building a 1000 gal concrete block monster tank

[spiff]

Interesting. So do you think the coverage issues were due to the porous block or the application with putty knives? My theory with Sanitred was that the cavities of the block once covered over with the product would bubble due to the trapped air inside the cavities escaping. I think that would happen with any product.


Not sure about your senario, but for me it was a combination of the two. I spent two weeks grinding with a right angle grinder on my walls to get as prepared as possible, (making a huge mess of the house in process since this was all indoors) but getting a perfect surface proved impossible. This includes another week after the grinding of acid etching too. (which I don't recommend to anyone to do indoors) And I imagine my 8in thick poured walls would be easier to work on than your concrete block, not having mortar lines and the slightly more pourous hole problem.

So after all that work, here's what I dealt with on every square inch of work area: if I made a pass with the putty spreader and the application thickness was perfect, then there would be either more pinholes than usual, or there would be a high spot that would have to be dealt with. Or, as I opted to do, I put it on a little thicker than usual, but then gap filling from the high spots really ate up the product and I still had pin holes, albiet a lot less of them.

Basically, I'm not sure that any of these products can be applied with out having to go over it with a fine tooth comb once done. If any little spot seemed even the slightest bit questionable, I recovered it. Actually, when I did the floor, it went pretty much as advertised as it was a perfectly smooth surface with just the right texture for epoxy application. The wall was a nightmare.

Your symptom of being able to fill half way just almost sounds like you have a pin hole leak at that point or higher somewhere. And who knows how long it might take the leak to manifest itself since it has to make its way through the material an undeterminable distance before it can be visually noticed.

 

[TheFishGuy]

If it were my tank I'd get some hardi panel and paint four coats of drylok on it then silicone it to the walls

 

[Yanbbrox]

I'm not sure but after all the fun if you can call it that in this thread maybe a pm to Johnptc would help out. He's been there and done it, similar initial design and even joined two together just MO.

Wizzin, it's nice to see you back, Don't feel do dishearted even if funds are low, I started a pond project 4 years ago and for reason and another after completion it still leaked and I've done nothing to it for 4 years, for some reason today I started clearing it out again and the pump etc. still works and it still leaks

I blame everything that was going on in this thread to inspire me to do something. All the lock this and that If a project is not finished then it should remain 'not finished' until it is.

I'll post this again, no further comment until Wizzin gets up and running again, patience, I'll enjoy the comments in between

 

[dogofwar]

Amen to that brother.

If it were my tank I'd get some hardi panel and paint four coats of drylok on it then silicone it to the walls

 

[chesterfieldzoo]

I just stumbled on this. Wow is all I can say. I just finished my pond with sanitred and did not have any problems at all. It required a 5 gallon bucket of permaflex for the first coat, then a gallon of lrb/tav to repair cracks and 5 gallons of perma to top coat. I applied the thickness they told me and was also stated in the directions. I did the repairs as soon as the primer coat was tacky and did the second coat 15 hours later. It said in the directions that both coats must be done in the same day, but I ran out of daylight. The directions told of pinholes and if they appeared to reroll over them. It also said if you waited too long between coats you could run into separation issues and could get an oily discharge as it dried. I did not have any of these issues. I mixed the crap out of everything also. Did you do this as well? I used the rollers the girl I talked to recommended. I tossed in the hoses to fill the pond after 24 hours like she said I could. And the fish are in and happy to be home. I was careful to read all the instuctions online, the ones that came with the product and I called to verify and clarify once before and once after the application. I am very sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. The person I talked to the first time seemed impatient with me, but the next time I called, the person (I don't know if it was the same one) was very patient and took a lot of time with me.

 

[n_prise]

Sounds like u have been thru alot,hope all is well now,too bad its not a shark/ray tank tho...................

 

[TheFishJunky]

I just stumbled on this. Wow is all I can say. I just finished my pond with sanitred and did not have any problems at all. It required a 5 gallon bucket of permaflex for the first coat, then a gallon of lrb/tav to repair cracks and 5 gallons of perma to top coat. I applied the thickness they told me and was also stated in the directions. I did the repairs as soon as the primer coat was tacky and did the second coat 15 hours later. It said in the directions that both coats must be done in the same day, but I ran out of daylight. The directions told of pinholes and if they appeared to reroll over them. It also said if you waited too long between coats you could run into separation issues and could get an oily discharge as it dried. I did not have any of these issues. I mixed the crap out of everything also. Did you do this as well? I used the rollers the girl I talked to recommended. I tossed in the hoses to fill the pond after 24 hours like she said I could. And the fish are in and happy to be home. I was careful to read all the instuctions online, the ones that came with the product and I called to verify and clarify once before and once after the application. I am very sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. The person I talked to the first time seemed impatient with me, but the next time I called, the person (I don't know if it was the same one) was very patient and took a lot of time with me.

yeah but-is it an indoor pond?if not and its outside,you may never know if it leaks b/c you will also deal with evaporation as well.well in any case-i feel really bad for ya wizz-i hope you eventually fulfill your dream and finish the project one day b4 you give up completely.I would suggest the epoxy that alotta these guys have been using on the plywood tanks with no problems and see how that works.Or maybe that stuff you use to coat the back of a pick up truck bed-thats like epoxy resin also of some kind.

 

[loogielv]

the updates. they are teh lacking

 

[Oreo]

the project. it is teh dead

 

[Dan F]

the project. it is teh dead

Didn't you get in trouble for trolling this thread a few months back?