Substrate question....

[Kindoffunny]

I know that some have used styrofoam for backgrounds... Sealed with concrete... My questions about this are as follows...

Can you use any styrofoam, or just the insulating board for houses? can you use the green stuff from a Florist let say (it's cheaper...)

Has anyone used styrofoam as a base for creating hills and valleys on the floor of your tank? Is this possible? Do you have to seal the styrofoam then add the substrate?

I am asking cause i would like to create a hill from one corner of my tank into the front corner... Creating levels... Then add so ground cover plants to create the effect that i want.... If I add Let say Eco-Complete to the sand that I have will this be ok or do i need to add sand or anything else under it?

I have a neat idea to use up some old equipment and i would like to know if this would work... The effect will be pretty cool and will post pictures when i start... I am in the planning stage right now.....

Thanks

[Scherb]

Hello, that is a neat idea and would look really cool. as far as i know there is no need to seal it. i have used the house stuff with no seal no problem, not sure if green Styrofoam is safe or not but the 1 problem i see is holding it down. a big piece like that is going to be Very Very buoyant. styrofoam can shoot to the top of a tank like a rocket and break stuff it hits, like your lite. you might want to do a test piece in a bucket or something just to see how much substrate u need to hold it down. hope that helps, good luck & Cheers

[Kindoffunny]

Yup thought about how I was going to hold it down.... Have it hollow and add some rock.... Seal it up when I glue the pieces together.... Then adding the substrate should hold it down... I hope.... But we shall see cause I also want to run a air line into it and add some escape holes for the sir up through it and then out the top... should work but will spend some time thinking about what else i can add.... Maybe a base using a rock and then add the styrofoam to that... We shall see..... Thanks for your input......

[mikebike]

You could use filter foam or filter fabric.
I bought some 4ft wide pond filter fabric from Art Knapp's to make filters out of.

You could cut it to the shapes you want and silicone it together.
then weigh it down with substrate.
The plant roots can grow right into it.