He sent me home with both a spar urethane and a water-based polyurethane by "Varathane" brand, with the suggestion that I do more chemical research on both from the manufacturer, some demos on scrap from the wood I'll be using, and go from there. I returned the spar and stuck with the water-based: which if I'm reading correctly is also one of the recommended ones on here, up above.

I'm satisfied with it so far! It has a beautiful glow on the plywood I've used (which is not the best ply -- on a budget, unfortunately) and so overall I'm very pleased so far. No pulling or unusually flowing as it dries -- a few drip spots which were my fault from early carelessness, but nothing critical.

The fumes are minimal compared to others (the spar sample I test *still* smells stronger than the far-more-coats water-based) and I'm damn satisfied.

I'm 4-5 coats in on the walls, and will let this cure for a couple of days before I add another 1-2, and do the floor.

This project has been a learning experience for me. I'm not completely clueless but I've only ever worked with smaller enclosures (typical 3x2 and 4x2 stackables), so the walk-in vivarium style set-up has really pronounced and magnified the things I don't know how to do well enough, ha. I have a lot of regrets and "shoulda woulda couldas" but so far this sealer isn't one of them.

In a year or two I may replace some of the wood for aesthetic reasons (assuming no major problems arise with leaking, moisture, etc) but so far I'm really stoked with how things have turned out.

Thanks for your help, guys.

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