Liquid rubber or epoxy?
- Thread starter Griller
- Start date
sashimimaster;4514175; said:
The blue is not determined yet. I would make it what ever color people mostly want.
Just the top coat in $48 a gallon. The Wetsuit is $25 a gallon. So you would need both if you wanted a tank that is not black. If you are OK with black than you don't need the top coat. The top coat for our application is just to give the tank another color it is not NEEDED in any way as far as waterproofing goes.
sashimimaster;4514439; said:
That is for the Wetsuit 1part that is $25 a gallon. That is for the waterproofing coating.
The top coat is just for color. This top coat is not on there website yet and is $48 per gallon and covers about 50 sq feet per gallon.
ITHURTZ;4512561; said:
I can think of two major problems with using silicone for sealing a tank:
1) I'm not sure about its long-term adherence to wood under constant submergence. I do know that when I've used it on driftwood and decor in my tank it's eventually picked off by my fish.
2) The consistency would make it hard to spread into an even, continuous layer.
3) I think this is the biggest potential issue - most sealants (including silicone) have poor adherence to old, skinned over/cured silicone. This means that if you don't manage to nail your initial application and get a perfect, waterproof layer it will be very difficult to go back over and patch spots.
Overall, I think silicone is great for providing a gasket or sealing small areas but isn't the ideal product for covering large surfaces.
earthstudent - this wetsuit stuff sounds like a nice option. Now you just need to get started on your build/tests so we can see some evidence that it actually works
This Wetsuit sounds like a good choice for DIY tank builders. The only thing I see lacking is structural rigidity that an epoxy would give. One would have to add the woven mat or do an underlayer of fiberglass and epoxy.
BTW, apologies to the OP for going off tangent. Didn't mean to hijack.
BTW, apologies to the OP for going off tangent. Didn't mean to hijack.
the_deeb;4514676; said:earthstudent - this wetsuit stuff sounds like a nice option. Now you just need to get started on your build/tests so we can see some evidence that it actually works
Trust me, I wish I could start my build right now.
I am going to be moving hopefully in the spring. So I don't plan on doing anything until I move into my new house.If anyone can tell me, if liquid rubber woud stick to epoxy or over silicon.
Problem I have is I build my 450g tank, used epoxy,,sweetwater,, reinforced my corners with fiber put 4coats of epoxy and somewhere I have tiny tiny lick.
So before is to late I took all my rocks, fish out and what im trying to do to fix it with liquid rubber. Tank is in place now it is not going to be moved anywhere.
Anybody can tell me please if that would work. Apply liquid rubber over epoxy.
Thanks
Problem I have is I build my 450g tank, used epoxy,,sweetwater,, reinforced my corners with fiber put 4coats of epoxy and somewhere I have tiny tiny lick.
So before is to late I took all my rocks, fish out and what im trying to do to fix it with liquid rubber. Tank is in place now it is not going to be moved anywhere.
Anybody can tell me please if that would work. Apply liquid rubber over epoxy.
Thanks
I am not an expert, but I would say that the rubber would stick well to the epoxy with a good sanding but not well to the silicone. My advice would be to try your hardest to find the leak, Then you will know the exact problem you are trying to correct and how to approuch it.
To the ops question. I have had good success with epoxy.
What I dont like is how the liquid rubber turns an ugly dull black gray and seems to grow algae like wildfire. But it should work well to hold the water in.
Earthstudent, I'm gonna go for it. This tank will give the definitive answer as to whether Wetsuit works or not. The tank I'm building is 12' wide, 19' long and 5' deep. That's 8528.138153905962 gallons! Now, here's a question. I am going to build into the tank, "U" shaped, squared off and not actually a round U shape, channels for the glass to fit tight into. Of course they will be Wetsuited as well, however, along with a silicone bead on the face of the glass, I propose that I Wetsuit over the channelling and onto the glass. Do a number of coats like that and it should be bullet proof...IF Wetsuit sticks to glass. Does it? If it does, then I'm golden as this will accomodate my lighting as well which will be placed in the walls of the tank along with the plumbing. You won't see any pipes, any wires. Just a sweet lookin' box of water with big windows and lotsa fish. I'll be contacting the company to get their opinion and ask a few other questions but I'd like to get an opinion poll running now. I have been talking with Brett from ATM and he's helping out when and where he can, but there's no such thing as too much info! Thanks for this thread, mighta saved me a disaster!
Has anybody had any experience using Sanitred to waterproof their tank? On average how long does it last? I looked on their website and saw instructions for sealing a tank (http://www.sanitred.com/waterproofing-blog/archives/category/pondfountain) and it appears that you use a two part epoxy on the glass/acrylic to bond it to the priming membrane. Do you do this without silcone? If so does this create the necessary bond to mitigate any leaks from the viewing? For those who have used it what has been your process?
