New Build - 300 gallon plywood tank
- Thread starter fish4me
- Start date
If it helps this is my thread:http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143924
We fiberglassed the entire outside of the tank. We used just the resin for the inside of the tank. Check out what CJH said in post #80. Apparently the West System folks think along the same lines as the folks at Polymer Composites who supplied my resin. That encapsulating the outside of the tank is better than lining the inside. Some of this thinking come from calculations and most of it comes from aerospace and aircraft industries where they encapsulate almost everything.
Right now you may be using more resin and cloth than I used in my tank. The downside of doing the outside, however is that you cant stain it like some folks do. You can paint it but the texture of the glass cloth will show through. But I have bumped my tank around numerous times with and without water in it and it's stiil shows no sign weakness, cracks, etc. Hope this helps.
We fiberglassed the entire outside of the tank. We used just the resin for the inside of the tank. Check out what CJH said in post #80. Apparently the West System folks think along the same lines as the folks at Polymer Composites who supplied my resin. That encapsulating the outside of the tank is better than lining the inside. Some of this thinking come from calculations and most of it comes from aerospace and aircraft industries where they encapsulate almost everything.
Right now you may be using more resin and cloth than I used in my tank. The downside of doing the outside, however is that you cant stain it like some folks do. You can paint it but the texture of the glass cloth will show through. But I have bumped my tank around numerous times with and without water in it and it's stiil shows no sign weakness, cracks, etc. Hope this helps.
Update:
I have finished all of the fiberglassing, well that is if the correct combination of resin and hardener was used to allow the glassing to cure. I put three thick layers on. Total amount of west system used was about 1 Gallon and one quart of hardener (total cost about 160)
Will take pics tomorrow when the weather is much warmer. I am going to allow the fiberglassing to cure for at least a week because we have had sub 50 weather here for the last several weeks meaning that the curing process takes much longer than if it was significantly warmer out. Custom glass piece will be ordered tomorrow and is due to arrive Dec 19 at which point I will begin installation of the glass.
Any pointers in terms of inserting the glass from those that have accomplished a DIY build of this type..............
After glass is in I plan to stain the wood and finish the trimming to make the tank look nice and also complete the cabinet fronts of the stand to match.
From that point, gonna see if it holds water.
updates and pics to come in the future...............
I have finished all of the fiberglassing, well that is if the correct combination of resin and hardener was used to allow the glassing to cure. I put three thick layers on. Total amount of west system used was about 1 Gallon and one quart of hardener (total cost about 160)
Will take pics tomorrow when the weather is much warmer. I am going to allow the fiberglassing to cure for at least a week because we have had sub 50 weather here for the last several weeks meaning that the curing process takes much longer than if it was significantly warmer out. Custom glass piece will be ordered tomorrow and is due to arrive Dec 19 at which point I will begin installation of the glass.
Any pointers in terms of inserting the glass from those that have accomplished a DIY build of this type..............
After glass is in I plan to stain the wood and finish the trimming to make the tank look nice and also complete the cabinet fronts of the stand to match.
From that point, gonna see if it holds water.
updates and pics to come in the future...............
