520 gallon plywood tank

[Steve_C]

Yep I use drylok on mine as twentyleagues said. I can't speak on the fiberglass resin though because I also use clear pond armor on my foam backgrounds. Drylok does form a nice hard coating though so I would "think" (cant say 100% sure so I would test a small scrap piece first) but I would think if you did 2-3 coats of drylok first then you might be okay to use the resin over it then.

 

[NathanKS]

All empty. I put way too much sand and gravel in that tank haha. I’m going to be making styrofoam/resin inserts this time to use up a lot of space and only have gravel of any real depth specifically where I want plants.

I have several huge dock floats I use for archery target backdrops I can use. Start with chainsaw carving outside, then I ordered a hot knife/wire kit to finish sculpting.

I’ve watched a lot of videos but have some questions if anyone reads this.


After painting the foam, can I just brush on clear fiberglass resin?

fiberglass resin will eat away at the Styrofoam, you need to use an epoxy resin or use a different foam. Depending on the foam used for your dock floats, you should be ok. I would test it though. if your set on fiberglass resin and Styrofoam, apply a coat of uv cure urethane before hand to prevent it eating away at the foam.

but yes, after painting your background you can just brush a resin on.

I have also used lots of permastone(a concrete like casting material that I consider reef/frog safe) in older builds and if that is applied over the foam, it will be just fine to apply any type of resin you want.

 

[Leebtattoos]

Thanks. I’m. Itnset on anything really. I guess when I read resin, that’s just what I thought. But epoxy res makes more sense.

Are there any paints I can use that don’t eat the foam? Or best to coat it, then paint, then seal.

 

[NathanKS]

lots of paint wont eat it, but they also might not stick.
It depends on the foam. When I use xps (pink rigid insulating foam), I will spray it with an acrylic spray paint then fine tune it with acrylic on sponges before sealing

 

[Freshwater4Life]

Damn just seeing this man Hope everything is looking up and the tank holds ! I know you mentioned it by why do you think the leak happened again ? Just curious for my own build. Also I didnt write about any of my setbacks on my thread bc it would have been to much writing. But let’s just say I did enough sanding to give my hands and foreames nerve damage with an electric sander lol.

 

[Leebtattoos]

Damn just seeing this man Hope everything is looking up and the tank holds ! I know you mentioned it by why do you think the leak happened again ? Just curious for my own build.

The center bottom on window side was deflecting/bowing slightly and a can see where water was getting past silicone.

I just finished building a exoskeleton of sorts around the entire base and although didn’t see it do anything up high, I’m reinforcing my bracing also. Using all 2x4/6/8’s.

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[NathanKS]

On the upside, you hadent textures your drywall yet and it looks like the perfect spot for a shallow mantle now.

 

[Freshwater4Life]

Ahh ok. Yea I don’t see any issues now.

 

[Leebtattoos]

Fingers crossed. Ha. I’m going to re seal all silicone also.

 

[1000ninja]

Was it a ***** to get the glass window out of the plywood tank?