DIY help for awowana Tank

[AndrewMack]

Im in the planning stage of biulding a tank so I can get either a Silver ARO or a Jardini, I want the JAR but thier hard to come by and expensive. Aros are 19bucks here. The footprint of the tank will be 24"high X 30" Deep X 90"long. with a Fuval 305canister and a big wet/dry, somewhere around 1000gph.
Ok now here is my question. I went to lowes and the guy that worked there recomended Using Dry lock as a paint or... Paint the wood beforehand and then fiberglass over that.... said the resin is not harmfull once cured and very durable..... Is that true, if so I already have a ton of fiberglass resin all I need to buy is cloth, might use Fleece... by the way incase everyone didnt figure this out, its a PLywood with glass front.

 

[MilitantPotato]

Fleece is a new one to me, usually the process is something like buy A-B exterior grade or stronger plywood .75" 9+ ply, apply fiberglass cloth with resin, do this for atleast 3 layers of cloth, coat with 2+ layers of potable water safe epoxy paint (like sweetwater) to seal.

You can also use Pond armor, or Sani-tred, both are much easier to apply.

Drylock isn't meant for wood or being used under water, there are estimates it would last 5 years, but I've read nothing that was more then guessing.

A search here or on google for DIY Plywood aquarium will give ya days of reading, which should be a good start on planning to build one.

Good luck!

 

[AndrewMack]

thanks, i just left Sherwinn wiliams, they have a Potable water 2part epoxy , two gallon kit, paint and hardner for 80dollars, and it covers apox300 sq ft 4-8mills thick once dry BUT it has to be force cured, heated... will a 90X24X30 be enough for an arowana?

 

[rallysman]

thanks, i just left Sherwinn wiliams, they have a Potable water 2part epoxy , two gallon kit, paint and hardner for 80dollars, and it covers apox300 sq ft 4-8mills thick once dry BUT it has to be force cured, heated... will a 90X24X30 be enough for an arowana?

If you're talking 30 wide and 24 high then yes it would It would also allow you to use thinner glass because it isnt so tall

 

[ethnics]

sounds like an awesome project. thats plenty of space and i think id go with the silver arowana so you can house some friends with him too.

 

[AndrewMack]

I take it the Jardinis are agressive? My stocking list was going to be.
1-Arowana
2-3 Frontosas
4-6 Big clown loaches
-4-6 Bala sharks or silver dollars, and big apple snails
What size glass would you recomend, Garf recomends 3/8" and a sheet of that is 250

 

[BIGgourami]

its kind of off topic but what kind of silicon caulk do you guys recomending to fix a leaky seal?
(i trying to get glass together to build a big ass tank of my own, maybe like 700g, a low square profile. i have a small room with a half wall that i'm planning to use)
but i have a leaky corner in one of my other tanks and cant seem to find fish safe caulk. also what kind/brand of epoxy would you recomend for sticking rocks together in a tank (im' worried my fish will nock them over and get hurt)

 

[BIGgourami]

its kind of off topic but what kind of silicon caulk do you guys recomending to fix a leaky seal?
(i trying to get glass together to build a big ass tank of my own, maybe like 700g, a low square profile. i have a small room with a half wall that i'm planning to use. get some rays in there adn maybe an aro. soo cool!)
but i have a leaky corner in one of my other tanks and cant seem to find fish safe caulk. also what kind/brand of epoxy would you recomend for sticking rocks together in a tank (im' worried my fish will nock them over and get hurt)

 

[BIGgourami]

P.S. how do you delete posts?

cause as you all know it makes you look relly dumb when you have two of the same things right next to eachother.

 

[rallysman]

I take it the Jardinis are agressive? My stocking list was going to be.
1-Arowana
2-3 Frontosas
4-6 Big clown loaches
-4-6 Bala sharks or silver dollars, and big apple snails
What size glass would you recomend, Garf recomends 3/8" and a sheet of that is 250

Fronts grow slowly and would benefit from different water than arowanas, and the clown loaches would have to be big to begin with for the same growth reason. The fronts aren't very aggressive eaters so that could be a problem as well. Even if the Aro is small, it will reach 1.5ft in less than 2 years easily. I think your list would be great, but I would wait and put fronts in a different tank.