Rigid plastic liner for plywood?

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robham777

robham777

Potamotrygon
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Jan 9, 2013
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Hey guys. I am in the process of building a 4'x8' plywood tank and am not really looking forward to the fiberglass and epoxy waterproofing. I was thinking about some alternatives and wondered if using thin waterproof plastic panels siliconed at the seams would work. The panels I am referencing are available at Lowes in 4x8 sheets for $20. There are also capillary plastic cements that could probably be used for the joints. One issue is that the sheets seem to be only sold in white so a background or krylon type paint would probably be needed. Has this been tried, and is it worth trying?
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Parkland-P...bossed-White-Matte-Plastic-Wall-Panel/3436816
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I'd be worried about a seam springing a leak. I know I've seen threads about this over the years but off the top of my head I can't recall a successful tank using this method. Maybe if they could be fused like acrylic? I wouldn't trust silicone personally. Good ol' fiberglass and epoxy is tried and tested, I'd stick with that. It's really not that hard, I was a first timer when I did it. I was incredibly worried about it but it turned out just fine as it wasnt anything like I had it made out to be in my head.
 
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stempy said:
I'd be worried about a seam springing a leak. I know I've seen threads about this over the years but off the top of my head I can't recall a successful tank using this method. Maybe if they could be fused like acrylic? I wouldn't trust silicone personally. Good ol' fiberglass and epoxy is tried and tested, I'd stick with that. It's really not that hard, I was a first timer when I did it. I was incredibly worried about it but it turned out just fine as it wasnt anything like I had it made out to be in my head.
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Thanks for the reply. I agree I don't think just silicone would cut it on the seams and they would need to be fused. I may get a sheet and experiment with it, I am sure I could find some other uses for it.
 
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robham777 said:
Thanks for the reply. I agree I don't think just silicone would cut it on the seams and they would need to be fused. I may get a sheet and experiment with it, I am sure I could find some other uses for it.
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I just got my plywood tank up and going, I did the fiberglass and resin, wasn't that bad. After having a couple leaks I did learn some things I'd do differently. All corners I would use quarter round stock as I found no matter how hard I tried it always pulled in sharp corners. Any air bubbles WILL leak. If I were to do again, I would definitely wet sand in between coats and get a nice glass finish, I did not as I am doing a 3D background and wasn't worried about what it looked like. Oh well hindsight is 20/20. Any pics of progress?
 
i've taken down PVC sheet aquariums. they aren't cheap but if you could get some of those, and put some extra bracing in the corner for adhesive contact. i bet you could get it to work. Also, once they are in place, DONT move them. Thats why i had to take one apart.
 
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