400 show tank w/ pond shield

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Inglorious said:
Looks good so far. You said this is your third plywood build, what methods did you use to seal the first two and why did you choose to go a different route this time?
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First two were with liquid rubber and I have nothing against it I just wanted to go for the nice glossy black finish of epoxy on this tank, and liquid rubber turns a flat chocolate brown after time. Both my previous tanks are still up and running and its been almost 3 years. I hate to think this way, bit if for some reason I get pin hole leaks i'll just get a bucket of liquid rubber to go over the epoxy because of how easy it is to work with..
However After talking to the sales rep for max acr im pretty confident this will hold water no problems unless I have messed something up in the mixing or application process.

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Hope you used a measuring cup :-)
 
wheatgerm said:
I talked to the sales rep for max acr today because I wanted to make sure I was doing all this right. He said if I don't have air bubbles or something else I messed up with then the epoxy will hold water at .5mil (thick as a paper)...

Also I used cement powder die...
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I think you (or the rep) mean 5 mils thick, not 0.5 mils. 5 mils is still a very thin sheet of printer paper (4.3 is as thin as it comes, I think). Common printer paper is 9 mils thick or so.

Either way, that's thin and I think that's why various epoxy companies say anything over 10 mils is "overkill".

I also think this is why epoxy is a great choice for a budget build since it takes so much less product to water proof plywood.

Did the rep from Max ACR recommend powdered cement dye? I've never heard of that. I've used it in cement and grout mixes as a topcoat for artificial rock work but never mixed in epoxy.
 
No I couldn't find the right kind of acrylic paint that he suggested... the kind I got actually didn't even mix with the part a so I just decided to use the cement powder. afterwards I asked the rep about the powder as well ans he said it would be just fine but suggested to do a clear coat over the tinted epoxy because he didn't know if it would leech anything or not, better safe than sorry.
I can't remember if he said .5 or 5 but he did say at the thickness of a normal sheet of paper.. I just put my 4th coat on and im probably atleast 30 mil lol but I figure ill use it till its gone just to overbuild for piece of mind

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Ya if you start running low focus it all on the seams the front panel to me probably gets the least on it just because it's harder for you to get at.
 
DIDYSIS said:
Ya if you start running low focus it all on the seams the front panel to me probably gets the least on it just because it's harder for you to get at.
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The front panel and all the joints also have 3 layers of fiberglass and polyester resin then I hit them well with the 3 coats of epoxy with my brush, its smart thinking but im more worried about the floor and walls lol

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