This is a question for all of you who have built wooden tanks. I am currently at the point in my build where I need to start sealing my tank. Problem is that I still have yet to settle on a sealer. So I guess my questions would be: What sealer did you use? and What are the pros and or cons?
Wood Tank Sealants.......
- Thread starter toddhgr
- Start date
Sweetwater here. Love it, easy to mix, paint on, and same here should last a life time. My only problem was a bad roller that disintegrated while painting, Did not notice until a big chunk came off, now the surface is rough and I am not able to tell if I have thin areas. Gonna sand, and add a couple more coats for good measure, but costing me another $100. Most expensive $3 roller I have ever bought.
I used liquid rubber/pond coat. It was very easy to work with but silicone does not stick pond coat not pond coat to silicone. I had to add a small strip of fiberglass resin to seal the viewing window. I have nothing really bad to say about this product but on my next build I am going to try pond armor.
Pond coat seems to make a lot of sense so far. The only thing holding me back from using this is that I am going to have a deep water Tang. tank and would really like to have the background black. I know that pond coat starts out black but then it quickly turns brown. How about pond armour or sweet water? Are these rubberized paints or epoxies? Do they come in and or stay black?
I've used marine grade epoxy paint with great success in the past. That offers you the ability to choose from a range of colors. I used dark blue but black should certainly be available. The last time I built wood tanks I used Porter Paints brand but other brands should work as well. The one piece of advice I'd give you if you're using this is to be sure that the area where you're working is very well ventilated.
Good luck,
Mark
Good luck,
Mark
The only thing that scares me about epoxies is that they are very hard and therefore brittle when on a soft material like wood. This tank will have a lot of rock work in it and I'm just afraid that if I dent it with one rock I'd be done.
True marine epoxy resins are not brittle and are quite flexible. They are designed for timber. They are easily colored with the use of pigments. If you are worried about impact resistance, you can use fiberglass cloth in conjunction with the epoxy resin. You will have the best of everything this way. Strength, durability, color of choice, impact resistance and all with a smooth gloss finish.toddhgr;4110942; said:
The downside is a bit of extra work but well worth it IMO.
I was amazed how flexable sweetwater was after setting for a week in the plastic paint tray liner. I also had to work very hard to rip a hole in it. I too was worried falsely about epoxy being brittle. Not so. 2 thumbs up for Sweetwater Epoxt Paint
