Question for the DIY people

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I

Iffrat

Plecostomus
MFK Member
May 8, 2009
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Dallas Texas
ok so i am working on this new tank build and since i live in the US and the pemadri pond coat cost about $60 a gal and i can get roof waterproofing for about $10 a gal what do you think about putting silicone on the corners then a few coats of the roof waterprofing then topping it all off with 3-4 layers of the pond coat to seal everything off to make it fish safe ..

i think tomorrow im going to go to lowes and pick up materials for a test 4 x 2 x 2 tank that will use this build and will test it to see if it is fish safe .. but since it will take 2 weeks to seal everything all up before water can go in i figured i would get your opinion on the idea.


thanks for your input !!
 
For the cost and trouble of making the test tank, along with the long term risk and so forth, why wouldn't you go with a slightly more expensive, but proven sealing method?
 
the total cost of the test tank would be around $60 since it will have no glass and use a simple design .. and since i have the tools and such to build the big tank it will be really easy ..

it should save me about 3 gal of pong coat which is $180 so after the test tank i would save about $80 on the big build and i would have a 90 gal tank to raise feeders or something in ... and maybe make it into a sump later down the road.
 
Still seems like a bit of a waste to me, but if it's what you want to do, no reason not to go for it. I'm a bit confused though still as to why you'd use roofing sealer and then pond coat. Seems (to me anyway) I'd rather have a tank where the sealing materials are designed only for keeping the water in, and not just insulating the water against a toxic substance that is also holding the water in kinda...

I dunno, if it were me I'd try to order the blue max, or the zavlar, or use polyester or one of the other alternatives that are all cheap and don't have the down side of being toxic.
 
cvermeulen;3156248; said:
Still seems like a bit of a waste to me, but if it's what you want to do, no reason not to go for it. I'm a bit confused though still as to why you'd use roofing sealer and then pond coat. Seems (to me anyway) I'd rather have a tank where the sealing materials are designed only for keeping the water in, and not just insulating the water against a toxic substance that is also holding the water in kinda...

I dunno, if it were me I'd try to order the blue max, or the zavlar, or use polyester or one of the other alternatives that are all cheap and don't have the down side of being toxic.
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Blue max cost $150 for 5 gal and i have to drive over 1 hr to get it .. Zavlar is a product in canada and here in the US its called Pond Coat .. aka .. what i am using ..

and if i used something that was used for water proofing but not "fish safe" so use that as a base then use the pond coat also as a water proof but also keep the tank fish safe
 
If you were sure that they pond coat would bond to the roof sealer, then it might be worth the test. I am no pond coat expert by any means. But if there was a chance that the pond coat would not bond to the roof sealer, than this test might end up a big mess.--------What about using fiber glass. You can get fiber glass resin fairly cheap from auto body stores. Just an idea. But that was a good idea to test that stuff out on some fish to see how they reacted though.;)
 
hybridtheoryd16;3156404; said:
If you were sure that they pond coat would bond to the roof sealer, then it might be worth the test. I am no pond coat expert by any means. But if there was a chance that the pond coat would not bond to the roof sealer, than this test might end up a big mess.--------What about using fiber glass. You can get fiber glass resin fairly cheap from auto body stores. Just an idea. But that was a good idea to test that stuff out on some fish to see how they reacted though.;)
Click to expand...

yea but i live in a apt and only have a small patio to build this on .. and fiberglass is messy .. so i wanted to try something simple and cleaner .. but good idea ..

i think the pond coat will stick to it because it sticks to almost everything .. lol and since it sticks to class and paint and silicone and many others .. it should stick to the roof sealer .. but i guess i will find out ...
 
If you just want to see if something is toxic, you could just take a block of wood, coat it the roofing compound, then cover that with pond coat- toss the coated block and feeder in a bucket
 
badreverend;3156878; said:
If you just want to see if something is toxic, you could just take a block of wood, coat it the roofing compound, then cover that with pond coat- toss the coated block and feeder in a bucket
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lol i guess i could do that .. but its not nearly as fun .. and it does not test how the waterproofing aspect would work at all .. and since im more worried about the thing leaking 300 gal of water into my 3rd floor apt .. then it killing the first fish i cycle in it .. i think my way is a better test for what im looking for
 
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