Epoxy paint for plywood tanks

[mikegreen]

I'm considering building some tanks from 3/4 inch ply as described on GARF site.
Has anyone got a source for suitable epoxy paint in U.K.?
Any idea on price?
How effective?
Thanks

[Nessy]

Hi,
I was looking into this a while back and found that swimming pool company's stock it.

Nessy

[Nessy]

or....

http://www.everlac.co.uk/paints.htm

or,

http://www.ishop.co.uk/ishop/691/shopscr151.html


Nessy

[mikegreen]

thanks nessy - I'll try those out.

[richstrat]

Mike,

I'd think long and hard about this one. I did this about 2 years ago - the tank lasted about 2 months in original form and then 6 more before I ripped it apart fearing a catastrophic failure. The problem is the paint. The slightest pinhole in it and it begins to leak, so that means you can't lean anything against the walls and aquascaping becomes very difficult. I got a number of pinholes, the wood started to swell so I bought a sheet of black perspex and siliconed it over the wooden walls. This lasted a further 6 months, then the braces started to swell where the paint had been damaged again. After 8 months I was really fearing the structural integrity of the bracing so built an all new glass tank.

I would go with glass every time now - if you are doing this to keep the price down, glass is not much more expensive (buy it from Solaglas) and they can polish and bevel it, drill holes etc etc.

The GARF tank design is fine IMO for a growout tank, where you just have lightweight racking, but for a main display tank, I would save yourself a lot of trouble and either buy a ready made or do it yourself but with glass (it's not difficult really!!http://www.ultimatereef.net/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

HTH

Rich