Plywood tank build

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
After spending a good part of the day doing some final prep work in the inside of the tank I mixed up half of my black Pond Shield. I read the instructions, watched the video on their website. They make it look so easy. Ha. This stuff is with out a doubt the stickiest messiest stuff I've ever had to deal with. Before I was done my hands were black to the wrists, it was on my clothes, in my hair. The worst part is I know I have to go out there and do it again today.

Even at room temperature this stuff is so thick I ended up using a metal spatula to spread it out then went over it again with the plastic one to smooth it out. Of course I'm doing all this at break neck speed because at $70.00 a quart my worst fear is it kicking too soon. All this talk on their website about brushes and rollers must be after it's thinned out because there was no way either would have worked. One thing that is really nice about the Pond Shield is there is almost no odor at all.

Don't get me wrong I'm having a blast and I love getting dirty even if only to see the look on the wife's face. She's a city girl and just doesn't understand that to a redneck dirty hands mean your working hard and earning your beer. Acetone does clean it up pretty well.

I have to admit though that there is no doubt in my mind that this stuff is going to be waterproof. The areas I covered last night are dried to a hard plastic like finish this morning and it looks really good.

Before I applied the sealer I spent alot of time making sure the insides of the tank were perfectly smooth. This stuff fills so well that really it was a lot of wasted effort and I could have saved myself some money on fibreglass and a lot of elbow grease had I known.

If I do this again in the future I will seriously consider forgoing the fibreglass altogether and just putting a couple of coats of this stuff down because for what what I spent on the fibreglass and resin in the end would more than have paid for a second can of Pond Shield. I think that if the tank itself is rigid enough and there are no large gaps at the seams then the fibreglass cloth is kind of redundant.

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K, it's all done. Mixing the second batch of sealer was pretty much a repeat of the first except I broke down and put on a pair of rubber gloves. The wife just had to come out and get a picture of my yellow hands.

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No, unfortunately I haven't been able to order the glass yet. The build so far has completely blown the budget out of the water so I think at this point aside from some cosmetics the whole thing is more or less going to have to be shelved for a month or two while I get caught up on some more important things, like bills.

Also at the start of all this I compromised with the wifey and promised her I would redo the floors in the room I plan to set my aquarium before I bring it in the house. Truth be told I never expected to build this thing so fast but I got so caught up in it I just couldn't stop once I had started.

You folks here on MFK have been a huge inspiration and I really enjoy all the positive comments and helpful advice you have given me since I started my build. Keep the comments coming.
 
I really enjoy your build. Can't wait to see it up with water and glass in it! Fantastic design. You've encouraged me to think outside thge box for my next build. Going for an oval ply build!
 
too bad the build will be on hold for a bit, ive enjoyed watching your progress, and i must say youve gotten alot done in a short time. so i look forward to the updates in the future.
 
Although it's going to take me a bit to find the money for glass. I still have a pile of little things I can do. I took some time and painted the outside of the aquarium today. How do you like the color?

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