parts and put 2 more layers of resin over it , when the last layer of resin was drying i covered it with sand , which stuck to it fairly well.
The finished product was strong enough to stand on so it was a bit of an over kill for my stimmy, lol.
Sorry no photos it was done many years ago.