Tip for future foam projects, when applying foam in a thicker amount like you did here, a few hours into the cure you can use a stick/skewer etc to poke holes all over the foam. It allows air to get inside and cure a lot more of the foam! Worked wonders for me and i had foam 5 inches thick at least!

Oh *gods* , the *SMELL* ! Why didn't anyone warn me the silicone would *SMELL* ?! The vinegar smell pierces my very *SOUL* someone please help me, *gods* why!

Put a layer of silicone down on the background and let it cure; then, use the foam. When you're done, you can cut the silicone around the contours of the foam background and peel away the excess. This provides a neater look. You can also make a "side cave" in the foam that butts against the glass. The frogs will hide in it (we know frogs love feeling like they are going behind the background) and you can still view them. Cover the area of the glass with a flap of black paper so they think they are hidden :)

Great Stuff now makes a black Pond expanding foam. Made for ponds. Works great in an aquarium.

I binge watched all of your videos, then I watched them all over again. Everything is perfect, the voice, your eloquence, video quality, clarity of your instructions. I am also amazed how such a young person is truly passionate about nature, so appreciative about even simplest things like a type of grass growing in your own backyard. You are incredibly talented. You deserve more than just a million followers on KZfaq, you deserve your own show on TV like National Geographic or something like that.

I highly recommend the "Pond and Stone" Great Stuff. It's black so you don't need to paint over the regular yellowish great stuff.

I have always liked watching naturalistic tank builds. I haven't had any critters to try such a tropical habitat. I would love to see your take on a naturalistic desert habitat, to see how you would deal with the restrictions in materials due to the high temperatures the habitat would need.

I love how you show creative solutions to problems for people without fancy tools! Great series :)

Very interesting aesthetics! I was unsure of the front leaning driftwood, but it turned out quite nicely! I can't wait to see what it'll look like completed.

I've done many vivariums using this method over the years. Another more permanent way to hide the great stuff from showing would be to coat the inside back and sides with silicone before applying the great stuff foam. Obviously this adds to the build time but works much better than painting glass. It also gives the foam a much better surface to adhere to vs glass.

Very helpful, thank you! I'm building my first viv background and it was great to see all of the steps in fast motion. Great video!

Nice video, try covering the wood with either foil or cling wrap, the foil will help prevent the foam from sticking to the wood past the point where you want the foam, and silicone does not adhere to cling wrap so might help to cover as much of the excess wood as possible in cling wrap before silicone'ing the background normal masking tape should help with this

Thank you so much for this video! Very well explained! I am watching all your videos pertaining to creating your own vivarium, starting with the tank conversion. Me and my husband are getting my daughter a crested gecko for her birthday and I am SO EXCITED to create an awesome enclosure for him before we bring him home! I have always wanted to create my own terrariums! I look forward to watching some of your other videos! After much research and watching many other videos on making my own vivarium, yours was absolutely the best one I’ve watched! Tysm for your videos! Amazing work!

Anybody else watching the fish in the background swimming at warp speed?

Black contact paper (shelf liner) is much easier and quicker than painting to hide the foam. It also does a decent job covering those small gaps that need something flexible enough to let the door/lid open.

I tell ya this guy has the biggest, most creative brain.

I’ve been watching your videos for years. And they’re always awesome.

One of the best tutorials I’ve watched yet. 👍🏼

Great job! Most thorough and informational tutorial out there. Thanks for including all the build costs!

OMG I START TODAY PUT IN THE FOAM AND I DID NOT USE THE GLOBES OMMGGGGGGGG MY HEANDS ARE A MISSSSSSS HAHAHAHAHHA BUT MEN LET ME TELL U THIS AGAIN, YOU ARE THE BEST. THANKS IM ABOUT TO FINISH THE PROJECT

honestly, I'm from the future and his technique has changed

My daughter says you are a very good youtuber and your voice is very soothing. She's 9. Lol.

one of the only channels where I watch the ads ;)

Wow this channel is a hidden gem, keep up the great videos!

My fiance and I love your channel! Great videos, great voice :D Thanks for all the helpful information you give out! :)

That fishing line trick is genius

dude I freaking love you man. Your videos are the best!!! i am a huge fan and i find​ myself watching and learning from you every day!! I can't wait to start doing this. you are amazing, thank you so much for taking the time to do this for us. i really appreciate your videos and time man. i hope to network with you in the future and definitely get in touch with you on future projects. keep up the great work!!

I’m creating my very first vivarium because of your awesome videos!! Thank you for all the info!!!

You are my favorite KZfaqr! 😍 Your videos are very useful for those who are at first weapons‼️

Amazing video as always. I'm a big fan and can't wait to see what you have for us in the future. I'm actually in the Tarantula hobby myself but watching these videos really helps with enclosure ideas and really gets the creative juices flowing. I plan on making a living enclosure for one of my tropical species. I'll be sure to let you know when its done to show you what you have inspired ^__^

Really enjoying these videos! I just wanted to make a suggestion that you don't have to use enamel to paint the sides, you can use regular acrylic paint too.

thank you I enjoyed it, you are so creative and masterful, your calming voice is so good

Keep on with the videos :) I hope you get more recognition real soon ! Really good videos, with passion and straight forward :)

Tip for those who are doing this 5 years later for the 1st time. If you have long hair make sure you put it up. Without realizing it you may get insulation foam in your hair 😓.

Another great video! I was wondering how you would cover up the sides and then you provided a solution. Please keep up these fantastic videos!

Thank you sir 🙏 you are simply talented , creative and informative always ✌️✌️✌️

I plan on doing this for my garder snake encloser, thxs for the tutorial, it helped alot

Dude your videos are great!!! Thanks for the ideas! and the Steps!!!

excellent video i was searching in youtube and no one explains it this well ( sorry if i say something wrong my native language is spanish lol)

Got it, fill tank with foam and then painstakingly scrape it all out 👍

You have a creative mind! I dig it!

I managed to do what I needed with the Great Stuff, but working with silicone was a nightmare. I tried a bunch of different types and NONE seem to flow like what you are showing in the video. They are all very thick, not thin like paint. It turned the silicone portion of the job from something fairly quick into something that takes days and multiple passes.

Your videos are badass man along with your work 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Did u serisouly just use the supply register to raise the height of ur driftwood?!?! Hahahha effing genius bro!!!!!!!!!

I have a gorgeous piece of flat driftwood I've been saving for years lol Maybe it's time I used it in something like this. I have barking tree frogs who are in a temporary basic 5 gallon bioactive tank for now. I've been working on their permanent home but I want it to be perfect 😅

Love your videos. Very creative and inspiring. Always fascinating.

This video is brilliant. Thank you so much ❤️

Awesome video! I'm definitely gonna be doing this in my next set up 👌🏻

Why Is your silicone so liquid? I can't use a brush with mine 😭

Another amazing project. I’m going to build one this Fall.

I'd love it if you could make a ghostwood background, or a pvc pipe tree root background.

Why does the foam look so fucking delishious

Use food grade silicone, same as aquarium grade, but generally cheaper. I wouldn't use normal hardware store silicone.

I liked it saves a whole lot for substrates !

Great video man, plan on using this for my next millipede tank

Hey, I love your videos and I was wondering if you could do a tutorial for an all fungi terrarium. Ive seen some tutorials for this but they always seem to use as little mushrooms as possible. keep up the great work

When I was in 5th grade I used that foam in an egg drop contest. Me and my friend didn’t know it would be stuck to us so we panicked and told my mom. She was laughing and gave us acetone on a cotton to pick at the pieces. It came off and then we washed our hands with dish soap. So learn from my experience do wear gloves if you don’t just get a bit of acetone and dish soap.

good information about the tank and it is so cool and natural.😎

When you smeared the foam on the glass I'm screaming ahhh the cringe😲😲😲. Then i see the subtitles and calmed down. Lol

Hello! I have loved your videos for years and go back to them regularly. Whilst I've been pondering my next project, I seem to have hit a bit of a brick wall. I was hoping you'd maybe be able to help me! I basically want to put my African Giant Land Snails and their custodians into a large fish tank as a bit of an upgrade and really want to go all out and create a brilliant and natural habitat for them. However, my question is: would creating a custom background like what you've done yourself in this video, even be safe for my snails? I can't seem to find much valid information for whether or not any of these products will harm them in any way. If it is unfortunate enough that they will not be able to have a DIY background like this, what alternative products would you recommend or do you think I should steer clear all together? Thanks for reading and all the best Tanner 😊👍 -Cait

Have you done an updated version of this series of videos? It seems you have changed how you do somethings over the past few years.

Serpa, thanks for the inspiration. I used your spray foam/silicone/coir method to sculpt the custom vivarium for my bearded dragon! We love it so much!!! If you have any time, I'd love it if you watched my build video and posted any suggestions/feedback you may have (click my channel to see it, I swear this isn't spam haha). He's going to need an upgrade in size soon, and I think I'll be using something a little more sturdy to sculpt it, like carved styrofoam coated with grout/clay. My dragon climbs all over the background more than I expected and his little nails are scratching it up. But the foam/silicone/coir looks great, so I'm going to try to emulate it with other materials. Thanks again!

Man !, thank you SO MUCH for posting this vid. So very helpful.

Less permanent option. Plasti-dip. Ahhh the age of technology!

How long did it take for the silicone smell to go away?

All the videos I watch on here I can not find any UK versions of products used unsure what is safe

Did you ever have issues with the foam peeling away from the glass? I’m doing a vertical one as well and have seen this issue pop up in forums when the background is planted in and weighted the foam peels away from the glass, just wondering if it’s a potential future issue

Excentes videos!! Un saludo desde Chihuahua México!!

Building the same thing for my Leopard Geckos ! TY for all the info!

I love the idea of putting the planters in the background! What plants have you found work best in them? I’m doing a build for a friend and I’d like to do a similar viv for myself at some point!

Sweet guide Tanner!

Dont know why but when you turned the enclosure @ 9:34, that reminded me of the game "oddworld" 👉😂

How do you clean the background?

Why not use black foam to avoid having to paint the glasd and so that foam that shows through is not a problem?

This channel is absolutely incredible. You're very informative, great at instruction, and have really good editing. Please let me know if I can do anything to help you out. Also: where in the Philly-area are you from? Your accent makes me homesick.

that music really sounds like David Bowie's Heroes

That's an awesome tutorial video!! Btw wondering if you can provide us some tips on how to clean this naturalistic DIY enclosure if we aren't doing bioactive??

Why don't you put stuff under the foam so you don't have to use so much?

I just used 2 cans of great stuff on my 20 gallon tank... am I hecked?!

*The BEST METHOD for hiding the foam on the sides, is to paint black silicone onto the INSIDE of the vivarium sides, on the bits where you intend to "foam" - let it dry before foaming... Cut the excess off with the flat blade, in the same way you did here, after foaming and coating with your substrate material.* *This is the method I use, and if applied properly (without gaps), it gives a perfect, full, smooth black effect that looks professional and clean.*

What do you keep in that enclosure? An aboreal tarantula?

Okay so how do make it not stink? I followed this video and my tank smells like chemicals SOOOO bad

@Serpa great video! Motivated me to make my first one. Question thought after 2 hours I dropped the loose soil and some of the silicon spots where I first applied when I started the phase must of dried a little to much, so the soil didn't adhere to well. What do you recommend. Should I shave it then reapply silicone to the specific area or just deal?

I have a 20 gallon hexagon column tank that I’m looking not to add a background to but a central pillar too. Do you think the great stuff would be strong enough to secure it at the base? Do you think I can just use branches with foam and pots or should I have some underlying structure? Any advice would be greatly appreciated 💚

Looks great! I wonder how I could use the expanding foam on my screened reptibreeze chameleon enclosure?

great vid ! Should we ever worry about bacteria populating in the foam ? or are we making such an environment that theres constant breakdown of wastes and by-products by the ecosystem that its only a real concern if we let faces sit and soil the enclosure? Im thinking of keeping a chameleon in a vivarium like setting. Obviously id be removing feces as i see them. Thank you for your input.

Have you ever had the foam break the glass while expanding? And should I just use GS cracks and gaps and then cover it with GS pond and tank to make it dark? Im making a paludarium for vampire crabs out of a 10 gallon.

Thank you for this Video i just made my First background ever Subbed!

You can also us black pond foam instead and you wouldn't have to have the mess of painting or using the colored silicone.

Can I do this underwater, like in a aquarium? Or something similar?

You're right, it's easy to over think. To that point, I'm surprised this is the first time I've seen silicone used as the sealant. It seems such a simple solution. Can it be used in waterfall areas? I know it's in the tank, but these are thinner layers with running water. Thoughts?

Hi beautiful background and looks amazing is just what I'm after. Quick question if you could please please answer I'm thinking about putting a boa constrictor in mine so what would happen if he decides to go to the toilet all over the background how would you clean it or is it even possible? Thanks

No mold will grow in between the silicone? Or foam?

one of the best design !

My glass is so smeared due to the silicone lol. Tried to clean it off but it doesn’t wanna come off. Any tips on this?

awesome video man, totally helped! just one thing, o bought the exact g&e silicone your using, and was curious about the mold-free factor in it... i found through research that its is a type of silicone that expels some time of amonia that is suposed to kill mold and fungus, thus making it unsafe for live natural vivariums and can be deadly for amphibians and fish. the same brand also offeres a safer alternative silicone 1. (only comes in clear and white) the one you used is silicone 2 (offers diferent colors but has mold free additives)

This is awesome! Got a question though. Could cypress be used instead of orchids bark?

This is exactly what I was looking for thank you. What brand of silicone are you using???????

Is it normal for expanding foam to still smell a bit like chemicals after drying for 4 days of drying?

hi there I love these ideas but I have a question... how and what lighting do you use? does lighting just shine through the glass or do you actually put the light in side the enclosure? thank you so much I am always enjoyong your vidios