Acrylic lined Plywood Tank

[Moski147]

I was looking around at diy plywood tanks and I keep seeing the cost of the epoxy as around $150-$200 for the required gallons. Has anyone tried making the box and lining it with 1/4in acrylic/plexi bonded to the wood and seams sealed with silicone? It seems that you could get the same watertight inside with less costs. I'm looking to do a unit but "we" have a baby on the way and I need to shave cost when necessary.

[nokian]

When I researched wooden tanks (my next will be a wood tank) it seemed that the wooden tanks could achieve the same strength with less money. Use 3 1/4 plywood and use brass or stainless screws to hold it together. Then buy the tow parts needed to make fiberglass resin and paint the inside with it, make sure you use the perfect amounts like the bottles say and you will get resin that will seal your tank. because resin isnt fixable, you will need to silicone the seams to prevent any cracks from leaking. I dont know about the acrylic inside the wood frame thing, I would just use the resin to get the water tight seal you need. You could even mix the resin with fiberglass sheets to make an extra strong inner liner.

[Fiji Live Rock]

Don't use fiberglass resin.

Resins have toxins in them that can leach out into your water.

Just get the 2 part water tank epoxy.

Be safe...do it right.

I believe www.garf.org has something there on how to build one. You can also search www.google.com for "Plywood Aquariums"

[nokian]

Fiber glass resin is epoxy. You mix the two parts and then when they become hard, they are insouluable in the aquarium. Its called epoxy when you dont use fiberglass cloth with it.


Besides, I'm sure it wouldnt be that bad since they are thousands upon thousands of boats made with fiberglass and resins.

[nokian]

Fiber glass resin is epoxy. You mix the two parts and then when they become hard, they are insouluable in the aquarium. Its called epoxy when you dont use fiberglass cloth with it. Use a high quality grade to make sure it isnt toxic though, I dont know whats outthere in the USA, Canada has a stricter policy for letting potentialy toxic things into the country, so maybe there are toxic resins out there.


Besides, I'm sure it wouldnt be that bad since they are thousands upon thousands of boats made with fiberglass and resins.


Fiji........ Not to start one of those typical debates I seem to be getting into lately with fishmonger, but what chemicals could leach out?

[Fiji Live Rock]

I don't remember...I have to read my documents before I can back it up. But I do remember reading somewhere that you shouldn't use fiberglass resin.

I will do some reading on my 3-ring binder loaded with DYI stuff. :wink:

[nokian]

Cool get back to me on that one, I might have missed something.

[Moski147]

Using inexpensive laminate and sealing the corners. A sheet of laminate would be substantially less expensive than the 2part epoxy and just as impervious to water. Any thoughts.

[trail]

Like the other replies, I will not answer your question, but I hope this is a little useful:
I am currently building a plywood tank using epoxy pool paint. I bought a gallon of it from a distributor for about $55, so it was well below what you quoted, and is probably not significantly more expensive than the acrylic and silicone lining. (the paint I am using is by RAMUC (type EP), ramucpoolpaint dot com, I believe--and they list a bunch of distributors).
My tank is 2 feet by 2 feet by 4 feet, so I guess it is small for a plywood tank. I just put on the first coat of paint (an hour ago) and it looks like I'll get about 3-4 fairly generous coats out of the gallon (of course, I'm only painting the inside with the pool paint).
The downside of the paint is that it is nasty and messy. It smells really bad and there are all kinds of warnings about using it in well-ventilated areas (i.e. OUTSIDE). BUT you can only paint when the temp is above 50 degrees, so this being dead of winter, well ventilated areas above 50 degrees are tough to come by. Furthermore the two parts require all kinds of stirring both before and after they are mixed (did I mention that the stuff stinks?).
That said, the stuff goes on well and looks, at least, like it's going to do the job.

While researching this stuff (reading random web-sites) I saw that several people had done what you are suggesting, and it worked.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you want more details.

reagards

[Fiji Live Rock]

Here we go:

Epoxy: Epoxide HS Tank Lining (Part A - B62L940 & Part B - B62V940) (Sherwin-Williams)

You can go to sherwin-williams website and get all the stats, and how-to's on this epoxy.

Quoted from www.garf.org/tank/BuildTank.asp ...


This is absolutely the most important part of any plywood fish tank made, and the least researched by the vast majority of aquarium DIY people. A tank coating that doesn't poison fish.

The only sealer/coating that is qualified for use in an aquarium is a TWO PART EPOXY FOR PORTABLE WATER TANKS. This coating is used to seal the interior of several thousand gallon community drinking water tanks, as a coating for holding tanks in fish farms and as a liner for large public aquariums. These coatings are NSF 61/USDA/ANSI/AWWA and FDA certified and approved. Further, epoxy coatings are highly resistant to salts and corrosion and are recommended for marine use.

Some brand name coatings that can be used are:

-----sherwin williams brans "Epoxide HS Tank Lining"-----
-----rustoleum brand "9200" system epoxy with color choices one of which is "9271" dunes tan-----

These epoxies contain no solvents or volatile organic compounds and are usually composed of 100% solids. Additionally, solvents and thinners are not recommended for use with this epoxy because they would defeat the purpose of using a non-toxic coating. ...

... From what I have read, I could suggest against using a tank liner; enamel, acrylic enamel, urethane, fiberglass, gel coat and polyester resin, all of these release/outgass poisonus volatile organic compounds, VOC's.


Hope that helps you some cause it was a pain in the butt to re-type off of my print out. :wink: :P

[trail]

Once again, I apologize for coopting this thread. The outstanding question, which really has yet to be answered is:

Does anyone have any input on using acrylic sheets and silicone to line a plywood tank (as opposed to using epoxy pool (or water tank) paint).

I, too would like to hear about this since I am already sick of dealing with the epoxy. Maybe my next aquarium...

Regarding the outline on garf.org referred to above, does anyone know why it suggests sanding the epoxy between coats? Most of the epoxy paints (that qualify for this endeavor) have a 24 to 72 hour period after you paint in which you can add a coat without sanding. It seems to me that I want as much epoxy on the surface as possible (right??), so I am not doing any sanding, and I am not trying to make the coats thin. I get a little running, but if I check it every 15 minutes for about an hour after I am done, I can smooth these out with a brush.

Am I missing something?

thanks...

[Fiji Live Rock]

When you paint someting it seals it.

Prior to painting anything...you need to prep the surface. Hence, sanding it. By doing so you ruff up the surface and give the paint something to stick to. Also, you get rid of any burrs and debree that could make bumps or sharp objects that could get snagged and rip off later on after coated.

As for acrylic lined...you could do it but it wouldn't be a fool proof method. If your seal breaks or leakes on that thin acrylic you are going to have the nightmare of your life.

I would use the epoxy and then line it with acrylic if you want to double up.

[trail]

I'm not sure you answered my question. I'm not asking why you sand the wood before the first coat of paint, I'm asking why the author of the garf.org document is suggesting sanding the paint *between* coats.

If you want to paint new two-part epoxy onto old two-part epoxy paint (e.g. repaint your pool), the old paint needs to be sanded to give the new paint something to stick to. But, according to most of the manufacturers I've seen, including the ones listed in the document you cited, you don't need to sand between coats as long as you lay them down within a day or so of one another. So I was wondering if there might be some other reason for the sanding between coats.

[1996 cobra]

you sand paint in between coats because as mentioned painting seals the surface. if you dont sand inbetween paint coats the paint wont stay on and form up well since it wont have a surface it can bond to. ruffin the surface gives the paint the ability to soak into the surface and form a new smooth surface. ifyou were to paint with in a few days of the ther coats there bankin on that the full coat of paint hasnt dried yet and still has a prous ability to it and in some cases it does. time and time again tho its jus better to sand inbetween coats and not risk the coat not stickin.

justin

[Fiji Live Rock]

I did answer your question in my post...just didn't read it good I guess. :roll:

But even cobra backed it up. Paint is a "sealer" of a surface. You need to ruff it up prior to the next coat or it won't adhere to the surface as good and could separate, flake off or bubble up.

[jtgfl]

I was looking around at diy plywood tanks and I keep seeing the cost of the epoxy as around $150-$200 for the required gallons. Has anyone tried making the box and lining it with 1/4in acrylic/plexi bonded to the wood and seams sealed with silicone? It seems that you could get the same watertight inside with less costs. I'm looking to do a unit but "we" have a baby on the way and I need to shave cost when necessary.



Has anyone actually tried this yet??? Concept seems sound to me.