Sealing an plywood tank.

Sacohen · May 8, 2013

Does any one know if Flex Seal is safe for sealing plywood aquariums?
flexsealdirect dot com

JPG@CFI · May 8, 2013

Are you kidding? I would not use that stuff. You need to epoxy coat the whole tank, and if it is pretty big, I'd go with some fiberglass as good insurance.

Sacohen · May 9, 2013

I've seen a couple of different plywood builds that were sealed with a paint on rubber liquid.

http://www.rubberizeit.com/video/diy-plywood-aquarium-build-water-proofing-with-liquid-rubber-ug/
[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdyANDq_x_s"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdyANDq_x_s

I [/URL]just don't know it anyone has used this product. It is a lot less expensive then anything else I've seen.

It's small tank only about 10 gallons.
I know you are going to say why don't you use a 10 gallon glass tank.
I don't have the room.
I need something that is about 6.5" wide 15 long and 24" high to fit the space I have.

cdness · May 9, 2013

I would just use epoxy. The spray on stuff could have all sorts of chemicals in it. However if it says it is safe for potable water you may be OK after it cures...

Sacohen · May 9, 2013

I'm going to get a can or 2 and put RO/DI water in it and then test it a couple of days later and a couple of weeks later.

What would you suggest testing for besides phosphates, ammonia, and nitrates? Possibly pH to the see if it effects the pH in anyway.

JPG@CFI · May 10, 2013

There is chemicals in it there are no test kits for that will KILL your animals. Just have a custom size glass or acrylic tank built and be done with it. You are doing a dis-service to all the animals you plan on buying and killing. Someone needs to tell you.

Daniel@R2R · May 10, 2013

cdness said:
I would just use epoxy. The spray on stuff could have all sorts of chemicals in it. However if it says it is safe for potable water you may be OK after it cures...

+1 ^ this

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

Sacohen · May 10, 2013

No problem. I was asking a question.

Daniel@R2R · May 10, 2013

Sacohen said:
No problem. I was asking a question.

Yes, sir. Let us know how it works out. What I found most useful about the suggestion I quoted was the part about "potable" helping you know if you could use the stuff or not. Best of luck.

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

Sacohen · May 10, 2013

Thanks mdbannister.
I have friend who did the commercial and infomercial and he said he would try to get me a couple of cans.
So free product, leftover plywood and screws from other projects. Really nothing to lose.
I know JPG@CFI is going to say "You have livestock to lose!"

I'm not stupid. I'm going to test the water as best I can and probably test it on a small 10 gallon tank with a cheap fish in there.

Daniel@R2R · May 10, 2013

Sacohen said:
Thanks mdbannister.
I have friend who did the commercial and infomercial and he said he would try to get me a couple of cans.
So free product, leftover plywood and screws from other projects. Really nothing to lose.
I know JPG@CFI is going to say "You have livestock to lose!"

I'm not stupid. I'm going to test the water as best I can and probably test it on a small 10 gallon tank with a cheap fish in there.

Let us know how it goes. Could be very useful info.

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

Sacohen · May 10, 2013

Yes. This hobby is about experimentation. At some point someone said what would happen if I put 8-10 inches of sand in my tank instead of 2, while someone else said what about using no sand.
Both of which work and are widely accepted now a days.

When I was first in the hobby 15 years ago no one used reactors for carbon and I don't even think GFO was mentioned by anyone, yous just put a bag of carbon in a high flow spot in you sump or tank and let it do it's work. There was also no talk of refugiums back then, that's something that popped up while I was out of the hobby.

Standards change because people experiment and try different things.