I have a question
 

to all the people who have built inwall tanks, I am thinking of constructing a new stand but I want to go with drywall for the ourside of it. It will be like a room partition from floor to roof. how many of you have a lot of drywall around the tank and how is it holding up? did you seal it with a special type of paint on the inside or what... ect...

Steve

I didn't do anything special.... maybe I should have? :mrgreen:

If you use an aquaboard, you wont have to worry about mold, or the drywall rotting away. Its the same stuff they use around tub enclosures and showers.

Is she finally gonna let you cut that hole in the wall???

he lives :mrgreen: nope but I might have to plug a few :wink:

I am thinking of turning that little entry shelf by the front door into a tank stand.. all it does now is colect junk and I would get my living room back if I move the tank there.

Steve

We have a lot of drywall. Kari built in our tank for us. No where near the damage on the drywall in the free-standing 230g. The only area I need to look at is the sump a bit more. The tank has no splatter, being Euro braced.

How about putting some kind of cheap plastic material like the plastic cardboard stuff or similar in areas that are not visible? Lately I have been using sign board (unknown plastic material) in areas where I get lots of water like the stand top edge. Makes cleanup much faster/easier.

I don't think the humidity is a big problem but any kind of splashing will cause the drywall to swell. I had a problem with small air bubbles breaking on the water surface causing salt creep near drywall.

Does the drywall used in shower areas contain anti bacterial chemicals?

The aquaboard if it gets wet will still deteriorate. It just takes a little longer than the regular drywall. A better option would be concrete board IMO. DuRock is a Canadian Company that manufactures this stuff. I think you can get it at Home Depot. Might be worth looking in to. :wink:

We used cement board for both sides of our tank wall. You have to use different screws and it is tough to cut but no worries about water damage. The front side is sealed with caulk and expanding foam and the stand and tank are slightly sloped to the back to help keep water away from the wall if something happens. For paint we used Cloverdale Eco-logic the stuff they use in hospitals. It's acrylic so no fumes but it's waterproof like enamel.
HTH
Attachment 120

Ok after more thinking I decided to go with MDF instead, this way I can paint the inside with white marine enamal and not worry about anything.
also I was thinking it would be better to use for ataching doors and such and is still paintable on the outside to match the walls.

Steve

i might use concrete board around my setup. for inside the wall around the tank stand, i'm going to paint it all, and seal all the joints/cracks with caulk.

I have regular drywall on 3 sides of my open top 38G tank. No problems so far after 4-5 years.

Although my the stand on my first tank was MDF (plastic coated) and had no signs of damage in 3 years, was always a concern. Have had other furniture made fr the stuff and doesn't to take much water to get it to swell. Guess if sealed really good, dab of silicone in the screw holes before fastening, etc..

There is MDF sheet with good moisture resistance qualities. Also, there is one type that is also formaldehyde free. Once I remember the name of the product I'll note it.

the frame holding the tank up is going to be steel and the cabnet fram will be 2x2 wood, the MDF will only act as a skin for the cabnet like you would use oak plywood or drywall, ect.. I was originaly going to do it out of oak but decided it wouldn't suit the room and decided I would rather be able to paint it.

Steve

Realize the MDF was wall covering only, just relating my concerns about MDF.

My tank isn't in-wall, but when I framed up then drywalled the mechancical room for my basement sump used the green aqua board throughout.