Fiberglass resin ok to use?
 

Does anyone have any info on using a fiberglass resin in a reef tank?

iam thinking of doing a plywood tank and then coating the inside with fiberglass mat and resin.

anyone.....?

Thanks!

:mrgreen:

you don't expose the resin directly. When you're done you paint it with a two part epoxy. There are only a couple brands that are safe for in the reef. maybe send a pm to michika, as she figured out what epoxy paint you can use in a plywood tank for reef.

thought I seen some plywood tank builds on RC with the resin exposed

If I could get away with just the resin and save a step or two that would be a good thing, but if I need to seal the resin with the 2 part epoxy to keep the resin from leaching into the water then I would have to do that.

Iam just looking to build a grow out tank with a couple of MH light over it so iam not worried how the inside of the tank looks.

thanks everyone.

Check out GARF, I was looking around there today and found a prop tank made of 4mm coroplast. I didn't look at it closely, but it would be super cheap. Last time I bought coro it was about $15 for a 4x8 sheet.

http://www.garf.org/_2008b/show/index.htm

African Fever on Alberta Aquatica has built a couple large plywood tanks. In one thread he gives a breakdown of materials and costs of what he used. Both threads are a good read for information. He's a good guy and would answer any questions you may have about plywood tanks.

http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php...l=plywood+tank
http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php...l=plywood+tank

HTH

Thanks for the links, Iam going to look into this.

99% sure you can't expose the bare resin to moisture, fiberglass boats are still epoxy painted. If fiberglass is not properly protected it will rot.

also look for superfudge's tank journal here.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=31113

Cheers,
Vic

Most boats are gel-coated.
Gel Coat is resin with pigment, but they are painted with anti fouling paint below the water line. Prolonged water submersion can lead to osmosis.
Just use Fiberglass mat and epoxy resin to lay up the tank. Will cost a bit more but will last longer.

Again not positive as been awhile but when I was looking into a DIY kayak, sure it was just fibreglass and epoxy resin.

That works as well, but at that point you might as well just use epoxy resin as the paint is not cheap either.
Also kayaks are not kept in the water full time like most runabouts.
It's long term exposure to water that is the problem.

yeah you could use epoxy resin but you still need to apply a final coat of the epoxy resin or paint to finished fiberglassed surface to seal it. If you use polyester resin you'll need to apply some kind of epoxy pant to seal it. Basically the same deal, however I believe the epoxy resin will stick better to wood and last longer.

I do know that fiberglass can rot if not properly protected so I'm assuming something is needed.

I've built a cedar strip canoe covered with fiberglass cloth, two part epoxy and marine grade varnish on top of that. Once the two part epoxy is fully cured it is inert, waterproof and can't hurt anything unless you sand it. Like any fine sanding dust, you need to protect your lungs from that. The varnish is there for UV protection otherwise the epoxy will eventually discolour and deteriorate. You wouldn't need the varnish for your application and I'm not sure varnish would be safe in a reef tank either.

The two part epoxy I used is "West System" and is fairly costly but you wouldn't be using nearly as much as I did for the boat. I think there are cheaper alternatives, but I haven't looked into those.

http://www.westsystem.com/
http://bearmountainboats.com/building_materials.htm

Not sure what kind of resin you're planning to use, but I'm fairly certain the two part epoxy is safe.