Need help choosing right sealer.

[bingerz]

Hey guys...im making a diy background for my tank. im making it out of the white styrofoam that packs furniture, tvs....that kinda thing. it's kinda made of the white pellets....it gives it a nice effect. anyways, it's NOT going inside the tank....it's just going to be hanging up in the behind the tank. i want to spray it with something just to hold it together, and give it more rigidity. make it less likely to "pick at" or pieces to break of it. is there some kind of sealer type i could put on it?

i was thinking about putting together a paper mache mix, w/o the paper....making it really thin and just layer by layer adding thin coats to it. but, i dunno...i don't know what that's gonna look like and it might ruin all the hardwork and time i already put into it. im thinking about also spray painting it too, afterwards. so whatever i put on top of it....has to accept paint.

should i just spray it down with some primer? add some thin coats of it?? here's what i have so far. that spot that you see in the middle is the lighting.

[tony1928]

Just be careful with the products that you want to spray onto it. If its solvent based, it may react with the foam and destroy your hard work.

[bingerz]

yeah, that's another thing im worried about. spraying it on...and watching it melt away. ive put it off for the longest w/o a background for my tank...if this crashes...i think i'll just give up.

[taureandragon76]

That looks really nice I would put it inside the tank I think what most do for inside the tank is seal it with some sorta concrete based material. I think simple grout/mortar would do the trick you just make the mix watery and apply a few coats. You can even tint the mix to what color you want it. Most paint products will melt the styrafoam for sure. Just outta curiousity why don't you wanna put it in the tank?

[bingerz]

Hi taurean, i met ur wife while shopping at Rogers! Thx for ur response...i wanna put it on the outside so that i dont have to go thru taking apart my tank..transferring my fish and then putting it all back together. i dont really have another tank to put them in. Those 3d bg's look nice...i just dont wanna go thru all the trouble.

[`GhostDogg´]

I'm in the middle of doing this too.
I want to hang it on the outside too.
I'm going to watch this thread to get info.

[bingerz]

Ghost, cool!! post some pictures of it, i wanna see how yours is going. i haven't had much responses with this. so i guess i'm gonna have to do some trial and error. i've got some extra pieces of styro, so i'll just try it out on those. i'll keep you up to date with how mines is coming along.