What Foam Board is Safe for Vivariums

Cas S

Arachnoknight
Joined
Apr 22, 2018
Messages
250
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.
 

Gnarled Gnome

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 10, 2019
Messages
198
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.
 

Cas S

Arachnoknight
Joined
Apr 22, 2018
Messages
250
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?
 

Gnarled Gnome

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 10, 2019
Messages
198
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.
 

Cas S

Arachnoknight
Joined
Apr 22, 2018
Messages
250
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
 

Dennis Nedry

Arachnodemon
Joined
Oct 21, 2017
Messages
672
I would assume they’re all safe so long as they’re sealed with silicone, pond sealant, etc
 
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