How to salt creep proof a cabinet?

[Sordfish]

I just bought a 3 month old Red Sea Peninsula 500 for less than half price - the seller wanted it gone ASAP. It was one of the best finds for me in this hobby, so I am thrilled. In order to get the cabinet into my basement, I had to disassemble it. During the disassembly I noticed the following issues with salt creep:

1 - on the sump side, the door hinges were beginning to rust.
2 - the seams between the plywood pieces had a ton of salt creep through them - going all the way through to the bottom and back of the cabinet
3- in some corners, the laminate on the interior panels had also separated by just a hair(really disappointing that Red Sea does not use epoxy coating throughout but instead just on the doors) and there was salt creep there as well.

All this after only 3 months of use. I can only imagine what things will be like in 2 years.

To lengthen the life of the cabinet I was thinking I should do some sealing. I am planning on running a bead of silicon on every interior seam. Also thinking of covering the hinges with Vaseline. Any potential issues with either?

Anything else you do to protect your plywood cabinets against salt creep?

 

[lapin]

I dont see any issues.
Living near the coast makes you understand the effect of salt in the air.
They are constantly painting metal bridges that are near salt water ( Golden Gate )
A good water proof paint with multiple coats is what I would do.

 

[Sordfish]

I dont see any issues.
Living near the coast makes you understand the effect of salt in the air.
They are constantly painting metal bridges that are near salt water ( Golden Gate )
A good water proof paint with multiple coats is what I would do.

Thanks. We lived across the street from the Mediterranean when I was a kid and I remember even my toys rusting. I think Red Sea put in sufficiently thick plastic laminate on the plywood. I’ll silicon the seams and the gaps between the pieces to make it as difficult as possible for the salt.

 

[jda]

Keep a freshwater tank. Otherwise, you just have to clean it and use real stainless hardware (the good stuff). An oil based wood cleaner can leave a protective layer, but it still needs done periodically.

 

[Sordfish]

Keep a freshwater tank. Otherwise, you just have to clean it and use real stainless hardware (the good stuff). An oil based wood cleaner can leave a protective layer, but it still needs done periodically.

Thanks. On a serious note, unfortunately, It is impossible to clean the edges/seams between the pieces without taking the stand apart. So I am trying to prevent water from seeping into those crevices, hence the silicon. If there is a better alternative, I’d certainly want to learn about it.

Also, where can I find marine quality hinges - I am guessing Home Depot is not the place to go (especially since I live nowhere near saltwater).

 

[jda]

High dollar stainless will be fine. You can find these at normal places. Cheap stainless will still rust.

Silicone will work for cracks and stuff.

Keeping splashes down can help too, so some people cover their sumps with some cut-to-fit foam or even cardboard - helps keep heat in as well.

 

[Sordfish]

High dollar stainless will be fine. You can find these at normal places. Cheap stainless will still rust.

Silicone will work for cracks and stuff.

Keeping splashes down can help too, so some people cover their sumps with some cut-to-fit foam or even cardboard - helps keep heat in as well.

This is very helpful. Thanks. I know in freshwater people cut clear polycarbonate sheets to cover their tanks. I’ll look into using that for the sump.

 

[hizbaby]

we spray rubberized undercoat (get at any automotive or hardware store) on the entire inner area of our stands / cabinets, including the hinges, just take an exacto knife to the "working / moving" parts to break the seal and viola! This also helps to prevent any water damage from splashing onto the cabinet surface while doing maintenance, and if it ever happens, contain water leaking onto the floor underneath the stand. Also adds some "bite" for installing plastic coated wire baskets on the inside of the cabinet for storage, as well as mounting things like controllers, etc.
We also do this this to any canopies, entire inside surfaces.
Helps with heat retention, too!

 

[Sordfish]

we spray rubberized undercoat (get at any automotive or hardware store) on the entire inner area of our stands / cabinets, including the hinges, just take an exacto knife to the "working / moving" parts to break the seal and viola! This also helps to prevent any water damage from splashing onto the cabinet surface while doing maintenance, and if it ever happens, contain water leaking onto the floor underneath the stand. Also adds some "bite" for installing plastic coated wire baskets on the inside of the cabinet for storage, as well as mounting things like controllers, etc.
We also do this this to any canopies, entire inside surfaces.
Helps with heat retention, too!

This is an awesome idea. How thick do you spray? Do you also cover the hinges? Any other tips?

 

[mav3rick478]

Marine grease or Vaseline on the hinges.

 

[ReefSakes]

we spray rubberized undercoat (get at any automotive or hardware store) on the entire inner area of our stands / cabinets, including the hinges, just take an exacto knife to the "working / moving" parts to break the seal and viola! This also helps to prevent any water damage from splashing onto the cabinet surface while doing maintenance, and if it ever happens, contain water leaking onto the floor underneath the stand. Also adds some "bite" for installing plastic coated wire baskets on the inside of the cabinet for storage, as well as mounting things like controllers, etc.
We also do this this to any canopies, entire inside surfaces.
Helps with heat retention, too!

Nice! Is it a clear coat? I just recently painted my cabinets white.

 

[hizbaby]

This is an awesome idea. How thick do you spray? Do you also cover the hinges? Any other tips?

the first one we did pretty thick - took 4ever to dry, since have gone with thinner, about 2-3 coats done fairly light. Less needed on the canopy than the undercabinet, just fyi!
yep, hinges too, exacto knife the places that need to swing free, works great!

 

[hizbaby]

Nice! Is it a clear coat? I just recently painted my cabinets white.

we use black, but it does come in colors, white yes, not in clear tho ... i custom paint my things to match my Antique themed home furniture, and as only the inside is coated, it only shows when the doors are open, or the canopy. We also installed some of those tape lights inside which look pretty cool when we are showing off the sump, and they provide great working light in the white mode when in there doin maintenance and stuff.
Here's a link:

 

[ReefSakes]

we use black, but it does come in colors, white yes, not in clear tho ... i custom paint my things to match my Antique themed home furniture, and as only the inside is coated, it only shows when the doors are open, or the canopy. We also installed some of those tape lights inside which look pretty cool when we are showing off the sump, and they provide great working light in the white mode when in there doin maintenance and stuff.
Here's a link:

Ahhh ok. Thanks I will look into it. Back to working on the system now lol.

 

[Sordfish]

Marine grease or Vaseline on the hinges.

Thanks. I hadn’t heard of marine grease before. It looks like it’d be a more durable alternative to Vaseline.

 

[salty joe]

I was gonna say a good coating of polyurethane but rubberized undercoat is a better idea. I'd not use silicone because nothing will ever stick to it or to where it was if it comes loose.

 

[John08007]

we use black, but it does come in colors, white yes, not in clear tho ... i custom paint my things to match my Antique themed home furniture, and as only the inside is coated, it only shows when the doors are open, or the canopy. We also installed some of those tape lights inside which look pretty cool when we are showing off the sump, and they provide great working light in the white mode when in there doin maintenance and stuff.
Here's a link:

This sounds great, how about some pics of your cabinets?

 

[hizbaby]

The black piece is an antique that THE MAN re-built into a stand for our 75G
The still in progress is the canopy for the 144G 1/2 Cylinder we are working on getting up - needing to build a new stand as the original is made of MDF (Why would they do that on such a nice & heavy tank, I can't kno!) and is DONE 4!
The red one is our first tank from March of 2019 46G bowfront with the canopy THE MAN built for it.
When I get home I'll send some of the interior of the 90G - it was the first one we used the undercoat on, in June / July 2019 - We won't ever set up a tank w/out coating again, makes a WORLD of difference on so may levels, including noise insulation, which we discovered as a BONUS! : )

 

[salty joe]

needing to build a new stand as the original is made of MDF (Why would they do that on such a nice & heavy tank, I can't kno!)

MDF has its place but it sure aint for a tank stand-big or small.

 

[Sordfish]

The black piece is an antique that THE MAN re-built into a stand for our 75G
The still in progress is the canopy for the 144G 1/2 Cylinder we are working on getting up - needing to build a new stand as the original is made of MDF (Why would they do that on such a nice & heavy tank, I can't kno!) and is DONE 4!
The red one is our first tank from March of 2019 46G bowfront with the canopy THE MAN built for it.
When I get home I'll send some of the interior of the 90G - it was the first one we used the undercoat on, in June / July 2019 - We won't ever set up a tank w/out coating again, makes a WORLD of difference on so may levels, including noise insulation, which we discovered as a BONUS! : )

Love the black stand. All you need is an antique aquarium to go with it. One of those with brass ornate side frames and legs.