Waterproofing Plywood tanks

M

mcderek

Registered Member
Oct 3, 2003
3
0
0
Visit site
I am building a plywood tank and am wondering what to use to seal the wood. I have read the GARF instructions which recommend NFS 61 two part epoxy paint. The ones listed come in 5 gallon sets and the cost is prohibitive. $200 at Sherwin Williams!
What are some of the other options? Epoxy resin ect. I would appreciate brand names if possible. Thanks for any info.
 
How big of a tank are you building, what are the dimensions? What kind of fish do you plan on keeping?

I was going to build a plywood tank awhile ago, but I found it much easier to build one out of acrylic instead. Not being able to find affordable 2 part epoxy was one of the reasons why I didn't build a plywood tank.
 
i was talking to a lfs guy in florida last year on my vacation and he told me he had heard of a guy who used thined down silicone that was brushed on to water proof his diy pond, essentialy a thin rubbery liner. i don't recall what the guy said was used to thin down the silicone though. I don't know how accurate the story he told me is but it seems if it worked it would be pretty cheap to do.
 
Chefkeith asked what the dimension of the tank will be. 18"H x 18"or 24"w by 72" long. The 18"w is around 100 gal, the 24"w around 130 gal. I would like to keep some African Ciclids in it.

I have all the plywood I need left over from some home projects. The glass for the front will cost me about $60. All I need is some way to seal it. I have some thin acrylic that I could cut to line the tank. That could work but I would need to be very accurate so that the wood is supporting the acrylic.

I know that folks have used epoxies and such on their tanks. They just never post the exact brand except for the 2 part epoxy paint, which would work great if it was available in one gallon quantities.

Any info (web pages, articles, ect..) on what would work would be appreciated!
 
I don't think the weight will be an issue with a tank only 18" tall, even with the 24"wide/130G setup the weight will be closer to 1000LBS. The stand will need to be sturdy, but that really isn't any different than any other comparably sized glass or acrylic tank. I've seen someone that built a 300G plywood tank on this site, don't recall his name though...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom