Thankyou, a youtuber that gets it. Doesn't slow talk, offers good tips and lets you know what to expect. Thankyou. Please continue to make videos, building a reef tank for my autistic son and I get the feeling you can help me.
Thanks! The next episode should be up pretty soon. Life got in the way of leak testing, but I'll be finishing that up in the next couple days, so the next few should come out in the next week
Thanks, doing what I can as I find time. Backlogged on about 30 "in progress" videos, hopefully I'll be able to get more of them out once the big tank is finished. Thanks for watching!
Try mixing 10% graphene powder into your epoxy next time! It will increase overall hardness and scum wont stick to it so you dont have to clean it as much as other tanks. Also look into "filleting" the seams with epoxy thickened with silica. That will 100% waterproof your seams. It's a method used in boat building.
Steven, these were very informative videos! I've been in the planning stage for a plywood aquarium and been watching so many videos and sending out so many emails to different manufacturers. I plan on using Acrylic instead of glass and I'm sure you already know it's not as simple as grabbing glass and silicone and done. I plan on putting epoxy around the perimeter of the Acrylic panel on the front sides and back, then silicone it to the inner window like normal, but also using stainless steel screws, then silicone around the outer edge perimeter of the panel for a first line of defense. I'll also have a small frame on the inside for the panel to rest on. Because of your shared information I'll also use the polyamide epoxy you used because I like the idea of some flexibility to reduce cracking. I might have missed something though, did you use resin and fiberglass to seal the inside joints before you used the epoxy? Every plywood aquarium video and instructions I've seen have used that to secure the plywood joints. Do you just feel the wood glue and screws are enough?
I suspect that 90% of the people who do this don't really have a good idea of what they're doing, and that's OK, it just means that everyone copies everyone else, and a lot of weird stuff creeps in. That's why Pond Armor gets away with selling cycloaliphatic epoxy at a 500% markup. You are correct, I don't user fiberglass in my tanks. Air bubbles in fiberglass can cause leaks, and it doesn't really add much strength anyway because it just bonds to the top layer of the plywood. I consider fiberglass to be a possible failure point, and I design accordingly. I rely on screws, glue, and a high quality silicone for the inside edges. RTV108 is fantastic silicone, amzn.to/2Wk9siP I use 3/4 inch plywood for pretty much everything. Cabinet grade is worth the extra money, because you get a higher quality stronger surface to work with. If water is 30 inches deep or less, I'll just use glue, screws, and silicone with a basic butt joint. 31-36 inches, I'll double the plywood around the edges, alternating the overlap of the joints. 37-48 inches, I'll use a 2x4 frame inside the tank, and triple up the 2x4s in the corners, so there's a good 4.5 inches of contact on the edges. Acrylic windows don't really need all that much to attach. RTV 108 and Gorilla silicone both stick decently to acrylic, so smaller windows can be mounted just like glass. Larger windows I go the "add a ledge for the window to sit on to support the weight, then silicone it in place" route. The edges of the acrylic are usually VERY rough, and the silicone sticks to the rough edge very well, so I silicone the front, let it cure, then silicone the edges for a good water seal. It's always worked well enough for me. But do what you feel is safe. Even with my designs I'm generally 6x safety factor, but if you think your windows are too large to rely on just silicone and a ledge then by all means use bolts. If you think your plywood isn't high enough quality to have good joints then yeah, use some fiberglass. It's better for you to feel comfortable with your tank years down the road than it is to save $200 today.
Hi, I’ve been doing a lot of research on plywood tanks and I’ve been watching your videos religiously. I think your tank looks awesome!!!! I already started my project and it’s approx. 560 gallons it’s 8’x 3’x3’it’s complete, still need to seal it and install glass or acrylic. To be honest I’m kind of stuck right now, I want to use liquid rubber but I’ve been hearing good things about pond shield/armor. But now, you have enlightened me about polyamide epoxy. What is your opinion regarding the strength of these three items? I’m not the best carpenter and I really want something that is strong to seal the tank just in case. Thank you in advance for your time if you can respond.
Johnny Phive going through the pros and cons of each is a little long for a comment (I can get the a reasonable response in around 2200 words), so you can expect a "quick" video with my thoughts in the next couple days, depending on my schedule
Hello. Ive done several builds with pond armor.. Got to talk to Butch the owner on several occasions. He is very helpful and the product is absolutely amazing ! I have the construction of my 540 gallon plywood tank on my channel. Proper screw pattern / clean and accurate cuts of wood / fiberglass strips on seams / proper application of 2 part epoxy / and adequate silicon for glass and it will outlast a glass aquarium IMO..
I've been doing a little research into this since the question was asked, to try to give a better answer. I'll have the video up tomorrow night with a more complete answer. As a short response, the price of pond shield is outrageously high. $190 per gallon is more than basically anything else on the market. Their SDS lists "trade secret A and B", which are, in order, benzyl alcohol and isophorone diamine, and that means it's a cycloaliphatic amine epoxy. They're also both toxic until cured, which makes the "mixed uncured epoxy is not toxic!" claim on their website a lie. Polyamide epoxies are more water resistant, more flexible, have better color stability, and better adhesion than cycloaliphatic epoxies. I've spoken with several epoxy manufacturers over the past week and all of them respond to "can I safely use cycloaliphatic epoxies underwater?" with "please don't do that, use a polyamide or phenalkamine instead" The only advantage pond shield has is that it's 100% solids, which means quick cure time and low odor, but there are 100% solid polyamides available, like AES-450 or NovaTuff PC-450, which you can find at $140 a gallon. If you're going to trust a cycloaliphatic then I can't find any reason not to use something cheaper, like corotech V430 ($180 for three gallons), rustoleum 6500 series ($90 a gallon), or the like because in all likelihood the pond shield is just a relabel of one of these other brands. That doesn't mean it's not OK to use, just that you can get the same thing cheaper, and you can get something better cheaper too.
I have also done research for nearly a year before my first build a year and a half ago. I spoke with many contractors and saw many amazing pond builds that were stocked with fish and super weather/water resist and livestock friendly. Joey "The King of DIY" swears by Pond Armor also. Im glad you found a product that works for you, and your builds look good. I like the Pond Armor and its ease of application. I did a test board to see its durability and its amazing against knives and rocks and anything gouging it. I agree it may not be the cheapest. Stay in touch as I enjoy what your doing and did sub to you. I enjoy sharing with people who like building and communicate in return. Merry Christmas to you and yours..
Like your video but I have few questions. 1- No need of fiberglass ? 2- The black liquid you mixed with resin is hardner or hardner with colour pigment mixed ? 3- Can I use polyester resin instead of epoxy resin ?
I never use fiberglass, even on my largest tank. If there are joints, I overlap another sheet of wood. I don't trust the fiberglass resin to bond well to plywood, long term. The black liquid is the epoxy, the hardener is clear. The one I use in the video is tintable in the paint shop. Every polyester resin I've ever used has fallen apart under water. I've got a really long video on that, but the short of it is: I go polyamide epoxy if I can vent it or do it outside, cycloaliphatic epoxy if there's no venting possible. Most specialty paint stores will either carry one of those, or can order it.
@@MischiefandFins can I use any epoxy resin or this one Araldite Standard Epoxy Adhesive (Resin 1kg + Hardener 800g) 1.8kg - Super Saver Economy Pack www.amazon.in/dp/B07KT9F7VN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_pmcNDbN6CVKGY is ok ?
@@amritranjan1435 Like I said, I never use fiberglass. If you're going to use it, you have to use fiberglass resin, other epoxies are generally too soft to work. You'd have to fiberglass, sand it down, then apply your other resins over it.
Yeah, we kept a 200 gallon long salt tank when I was younger, I'm just not big on the maintenance aspect. I like the personalities of the fish I keep, and I can automate pretty much everything with a fresh water tank pretty cheaply. My attitude is "feeding a couple times a day should be all I have to do" and I only do that by hand because I enjoy it, and it lets me check everyone's health up close.
Hi Steven! I watched all your videos and learned alot thanks! One question, I am making 3D background using styrofoam covered with hydrolic cement and want to coat it to seal the cement from leaching into the water! what would be the best? it is fully submerged underwater all the time! thanks Tim!!!
What's your water like? PH, GH, and KH? It might not be needed at all. I don't have to seal concrete or mortar items, they dissolve slowly enough in my water that regular water changes keep them from ever having a real effect on my water (PH 7.8, GH 13, KH 13, down to PH 7.6, GH 6, KH 6 in my RO mix tanks) I'd make a test piece, let it cure for 10+ days, then soak it in a bucket of water. The next day, change the water and let it soak again, then see if there's a noticeable difference. It's hard to tell what a hydraulic cement will do, since it's so much higher in calcium compounds than normal cements are. On the cheap end, a fiberglass resin would be fine for sealing, though it will add an amber color to whatever you're doing. Water safe clear epoxies tend to be expensive, and while pond shield is grossly overpriced compared to other cyloaliphatic epoxies, it's the only one I'm aware of that's sold in small jars. Drylok is probably the cheapest thing, if you can find a color you like. I wouldn't trust it for waterproofing a big box, but it should be fine for backgrounds and is known to be aquarium safe after drying properly But again, I'd do a water test to see if it's even needed. Unsealed concrete gets some nice diatom/algae growth in it, which adds a really nice natural looking effect, which I prefer over any coloring jobs I've ever done.
That water is pretty similar to mine (my test kits do degrees instead of PPM, your water is slightly harder than my treated water), so I would assume that you'd be fine untreated as long as it cures well first I wouldn't trust a polyurethane spray, personally. In theory it should be safe, but a lot of urethanes will go white or a very milky yellow when submerged long term. And every time I've used them they've flaked, but I have 8 gallons of clear epoxy sitting around, so I have no reason to use anything else most of the time. That being said, lots of people swear by krylon clear polyurethane (I assume that's what you meant). It definitely shouldn't be dangerous, it just might not seal very well on a really rough surface, so you'll probably have a hard time getting a good coating vs. something you brush on. But again, with your water it probably won't matter much if it's a perfect seal or not
yes I did mean Krylon lol. Thanks so much for the info! I definitely don't want it to go milky so I will check out our epoxy prices thanks so much!!! Your video's are great help!!!
Yeah, there's a lot of options. The 1.5 gallon pond armor kit runs around $300, from what I've seen, while a 2 gallon corotech polyamide kit runs about $120. Plus you can usually buy polyamide epoxy of some brand locally. Pond Armor is not terribly forthcoming with their information about their product, the type of epoxy, maximum thickness, temperature resistance, flexibility, etc. even their MSDS is mostly "secret ingredient" stuff, so I went with a brand where I know exactly what I'm getting and what sort of punishment I can give it when I'm decorating or moving things around. Both work well, and pond shield is great if you're in a hurry and only want a single coat, or are doing a small enough area to get away with the $75 kit
Angelfish Unlimited yeah, I was doing what I think was probably the smallest plywood aquarium anyone would ever make. I got the smallest kit, and I still have about a quarter left over after 3 coats.
Yeah, I saw that video. TV conversions are great. My wife made me throw all the old TV sets away before I got a chance to finish any, but I'll be doing an old blue imac pretty soon which is pretty close
The small 1.5 qt kit of pond armor does 60 sq ft at the recommended thickness of 10ml for about $70. Depends how much glass you decide to use. Glass from large leaking aquariums can be purchased very reasonably usually. I totally enjoy the DIY plywood aquarium builds.. Glad to see more interest and video.
Hi there. I'm about to use Pond Shield for my pond with shrimps and fishes for human consumption(aquaponics), is it safe/advisable to use it? Thanks a lot to your replies..
Any polyamide or cycloaliphatic epoxy works well for this sort of thing. Polyamides tend to be more flexible, so you're less likely to end up with cracking, but cycloaliphatic epoxy can be used inside without lots of ventilation
Yeah, I made a point of leaving the bucket clearly visible for a short time in the video, but I think a lot of people missed that. I really should have made a point of saying what it was. There were a lot of weird camera issues that day and I lost a fair amount of footage, like my holding up the bucket and saying "Today I'm using Corotech V400, I use this on most of my tanks and I've never had any problems" I would say I recommend Macropoxy 646 over the V400, anymore, it's lower odor and a little thicker, so it's easier to get a thicker layer on the vertical surfaces. It also has a potable water certified version, 646-PW, which isn't much more expensive. I didn't do a lot of talking about the epoxy because I made a nearly 1 hour video talking about different epoxies that can be used and their pros and cons, but it's probably worth pointing people to that video in the future.
I have tourette's (you can see involuntary facial grimacing and twitching in various videos), and things like rubber gloves and restrictive clothing greatly aggravate it, to the point that I not only cannot do videos but would not be able to do projects like this, as long term use of such items cause me to become a flailing writhing mess. I already have to cut out about 80% of most projects to avoid filming myself doing bizarre things on camera, and re-record basically all spoken footage about 9 times before I get anything usable. While I appreciate your suggestion, the toxicity of this particular epoxy is almost entirely in inhalation risks, and there was an enormous amount of ventilation (the air in the room is completely replaced with fresh air every 20-30 seconds). The chemicals listed in the SDS are basically just skin irritants, with the exception of ethyl benzene, which has a pretty low skin penetration and a fairly low content, so the potential risks vs. the issue of my quality of life are things that I consider on my own, and in the case of things like this the risks don't justify the long term misery that it causes me. I will however make an effort to make that clear in future videos.
Thankyou, a youtuber that gets it. Doesn't slow talk, offers good tips and lets you know what to expect. Thankyou. Please continue to make videos, building a reef tank for my autistic son and I get the feeling you can help me.
Thanks! The next episode should be up pretty soon. Life got in the way of leak testing, but I'll be finishing that up in the next couple days, so the next few should come out in the next week
I'm new and I'm really liking your content, keep it up!
Thanks, doing what I can as I find time. Backlogged on about 30 "in progress" videos, hopefully I'll be able to get more of them out once the big tank is finished.
Thanks for watching!
Try mixing 10% graphene powder into your epoxy next time! It will increase overall hardness and scum wont stick to it so you dont have to clean it as much as other tanks.
Also look into "filleting" the seams with epoxy thickened with silica. That will 100% waterproof your seams. It's a method used in boat building.
Do I need a specific kind of epoxy? Like marine epoxy or will any standard epoxy do?
Steven, these were very informative videos! I've been in the planning stage for a plywood aquarium and been watching so many videos and sending out so many emails to different manufacturers. I plan on using Acrylic instead of glass and I'm sure you already know it's not as simple as grabbing glass and silicone and done. I plan on putting epoxy around the perimeter of the Acrylic panel on the front sides and back, then silicone it to the inner window like normal, but also using stainless steel screws, then silicone around the outer edge perimeter of the panel for a first line of defense. I'll also have a small frame on the inside for the panel to rest on.
Because of your shared information I'll also use the polyamide epoxy you used because I like the idea of some flexibility to reduce cracking.
I might have missed something though, did you use resin and fiberglass to seal the inside joints before you used the epoxy? Every plywood aquarium video and instructions I've seen have used that to secure the plywood joints. Do you just feel the wood glue and screws are enough?
I suspect that 90% of the people who do this don't really have a good idea of what they're doing, and that's OK, it just means that everyone copies everyone else, and a lot of weird stuff creeps in.
That's why Pond Armor gets away with selling cycloaliphatic epoxy at a 500% markup.
You are correct, I don't user fiberglass in my tanks. Air bubbles in fiberglass can cause leaks, and it doesn't really add much strength anyway because it just bonds to the top layer of the plywood. I consider fiberglass to be a possible failure point, and I design accordingly.
I rely on screws, glue, and a high quality silicone for the inside edges. RTV108 is fantastic silicone, amzn.to/2Wk9siP
I use 3/4 inch plywood for pretty much everything. Cabinet grade is worth the extra money, because you get a higher quality stronger surface to work with.
If water is 30 inches deep or less, I'll just use glue, screws, and silicone with a basic butt joint. 31-36 inches, I'll double the plywood around the edges, alternating the overlap of the joints. 37-48 inches, I'll use a 2x4 frame inside the tank, and triple up the 2x4s in the corners, so there's a good 4.5 inches of contact on the edges.
Acrylic windows don't really need all that much to attach. RTV 108 and Gorilla silicone both stick decently to acrylic, so smaller windows can be mounted just like glass. Larger windows I go the "add a ledge for the window to sit on to support the weight, then silicone it in place" route. The edges of the acrylic are usually VERY rough, and the silicone sticks to the rough edge very well, so I silicone the front, let it cure, then silicone the edges for a good water seal. It's always worked well enough for me.
But do what you feel is safe. Even with my designs I'm generally 6x safety factor, but if you think your windows are too large to rely on just silicone and a ledge then by all means use bolts. If you think your plywood isn't high enough quality to have good joints then yeah, use some fiberglass. It's better for you to feel comfortable with your tank years down the road than it is to save $200 today.
How did you get the acrylic/ glass in if the tank is already braced?
Carefully. Put it in sideways, moved it to the bottom, applied silicone, then laid the acrylic onto it.
Hi, I’ve been doing a lot of research on plywood tanks and I’ve been watching your videos religiously. I think your tank looks awesome!!!! I already started my project and it’s approx. 560 gallons it’s 8’x 3’x3’it’s complete, still need to seal it and install glass or acrylic. To be honest I’m kind of stuck right now, I want to use liquid rubber but I’ve been hearing good things about pond shield/armor. But now, you have enlightened me about polyamide epoxy. What is your opinion regarding the strength of these three items? I’m not the best carpenter and I really want something that is strong to seal the tank just in case. Thank you in advance for your time if you can respond.
Johnny Phive going through the pros and cons of each is a little long for a comment (I can get the a reasonable response in around 2200 words), so you can expect a "quick" video with my thoughts in the next couple days, depending on my schedule
Angelfish Unlimited That would be awesome!!!!! Love your channel!!!! Most informative by far!!!!! Thank you
Hello. Ive done several builds with pond armor.. Got to talk to Butch the owner on several occasions. He is very helpful and the product is absolutely amazing ! I have the construction of my 540 gallon plywood tank on my channel. Proper screw pattern / clean and accurate cuts of wood / fiberglass strips on seams / proper application of 2 part epoxy / and adequate silicon for glass and it will outlast a glass aquarium IMO..
I've been doing a little research into this since the question was asked, to try to give a better answer. I'll have the video up tomorrow night with a more complete answer.
As a short response, the price of pond shield is outrageously high. $190 per gallon is more than basically anything else on the market.
Their SDS lists "trade secret A and B", which are, in order, benzyl alcohol and isophorone diamine, and that means it's a cycloaliphatic amine epoxy. They're also both toxic until cured, which makes the "mixed uncured epoxy is not toxic!" claim on their website a lie.
Polyamide epoxies are more water resistant, more flexible, have better color stability, and better adhesion than cycloaliphatic epoxies. I've spoken with several epoxy manufacturers over the past week and all of them respond to "can I safely use cycloaliphatic epoxies underwater?" with "please don't do that, use a polyamide or phenalkamine instead"
The only advantage pond shield has is that it's 100% solids, which means quick cure time and low odor, but there are 100% solid polyamides available, like AES-450 or NovaTuff PC-450, which you can find at $140 a gallon. If you're going to trust a cycloaliphatic then I can't find any reason not to use something cheaper, like corotech V430 ($180 for three gallons), rustoleum 6500 series ($90 a gallon), or the like because in all likelihood the pond shield is just a relabel of one of these other brands.
That doesn't mean it's not OK to use, just that you can get the same thing cheaper, and you can get something better cheaper too.
I have also done research for nearly a year before my first build a year and a half ago. I spoke with many contractors and saw many amazing pond builds that were stocked with fish and super weather/water resist and livestock friendly. Joey "The King of DIY" swears by Pond Armor also. Im glad you found a product that works for you, and your builds look good. I like the Pond Armor and its ease of application. I did a test board to see its durability and its amazing against knives and rocks and anything gouging it. I agree it may not be the cheapest. Stay in touch as I enjoy what your doing and did sub to you. I enjoy sharing with people who like building and communicate in return. Merry Christmas to you and yours..
Like your video but I have few questions.
1- No need of fiberglass ?
2- The black liquid you mixed with resin is hardner or hardner with colour pigment mixed ?
3- Can I use polyester resin instead of epoxy resin ?
I never use fiberglass, even on my largest tank. If there are joints, I overlap another sheet of wood. I don't trust the fiberglass resin to bond well to plywood, long term.
The black liquid is the epoxy, the hardener is clear. The one I use in the video is tintable in the paint shop.
Every polyester resin I've ever used has fallen apart under water. I've got a really long video on that, but the short of it is: I go polyamide epoxy if I can vent it or do it outside, cycloaliphatic epoxy if there's no venting possible. Most specialty paint stores will either carry one of those, or can order it.
@@MischiefandFins can I use any epoxy resin or this one Araldite Standard Epoxy Adhesive (Resin 1kg + Hardener 800g) 1.8kg - Super Saver Economy Pack www.amazon.in/dp/B07KT9F7VN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_pmcNDbN6CVKGY is ok ?
@@MischiefandFins Can I use fiberglass with epoxy resin or it's not necessary ?
@@amritranjan1435 Like I said, I never use fiberglass.
If you're going to use it, you have to use fiberglass resin, other epoxies are generally too soft to work. You'd have to fiberglass, sand it down, then apply your other resins over it.
@@MischiefandFins What's the difference between polyamide epoxy and cycloalipathic epoxy ?
have you ever tried a salt water tank love your channel
Yeah, we kept a 200 gallon long salt tank when I was younger, I'm just not big on the maintenance aspect. I like the personalities of the fish I keep, and I can automate pretty much everything with a fresh water tank pretty cheaply.
My attitude is "feeding a couple times a day should be all I have to do" and I only do that by hand because I enjoy it, and it lets me check everyone's health up close.
Hi Steven! I watched all your videos and learned alot thanks! One question, I am making 3D background using styrofoam covered with hydrolic cement and want to coat it to seal the cement from leaching into the water! what would be the best? it is fully submerged underwater all the time! thanks Tim!!!
What's your water like? PH, GH, and KH?
It might not be needed at all. I don't have to seal concrete or mortar items, they dissolve slowly enough in my water that regular water changes keep them from ever having a real effect on my water (PH 7.8, GH 13, KH 13, down to PH 7.6, GH 6, KH 6 in my RO mix tanks)
I'd make a test piece, let it cure for 10+ days, then soak it in a bucket of water. The next day, change the water and let it soak again, then see if there's a noticeable difference. It's hard to tell what a hydraulic cement will do, since it's so much higher in calcium compounds than normal cements are.
On the cheap end, a fiberglass resin would be fine for sealing, though it will add an amber color to whatever you're doing. Water safe clear epoxies tend to be expensive, and while pond shield is grossly overpriced compared to other cyloaliphatic epoxies, it's the only one I'm aware of that's sold in small jars.
Drylok is probably the cheapest thing, if you can find a color you like. I wouldn't trust it for waterproofing a big box, but it should be fine for backgrounds and is known to be aquarium safe after drying properly
But again, I'd do a water test to see if it's even needed. Unsealed concrete gets some nice diatom/algae growth in it, which adds a really nice natural looking effect, which I prefer over any coloring jobs I've ever done.
Hi thanks for the response! out of the tap GH-120, KH-80-120, pH-7.8, NO2-0, NO3-0, this is for a fresh water tank. I am in Ontario, Canada.
I noticed a few people using a poly urethane spray can I have seen a few types one good one by Krayola, do they or would they work
That water is pretty similar to mine (my test kits do degrees instead of PPM, your water is slightly harder than my treated water), so I would assume that you'd be fine untreated as long as it cures well first
I wouldn't trust a polyurethane spray, personally.
In theory it should be safe, but a lot of urethanes will go white or a very milky yellow when submerged long term. And every time I've used them they've flaked, but I have 8 gallons of clear epoxy sitting around, so I have no reason to use anything else most of the time.
That being said, lots of people swear by krylon clear polyurethane (I assume that's what you meant). It definitely shouldn't be dangerous, it just might not seal very well on a really rough surface, so you'll probably have a hard time getting a good coating vs. something you brush on.
But again, with your water it probably won't matter much if it's a perfect seal or not
yes I did mean Krylon lol. Thanks so much for the info! I definitely don't want it to go milky so I will check out our epoxy prices thanks so much!!! Your video's are great help!!!
Neat. I used Pond Shield.
Yeah, there's a lot of options. The 1.5 gallon pond armor kit runs around $300, from what I've seen, while a 2 gallon corotech polyamide kit runs about $120. Plus you can usually buy polyamide epoxy of some brand locally.
Pond Armor is not terribly forthcoming with their information about their product, the type of epoxy, maximum thickness, temperature resistance, flexibility, etc. even their MSDS is mostly "secret ingredient" stuff, so I went with a brand where I know exactly what I'm getting and what sort of punishment I can give it when I'm decorating or moving things around.
Both work well, and pond shield is great if you're in a hurry and only want a single coat, or are doing a small enough area to get away with the $75 kit
Angelfish Unlimited yeah, I was doing what I think was probably the smallest plywood aquarium anyone would ever make. I got the smallest kit, and I still have about a quarter left over after 3 coats.
Yeah, I saw that video. TV conversions are great. My wife made me throw all the old TV sets away before I got a chance to finish any, but I'll be doing an old blue imac pretty soon which is pretty close
The small 1.5 qt kit of pond armor does 60 sq ft at the recommended thickness of 10ml for about $70. Depends how much glass you decide to use. Glass from large leaking aquariums can be purchased very reasonably usually. I totally enjoy the DIY plywood aquarium builds.. Glad to see more interest and video.
Hi there. I'm about to use Pond Shield for my pond with shrimps and fishes for human consumption(aquaponics), is it safe/advisable to use it? Thanks a lot to your replies..
Would corotech v400 be fine?
I believe v400 is what was used on this tank, yes. I've never had any issues with it, or any sort of health problems with the fish in it.
Wat is the black epoxy resin called n thanks for showing us the video
Any polyamide or cycloaliphatic epoxy works well for this sort of thing. Polyamides tend to be more flexible, so you're less likely to end up with cracking, but cycloaliphatic epoxy can be used inside without lots of ventilation
You didn’t list any of the stuff you used
Yeah, I made a point of leaving the bucket clearly visible for a short time in the video, but I think a lot of people missed that. I really should have made a point of saying what it was. There were a lot of weird camera issues that day and I lost a fair amount of footage, like my holding up the bucket and saying "Today I'm using Corotech V400, I use this on most of my tanks and I've never had any problems"
I would say I recommend Macropoxy 646 over the V400, anymore, it's lower odor and a little thicker, so it's easier to get a thicker layer on the vertical surfaces. It also has a potable water certified version, 646-PW, which isn't much more expensive.
I didn't do a lot of talking about the epoxy because I made a nearly 1 hour video talking about different epoxies that can be used and their pros and cons, but it's probably worth pointing people to that video in the future.
epoxy is highly toxic, use protective gloves and sleeves
I have tourette's (you can see involuntary facial grimacing and twitching in various videos), and things like rubber gloves and restrictive clothing greatly aggravate it, to the point that I not only cannot do videos but would not be able to do projects like this, as long term use of such items cause me to become a flailing writhing mess. I already have to cut out about 80% of most projects to avoid filming myself doing bizarre things on camera, and re-record basically all spoken footage about 9 times before I get anything usable.
While I appreciate your suggestion, the toxicity of this particular epoxy is almost entirely in inhalation risks, and there was an enormous amount of ventilation (the air in the room is completely replaced with fresh air every 20-30 seconds). The chemicals listed in the SDS are basically just skin irritants, with the exception of ethyl benzene, which has a pretty low skin penetration and a fairly low content, so the potential risks vs. the issue of my quality of life are things that I consider on my own, and in the case of things like this the risks don't justify the long term misery that it causes me.
I will however make an effort to make that clear in future videos.