First ply tank- from 130 to 200 gals

[greenterra]

Wish I'd seen this a bit earlier. Plaster is useless near water(hence why people use cement) and there is no way you will 100% successfully seal it with the resin. It will soak up water and turn to mush. If it were me, I would be washing the plaster out and using a cement type product. Even tile grout without any mould inhibitors would be a better choice.

 

[leg89]

and there is no way you will 100% successfully seal it with the resin.

ho...

sure of that? man i have cement but thought it wouldn't make a change since it would be resined anyways! why couldn't i resin plaster? it'll make a resin layer over the whole thing, will it not?

 

[greenterra]

ho...

sure of that? man i have cement but thought it wouldn't make a change since it would be resined anyways! why couldn't i resin plaster? it'll make a resin layer over the whole thing, will it not?

You will be able to cover the main part of it with epoxy but you will never seal it properly around the bulkheads. You have already proven that you expect water to get there by going to the extent of extra sealing of your bulk heads with silicon to your tank. If you were truly confident no water would ever get there you would not have sealed the screws holding your mesh in place. Not trying to be rude but IMHO using plaster for a permanently submersed application is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[leg89]

man i know you're right...

but understand me, the plaster is all done and only thing left would be resin...and what a heck of a job to undo it all!!!! that plaster won't come off easy!

my question is: what about puting multi coats resin to make sure there's some everywhere and then silicone the bulheads pipes that still come out of the background? like, siliconing the joint of the pipe and background...

i know it's pulling it a bit, but if there's a way... man the workload !

 

[leg89]

ok i haven't posted in a while but things are moving!

after lots of questions, i decided to keep the plaster and put lots of attention on the sealing. it was almost impossible to break the plaster and remove it completely...wish i used cement instead but it's done so i really really tried to resin it good with multiple resin layers...nywaz, you'll see!

i plan on being VERY careful on the water test and watch for any water infiltration in the background and will do as many tests as i need to be REAL sure that it won't leak

so for the painting, here's how i did

first, a good cleaning

here's the technique to reproduce a more natural rock aspect. i sligthly tapped the brush to make many small dots.

orange

black

many shades of grey

sorry if pics are dark
here's a first look after the first day

added more shades of brown and a bit of green
2 resin layers done. will do a third one on all the seems. did put some PVC glue around the bulkheads before the resin





lil zoom so you can see what it looks like from near




pretty satisfied with the result, it looks quite like natural rocks to me.

the wet look will dissapear once underwater

 

[leg89]

now, the window episode:

finally went with that option

real cut (man it was heartbreaking!)





maskin tape before siliconing


my pal Marty who gave me a hand (no jokes on that one please guys...)



installing the window, face down





and here's the athlete getting buzzed, heads in a closed box full of fersh silicon! haha

a join from the inside also


only had to take off the maskin tape and let it dry for a while!

Top Brace reinforcement:

1- sanding the resin



2- acetone to clean resin dust and sanding of the planks



3- wood glue to fix the pieces that were cut off




4- resin to glue the planks in place




5- drilling the planks




6- look with the new brace




7- another resin coat for waterproofing




here's how it looks for now




N.B.
there's a black plastic bag to protect the window (if you were wondering in the pics)

P.S. 2
the width of the planks was calculated so i'll be able to glue my tracks for the small top windows


NEXT: some bondo on the new edges created by the glueing of the pieces that were taken off. also, gonna fill the screw holes with it and finally do a final resin coat on brace and background seems (which will be the final time i work with resin in a while!

that's it for now! thats quite an update! haha

and yah...planning on buyin wood for a new stand...but main concern for now is making sure that thing won't leak man... foreseeing what GT will say out of that post...man i'm convinced that background is well sealed...i guess only water test will tell us.

 

[Pharaoh]

Wow. Its really coming along. Fantastic job.

 

[leg89]

Big test yesterday

first, did 2 HQI spots from parts i ordered on ebay and a halogene spot from home depot








but the fun part was to come!

did a temporary piping system just to able to do the water test




and then, the stress began!



i'm a bit dissapointed of the silicon job. i'll have to work on it




as the water level goes up, we can see what the background'll look like under water!

so no leaks! good news! (the day after, maybe one or 2 mm less, but that could easely be evaporation)







but then, first worries start

there's a white layer that seems to appear on the background



i don't understand cauz the background has been drying for the last few weeks!





so i called this morning the retailer. he told me that resin that withens is a resin that's not dried. i told him it was done weeks ago and he replied that many factors can influence drying time. of those, probably that i had to deal with:
- not exact 3 for 1 ratio in my resin
- extra drying time due to acrylic paint
- somewhat cold temperature in the small room


so what i have to do:
- try to "sand" very lightely the background (he suggested a scrubbing plastic mop for dishes to not sand the background itself but the resin layer)
- use acetone to remove as much white as possible
- 30 minutes after acetone, redo another resin layer
- let it dry under a hot lamp or close the door and put the room heating up

the acetone and new resin should take make the resin translucide again. hope so! don't want to paint it again!

so that's what i'll do

not that bad...better have small issues like these than having to deal with leaks or plaster getting wet! that's the biggest victory!

again, i'm learning! the monster project that'll come with the house will only be sharper because of those mistakes!

 

[john73738]

Looks Great so far.

 

[leg89]

ok i'll try to make a long story short cauz its late and i'm in my practicum (future english teacher) so i'll do this short and sweet.

i could not do the modifications i planned on the stand and it took us like 5 hours to empty everything and prepare for the change so i had to keep the ps in jugs for the whole night and only had 2 air pumps (thank god i had some). result= only 2 ps left. piraya made it so that's the good news.

now, some pics

boiling PVC to soften my UGJ ends and mold them

i put one extremity in a spare elbow so the receiving end won't flatten

overlook at the UGJ system. finally made it a close system to make sure every jet has the same flow (as in spas systems)

piping behind the back with the overflow

and this is when problems came, but didn't take too many pictures...probably cauz i was somewhat not in a very "good morning viet nam" type of mood...had to change the planning of the stand, but everything's rock solid.

water in

still a lot to do, but at least, you are up to date for now.

oh yeah, the bacground has become white again on some spots, but it'll STAY LIKE THAT! haha man this tank will probably be useless in 2 years from now (when the house will come= 1200Gal) so i screw the background, i know it looks good, just gotta let the resin dry for 2 months like i thought i had to and it will be fine for the next one... aight that's it for now...some good and some not so goodnews, but overall, i'm learning! i'm glad those mistakes are done now and not on the big project (did i mention this before?...sarcasm...)

next post, vid!