Third window went in this morning. Unfortunately the 3M 5200 seems to have pulled away from the glass in a few places. In fairness, 3M does say it's not recommended for glass, and I selected it based on others' recommendations here. It seems fine as an adhesive, but there's no question that it isn't waterproof. I was planning on a silicone bead anyway, but I wasn't counting on it being the primary waterproofing.
I added some more bracing across the top today. I'm going to give it a week cure time before I remove the bracing from the center window, and then I'll be able to finish the epoxy and do the silicone. Give that another week to cure and I think I'm ready to fill.
Of course somewhere in there is the aquascaping step. The epoxy cures in a day, call it two to be safe, and then I'll be adding some big pieces of driftwood with Gorilla glue, and a 2x8 perpendicular to the third window to make a sandy area.
I added some more bracing across the top today. I'm going to give it a week cure time before I remove the bracing from the center window, and then I'll be able to finish the epoxy and do the silicone. Give that another week to cure and I think I'm ready to fill.
Of course somewhere in there is the aquascaping step. The epoxy cures in a day, call it two to be safe, and then I'll be adding some big pieces of driftwood with Gorilla glue, and a 2x8 perpendicular to the third window to make a sandy area.
Went over the seams again and added a silicone bead on top for extra assurance. It's holding about 200 gallons of water now, and the main part of the aquascaping is done. Still need to cover the cinder blocks and add some plants (Anubias, Java fern and moss) to the upper parts of some of the wood structures. I would add some artificial plants too if I could find them reasonably priced, but so far no luck on that.
