May 13, 2013
An in-depth description of our material options:
“AQUA” – Short for “aquarium”, is designed for use in wet aquariums and any large tanks with center bracing. Backgrounds made from this material are very durable and very flexible. Decoration rocks made in “AQUA” have real pebbles secured in the back of them to help them sink. This flexible material is made from a very durable polyurea, making it easy to bend and twist around almost any bracing. This material can be brown, grey or white depending on the product selected.
“FOAM” – is our cheapest option and is designed for dry tanks . Our foam products are made with a high density polyurethane spray foam, this material is cheaper than it polyurea cousin but has its downsides. Backgrounds made from this material will not bend or flex and are very brittle and can chip or break easily, this does however make them easier to cut than the polyurea backgrounds. Decoration rocks can only be used in dry tanks as they will float (unless they are secured in place with silicone or other aquarium safe adhesives). This material is brown in color.
“REPT” – Short for Reptile, is a mix between the 2 materials, aqua and foam, and was made for people that wanted to have big reptiles (e.g. iguanas, pythons). These backgrounds will not bend or flex, however their surface is very durable and will not scratch. Decoration rocks made from this material are very durable but will float in the water. All of our other products like our pool and pond lines are made in this way and in those categories this material is labeled “STANDARD”. The foam used in this combination is less dense than the one you will find in the aquarium line and white/yellow in color. Even though it is less dense the polyurea lining on the outside adds to its strength keeping it very durable and still lightweight.
Shipping Note: As the Foam makes this material ridged we cannot bend it like we can our Aqua material. Therefore shipping reptile backgrounds is a lot more expensive.
COLORS - our colors are a special blend of oxides and sands that are hand mixed on a daily basis; also all of our products are hand colored and made to order so variations will occur. This results in a unique look for each rock while still matching the overall theme. During our unique method of production our colors are applied first, before the rock is made, not at the end like most conventional ways of making artificial rocks. As the polyurea (or polyurethane foam) material is sprayed out as a liquid onto our molds, at 160oF, it bakes the color into it as it cools and turns into a solid (in about 10seconds! (5 seconds for foam!)) This makes the color be “in it and on it” and gives our rocks a realistic finish that lasts (so far for 15 years!)
Quick note; all of our products are safe for fish; marine and freshwater and also for reptiles and pools (under normal chlorine or salt levels). Before each item leaves our facility we power wash them with 4000psi of water, however we recommend that you wash each item again to make sure there is no residue left behind. We DO NOT recommend the use of bleach. It will not harm the material but may cause our colors to fade; also our backgrounds are porous which may make it difficult to extract the bleach or other harmful disinfectants completely.
Remember if you have any questions or suggestions leave them in the comments below or you can always shoot us an email at info@universalrocks.com
