# What Foam Board is Safe for Vivariums



## Cas S (Dec 14, 2019)

so im making a vivairum for my leachianus and i want to have a custom foam background. ive built 3 other backgrounds but those where just the regular spray foam the back of the tank method, and ive found it can be hard to get my knife in the rights spots to carve the foam. so ive seen a couple people use a sheet of foam from lowes or something, and they put the hardscape on that and then foam it and stuff, so they can carve it outside of the tank. ive done a bit of research and i found one that a youtuber used, but its not being made anymore, and ive also read that styrofoam can cause problems with the endocrine system in frogs, and its also super messy because of all the little balls that come out when you carve it. so id rather use the hard foam boards, but i dont know how safe they are.


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## Gnarled Gnome (Dec 14, 2019)

I used the regular green foam insulation from any big hardware store. They come in either giant sheets or more manageable squares a few feet across. It's pretty easy to carve with a dremel, drill, or sandpaper. It makes dust rather than those little hell-balls. But its definitely easy to carve. And spray foam sticks well to it.
I used silicone to seal it and add substrate to make it pretty.


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## Cas S (Dec 15, 2019)

Gnarled Gnome said:


> I used the regular green foam insulation from any big hardware store. They come in either giant sheets or more manageable squares a few feet across. It's pretty easy to carve with a dremel, drill, or sandpaper. It makes dust rather than those little hell-balls. But its definitely easy to carve. And spray foam sticks well to it.
> I used silicone to seal it and add substrate to make it pretty.


ok thanks, whats the difference between all the different colors?


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## Gnarled Gnome (Dec 15, 2019)

They are chemically different because they're designed for different specific uses. For our use I cant speak for the pink or blue stuff because I havent tried. I honestly just used the green because it was cheap and available in moderately sized panels.


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## Cas S (Dec 16, 2019)

Gnarled Gnome said:


> They are chemically different because they're designed for different specific uses. For our use I cant speak for the pink or blue stuff because I havent tried. I honestly just used the green because it was cheap and available in moderately sized panels.


ok, ive seen serpa design on youtube use the green stuff from lowes but ive also heard the pink and blue stuff is also good. i might just get the green stuff


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## Dennis Nedry (Dec 16, 2019)

I would assume they’re all safe so long as they’re sealed with silicone, pond sealant, etc


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## Cas S (Dec 30, 2019)

Dennis Nedry said:


> I would assume they’re all safe so long as they’re sealed with silicone, pond sealant, etc


ok thanks


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