Did you soak the bricks as directed first? and did you dry the product after that? If so, you should have ended up with a soil like material, apply the silicone in small 10" by 10" areas, then quickly cover the area with the dry coco "soil", make sure you pile the coco onto the siliconed area at least 2" thick, then pat the coco down onto the silicone carefully as not to smear the silicone underneath the coco, let it dry for at least an hour, you can then CAREFULLY vacuum the excess coco fiber up and repeat the process, it takes a good while to complete the background but it is worth it, if you covered the entire background with silicone then tried to apply the coco, its not going to work as the silicone skins up in like a couple of minutes, so if you did, more than likely the silicone where you started was skinned over by the time you finished adding the rest, and thats why its not sticking to the silicone, let me know how you applied the silicone and coco fiber. =)

I soaked the Bricks then I put them on a tarp to dry then the soil still might have been a little wet and I wrung it out with my hand and some moisture did come out I applied the silicon in a 10x10 area and then I used a brush and coverd all the areas it was pretty dang thick I did stall and take some time to move the silicon around then I applied the cocco and it doesnt look like its working what can I do now? is there clear clue I can but and go over the silicon and with the cocco again or do I try to remove it? and start over

First I have to tell you that you cannot rush this process! It will take time to do and rushing it will only mess up the whole thing, Im not trying to be mean, I just went through it a couple of times and found that the best way to go is s-l-o-w-l-y =) now, if the coco is moist, I dont think its going to stick, so you have to let it dry completely, also, you were kind of vague on how much of the background you covered, if only a 10" by 10" area, just remove the coco as best you can and apply a new coat of silicone, I found the best way to do this is to apply the silicone in the 10" by 10" area useing a tight serpentine motion, then, with rubber gloves on, use your fingers to smear the silicone around the 10" by 10" area and only around that area! do it quickly but carefully, then place the dry coco fiber at least 2" thick.....and follow the direction on my previuos post! =) Remember, it does take time but will come out great! It took me a week to do my "piggyback" set up, the pics are in the gallery, feel free to pop on over there and check them out! feel free to ask any other questions you might have =) =)

thank you Iliketerrariums you are right my problem is I am rushing it I just vacummed off all the excess dirt and then used gloves and removed all the silicone I could the problem was is the dirt was way to wet and I waited to long to apply the dirt and the silicon became hard on the top and still sticky in the middle. When I removed it I could tell this was the case. I have had more trouble with this terrium than anyone in the world im about to give up ... =( I didnt wear gloves and applied the great stuff foam and got it on my hands and it would not come off and it still wont then I tried paint remover and burned the hell out of hands with a chemical burn.
I saw your tank with the white tree frog sitting in the middle and thats what made me want to build one it was so cool... ill attach a link to my terrarium take a look and you can tell me how messed up you think it is

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1269120}}

I would scrape it all off and start again, this time you know that its going to take time to do, the reason I say scrape it all off and start again is that you are going to run into more problems trying to fix it, than just starting over, I also noticed that you didnt place any pots in place for the plants, and you didnt put the hoses in place for whatever water feature you are planning, if you take your time and do this right you will get this done, Im just about as brainless as the next guy but I managed to do it! LOL! PLEASE go visit www.blackjungle.com, look at the tall tank set up as it will give you step by step directions! with pictures! and underneath the pics are tips! so if you follow the steps and take all the time you need (DO NOT RUSH!) you will end up with a very nice set up! =) You didnt mess up the tank, its your first and you were rushing, the main problem was...you were rushing, and just for the record I dont think your set up is "messed up" you just rushed, I have faith in you! to quote a great movie (Water Boy),"YOU CAN DO IT!" =) feel fre to ask any and all questions and dont be discouraged. =)

I didn't put pots in my background, but I did put lots of sticks. I'm planning to cover it with air plants, so hopefully my messed up attempt at a background covering will end up completely covered by greenery so no one will notice it anyway. I'm about to try it again, like I said in response to the other post, and hopefully it will turn out okay this time. I have set up two terrariums before but not with a background. This is new to me, too. Don't get discouraged! Hang in there, it will be worth it in the end.

Okay I give up the dirt is not going to stick, it is defintly 100% dry and I tried silicone polyurethane and even liquid nail nothing seems to work I took your advice Iliketerraiums and removed it all everything im back to a 100% bare stock tank again and going to start over this time im not doing that foam and dirt junk even though it looks cool...
I am going to do flat cork wood on the back...
now a question do I just put black silicone on the glass and then attach the wood to the glass right?

Here is another idea, someone on another forum did this and it worked and sounds a lot easier. Do the foam, skip the silicone. Right after spraying the foam when it is still sticky put your dirt on it. Make sure you cover it real thick! I wish I had this idea before I got started. I agree, the silicone is a mess and doesn't seem worth the time it is taking. But I'm stuck with it now, I've spent around a hunderd dollars on this junk!

Wow! I kinda hoped you guys wouldnt give up on it, But whatever works, or in your case, doesnt work for you =) some of us have had very good expieriences with this "GreatStuff" background and some of us have not, but before we go saying."Okay I give up the dirt is not going to stick, it is defintly 100% dry and I tried silicone polyurethane and even liquid nail nothing seems to work" I would like to point out that noobtoterraiums told me that he rushed the process?, you also mentioned that you covered most of the back ground with silicone first, then tried to add "moist" coco fiber to it? First off your never going to get it right when you rush it, its a process that takes some time, you knew this before you started, second, you knew to do a 10" by 10" section at a time, yet you covered most of the back ground anyway, so the silicone skinned over and the coco fiber didnt stick, even if you applied the silicone correctly it wasnt going to stick because it was moist, so although it is your opinion and I respect it, I dont think you have the right to say, "this time im not doing that foam and dirt junk" since you did not follow the direction, but again it is your opinion and I respect it, I just dont agree with it, back2eight, you mentioned, "the silicone is a mess and doesn't seem worth the time it is taking. But I'm stuck with it now, I've spent around a hunderd dollars on this junk!" Id like to mention that although the idea you mentioned sounds good, it is just someones way of "cutting corners" and we all know what happens when you cut corners, you up with a sub standard job, you say that, "silicone is a mess and doesn't seem worth the time" you really should have thought about that BEFORE you started, you also knew that it was going to take time and patience to complete the process, and, when done correctly, it is well worth the time as I and many others that have done it and get nothing but complaments on it, as for the $100.00, that depends on the size of your set up and how many times you tried to fix the mistakes made in the process, so again, although it is your opinion and I respect it, I dont think you have the right to say, "the silicone is a mess and doesn't seem worth the time it is taking. But I'm stuck with it now" since you knew before hand that the silicone is a mess to work with and the process was indeed time consuming, so, although I do respect your opinion, I dont agree with it, noobtoterraiums, I really have no clue on how you would attach driftwood to glass? but I know you do silicone the coco sheets to it, its a very simple process, sorry I couldnt answer the driftwood question =( Remember, These are just my thoughts, but if you read this post carefully and with a clear mind, you will see the logic behind it. Good luck with your terrariums! =)

iliketerrariums, I'm not giving up on it just yet. :) My set up is 150 gallons. I think when I first applied it, I covered too large of a section at a time, and applied it too thin. I am planning on working on it again today to make it look better. At about five dollars a tube, I've bought 13 tubes, plus sevreal cans of great stuff, so this background has already cost me just under 100 dollars just for the silicone and great stuff. I don't mind the time it is taking. It will be worth it in the end to have something that I'm happy with. I've got sticks like crazy all over it. I'm going to completely cover the background with air plants, so any newbie mistakes I make with the silicone should wind up covered with the plants anyway. I'm really having fun with this. I'm not getting discouraged, even though my post may have sounded like it. I'm just learning as I go!
{{gwi:1269121}}

That is what it looked like before adding the silicone

back2eight, Im glad to hear that your not quiting! =) and that foam doesnt look bad AT ALL! Please send a pic of the tank with the silicone on it, also, the "sticks" you have placed through out the background might not show up that well after your finish, most are really kinda flush with the foam and will probably end up giving the tank a "root through soil" affect, which is really nice too! I think you might want to place some "pots" in the lower sections as most airplants will not like the high humidity and moisture you might end up with in the lower section of your tank, the pots I use are the one that potted aquarium pots come in, as per blackjungle, they work great! with a 150 you can put around 12 of them in there no prob! it will give you the chance to place smaller moisture loving plants in the lower sections, my local pet shop gives the pots to me when thier plants die! LOL! kinda sad, but they dont take care of them, also, the glass partition can also be made of expanding foam, Ive done it many times and it has worked out very well as you can build a "skeleton" frame from PVC crate, just cut the pieces to size, make sure the water side is on a slant, wire tie it together, place in the tank, and spay the foam on, you end up with a very natural looking "beach" I covered the land side with coco fiber, and the water side with the same kind of gravel I used for the ponds substrate, that way the beach blends right in with the bottom of the pond! Just make sure that you make it tall enough to reach the top of the soil, you have the false bottom, clay pellets, and soil/substrate, so the top of the foam partition should reach the top of the soil to blend in well, it also makes it very easy for critters to climb out should they fall in the water side, if its to much just leave it as is =) Please let me know if you would like more detailed instructions on any of the above mentioned =) I will be happy to email you, so we dont take up to much space on the post, so feel free to email me! Im home all day! LOL! =)

You were right Iliketerraiums I did rush the process the first time and the dirt was wet and the silicone may have dried. However I did forget to leave out that the next day the cocco dirt was 100% dried and I tried applying it to the other section of the tank with silicon which failed and then polyurethane that didnt work and then liquid nail.... I spent so much money like over 100 bucks on great stuff foam and silicon etc now im back to square 1... on the final time I tried it the dirt did stick to the stuff but it wasnt as thich as I would have liked but it defintly did cover it up where you coulndt see foam... back2eight you and I think alike lol I thought about skipping that silicon step and adding the dirt when the foam is yet because the great stuff foam is just polyurethane thats water proff and when I bought the normal polyurethane the dirt did seem to stick it to ... the only problem I see is you would have to sray the foam and act fast with the dirt but it would probably work out good...
I think I am going with the cork background ill let you know what happens today look at this link it shows how to build one with cork and all the steps waterfall etc very nice
thank you for all your guys help

Here is a link that might be useful: how to build a terraium

Great Stuff is EXTREMELY sticky. (try getting it off your hands!) Putting the coco bedding right on it will defintily stick, but I don't know how it will look as the foam starts to expand. I would put down plenty of it so it doesn't become spotty as the foam expands. I also recommend trying these things out on test pieces instead of whole viv's, that way you don't waste $100 in material :)

-DH

http://www.dendroboard.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=13691

That link shows the one I was telling you about where someone did just the great stuff and then the coco fiber on theirs. this is a guy who has created lots of vivs before and decided to try it this way to save time.

iliketerrariums, I plan on ordering my air plants from epiphytes delight when I am ready for them. They have a 10 dollar ten piece sampler, so thats one plant for a dollar. They are all suitable for terrariums, even dart frog habitats. The people on dendroboard order from this place all the time and the plants do great. I have been picking up terrarium-suitable plants here and there from Wal-Mart and Home Depot, and I have them sitting around in various windowsills right now just waiting to be planted. Some of the broms that I have are already sending out several pups in their little pots. I might wind up with more plants than I need before I even get them planted!

Wow that looks great where the guy did it with skipping the silicone part wish I would have done that =(
okay so I went to the pet store they want 9 bucks for a piece that is 10in x 4in of cork bark ... forget that im not rich so I went into my backyard and broke off a bunch off bark from the tons of oak we use for fire pits. I washed it off and I am in the process of letting it dry... okay so heres the process I am going to do let me know what you guys think 3rd time is a charm right lol. I would like to have logs sticking out the sides with the oak bark.
Step 1: I use the foam and do the logs out of the side then I put the cocco bedding on the foam while its wet...
Step 2: I put down the black silicon a bunch on the glass and then stick the oak bark to it and arrange it around the wood

Let me know if this should work

Hi
I had no luck at all with the coco stuff. It adhered to the foam but only in a thin layer. Wasn't deep enough to grow plants and it rotted away over time. you have to be fast also as there is only about a ten minute window while it is sticky. i tried long fibered shagnum also which was much better but of course will rot away.
On my new setup I'm only using acrylic paint. Plants are pushed into the crevases after curing so can be renewed or removed as needed.. In the underwater part there will be no media at all except on the bottom as a substrate.
Your oak idea sounds good.oak will last a long time and is a good rooting material.
I'll bet you're already learning to scout out your materials before you even begin. This stuff has a wide range of prices so definitely shop around
I got the foam at Walmart for 3.50 a can 5.50 at HD.
12 bucks at a reptile store lol. get some of those disposable gloves 25 pair for a buck at Dollar stores.
Can also get silicone at Walmart for 3.50 for 10.1 ounce as opposed to 4.75 HD 10 something at aquarium store lol
I've also found the triple expanding to be about half price. if too large. It is also handy to make your pieces on a saran wrap on a table. Much easier to paint and they can be siliconed in place.
I've used 8 cans so far and I'm about a third done.The savings will really add up on this setup. lol
DO invest in tose gloves lol.Sticky is not a good word for the great stuff lol.
gary

I saw the "no silicone" process and must admit that it looks great, for now, but, I can tell you this, when the Foam really starts to dry, (which can take a few weeks) it will crack, and when it does, it will start to show through the coco, thats why you use the silicone, it will stretch with the foam and although the silicone might show through, it will look like soil instead of yucky yellow foam, thats why I stated that cutting corners is never a good idea =) you can do it any way you prefere, just remember, it will only turn out as good as you make it.

yes, thats the problem I see with the idea, the background showing through the coco fiber or whatever you use. Thats why the silicone is a good idea, and making sure you get the brown or black, that way any that shows through just looks like dirt, or at least is not as noticeable. But it sure is tempting to skip the silicone part!

For those of you buying different brands of silicone, cheaper brands, etc. if you are just using it for plants that's fine, but people have started losing frogs due to the "bio seal" silicone, and due to buying brands other than GE. Even the GE II is starting to come out with a bio seal on it, so be real careful. They have ingredients in them that kills the frogs. Also different glues or other adhesives you might use like liquid nails. Just be real careful, and any wood or rocks that you take in from your yard, bleach it or cook it in the oven for a few hours to kill any parasites, viruses, or other bad things.

Okay im in the process right now of putting the oak bark for my background... I bleached it and washed it before I put it in. I bought 2 black silicons but I noticed it wont work becasue the oak is curved and it wouldnt fill in the gap so I used the great stuff foam and I pushed the oak down on top of it and there are several gaps bettween each piece so I am filling it in with the the coco fiber so we will see if it works without silicon putting it directly on the foam. Ill post pics if it actually works =)

Very good advice back2eight! Thanks! =)

well, its been 3 years since this first post, sooo...

A future tip: in my terrarium, I used a paintbrush to smear the black silicone onto the Great Stuff, I applied it in small sections. I then put dried coco on it RIGHT before it dried. I repeated this process many times until the whole background was covered. this way works well.

Hi
i found that method works at the start but over time the fiber lets go. There are acrylics that they use in europe that avoids this problem but have not tried it.
gary