Orchidarium, Great Stuff Foam?

[jonnygreenthumb]

I want to use the Great Stuff foam (@ Home Depot) for the background/bottom in my future Ochidarium. Does anyone else use this? How do you get foam to look natural and not the yellow color? I'm also planning on using PVC, covered in the foam also that is bent like to look like roots any ideas on how to get this to look natural?

[Kris]

Hello, I am working on a vivarium and just finishing it up. I went with cork bark slabs and epiweb just because that is what i hade on hand. Allot of people out there use the spray foam for reef tanks, orchidariums terrariums and all the rest. A great place to find out technique is www.dendroboard.com

Cheers!

[Ross]

I've thought about your post for most of the day and I keep coming up with the same conclusion - why use the foam? Unless you are striving for a "natural-appearing" environment such as vivarium folks have, why not just get cocofiber rolls and glue that to the back of the tank and raise the bottom with "egg-crate" panels used for florescent lighting fixtures? That's what I am planning. I think the point with orchidariums is to provide a certain moist environment. If you are after more than that, fine, but foam is not the only answer. Great Stuff is nasty. It is great () for insulating, but it is not aesthetic. Short of spray painting it, I don't know what you might do.

[Tindomul]

I used the foam cuase I was striving for a naturalistic look. But I wish I had used something like epiweb or tree fern panel ontop of it to give it some substance for the orchids. So maybe you aught to try that.
To get rid of the yellow of Greatstuff you smear black or brown silicone all over it. The silicone covers the yellow and allows you to glue tree fern panel or whatever to the foam. An alternative to Great Stuff is Handi Foam which comes in black, and is what I used. Good Luck!

[Gookis]

I used the Home Depot foam and it looks great! Keep in mind that it expands. I then covered it in black aquarium silicon. Then I covered the silicon in the coconut "bed a beast" husk. The coco husk is the stuff that comes in a compact brick at the pet shop. I'll post a picture soon.

The greatest drawback is that the orchids or other air type plants can't grow directly on it, like the blanket looking stuff.

Matt

[Gookis]

Neat thing about the foam is that you can easily make features or suspend growing pots on the walls of your enclosure and completely hide them. For mounted orchids, I just bent the metal hanger they came with and shoved it into the foam.

I attached the stone to the foam the same way I did the coco husk. Let foam dry, cover in black aquarium silicon, and cover in aquarium stone, let dry and shake out loose stones.

This is my first enclosure, so I'm learning.

Matt

Picasa Web Albums - Matt - Untitled Album

Picasa Web Albums - Matt - Untitled Album

[snow]

it looks very realistic.
now what you are missing are some minnie orchids

[Gookis]

It's a couple of lousy pics. I have a Den. Bellatulum and a Sophronitis Cernua. I built this enclosure thinking poison dart frogs or a Beta. A few weeks ago I started researching orchids and I'm in love! Now I need a larger enclosure!!

[snow]

never enough room.

[Gookis]

Exactly! My next enclosure will have Fish in bottom, poison dart frogs and geckos in the middle along with every orchid and bromilaid known (and a few Carnivorous), and birds up top! This is reasonable to ask isn't it? How big should this enclosure be? Couldn't help it.

Matt