Re: NANFA-- Building tanks.

Moontanman_at_aol.com
Thu, 1 Apr 2004 02:34:09 EST

In a message dated 4/1/04 2:24:14 AM Eastern Standard Time, yodeman_at_lycos.com
writes:

> Hey Moon, I fully agree about a maximum of 16" of exposed glass height when
> using 1/4" glass(and anything thicker is extremely expensive, unless you
are
> using salvaged glass). Somewhere on the web, don't have time to look now,
> there is a great DIY article on a wood/glass tank. I helped a friend build
a
> few 6 footers, and he now has maybe 20 or so in his fishroom. 2 feet wide
is
> very cool, it adds nice depth of field to the tank (don't know how else to
> state that). Are you using 2 part epoxy paint for the inside or fiberglass
or
> something else (I have heard some people say they used swimming pool
paint).
> My friend has both fiberglass and 2 part epoxy tanks. They both work
equally
> well I think. I thknk the paint was 60 or 80 bucks for the gallon system.
One
> advantage of a plywood tank is its lighter dry weight, for ease of moving
> around. For a 125 though, it would pay to try to hold off for a used one,
if
> you belong to a club they come up from time to time, least they do aroun
> d
> here. Just spread the word around that your in the market. Ron
>
Ron I use a combination of epoxy and polyester resins. I use a special
polyester resin that remains flexible for many years and will not peal if water gets
under it. I then coat that with two part epoxy. You have to be careful and
not get anti-fouling paint. I get about 20 years out of my tanks, if I used
marine plywood (not pressure treated) they would probably last forever but it
would almost double the cost. I use fiber glass matte in the corners and water
proof wood glue and brass wood screws. It's a time consuming process but the
result is really great.

Moon
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