Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got my caiman into a larger cage so I have to start the next one. I'm doing baby steps on the cages till I get the final location for the permanant build. My next interum cage is going to be about 4x6 of water and I was wanting to do it how people build the "monster aquariums". This is plywood walls with marine epoxy sealant. Do any of you have experience with this? Any suggestions on brand and type? I have been reading on MonsterFishKeeper.com to learn how to build them, but they of course can't tell me how the durability is and stuff like that. Thanks

I've built them. I'm not much of a carpenter so it was essentially a box. The epoxy really lets on the fumes so caution is advised there. In my case i had a few microleaks that I needed to shore up and I eventually put a liner in one.

On the upside they can be built in any shape you want and I found the wood to be a great insulator as it was super easy to heat the pool and have it retain that heat compared to stock tanks either poly or metal.

It's worth a try but really go heavy on the epoxy to prevent leaks.
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CDieter
'Reason, observation, and experience; the holy trinity of science.'

I have built several enclosures using this method. The biggest had a pond that was seven foot by five foot by two feet deep. I got the original idea from a site called garf.com Not sure if it is still around anymore, but you can try a google search for it. A few tricks I have learned to make them are to have a really good structure to support your plywood. Have two layers of plywood instead of just one and ensure the seems run opposite directions. Fill any cracks with liquid nails or gorilla glue before you put down your fiberglass resin. You really only need the actual fiberglass cloth in the corners. Put down one strip work it at tight into the corners as you can and then let the resin cure for 24 hours. Lightly sand it and then apply another layer. Three layers has always worked fine for me. After the last layer get a good two part swimming pool epoxy paint and put two layers of that down. After both layers have dried I take window silicone and put a light coat in all the corners and let them dry. It usually take about a month or so for me to build one, but I haven't had any problems with any of them leaking since I figured out this method. If you have any questions feel free to email at thebersrkr@yahoo.com Good luck