fiberglass tanks

are they safe or not? do they release any chemicals over time thank you very much

good question. i never thought of that. i do custom body work on autos with fiberglass. that would be kinda cool to do i think, and i can make it as wicked as i like. just need to find a cardboard box the right size to lay sheets over. i dont know though about the chemicals. maybe someone can shine some light. i think if ya made it around a cardboard box, cut out your window once its dry, rip the box out, lay some bondo inside, paint with a chemical resistant epoxy inside and out *white*, let air dry for about 2 weeks, smell for chemical presence then add windows, light, heat and get temps stable. that should work. thanks for the idea! i hate wood, im not bob the builder. i suck with all that, but i'm real good with fiberglass. i know what im doing very soon :P

Well, the fiberglass itself wouldn't be toxic, but the resin may be. You'd want to check in to that before housing your animals in it.

Let me know what you find out though... I could be the first person with a Carbon Fiber display cage!

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Originally Posted by CntrlF8

Well, the fiberglass itself wouldn't be toxic, but the resin may be. You'd want to check in to that before housing your animals in it.

Let me know what you find out though... I could be the first person with a Carbon Fiber display cage!

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Well the main thing is styrene now from what i remember from all the books we had to read was that any plastic (which is a polyestersin same as fiberglass) (meaning every tub a snake is) puts off just as much styrene as a finished fiberglass part.... and i need some one whos more ... educated on the subject ... any words of advice would be appretiated

If you were to use that truck bed coating stuff for the inside like you do around boxes and such, that would look pretty sweet. Go army man! \m/ let's see your fiberglass skillz

wanna see my fiberglass skills well this is what i build... its not the same type of tank you guys are thinking at all but its what i do currently for a living :P

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...00_0530_00.jpg

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...p/100_0537.jpg

That would be a 75 barrel if the picture worked in the process of being built... ill try and find a finished one :) we make Acid hauling tanks for the oil field and like the boss claims "three times and strong as steel" plus most acids can eat through steal where they dont touch fiberglass...
thats a month worth of work... the tank it self (excluding dry time) would take about 45 minutes for id say 100 gallon for my reptiles :)

huh.. I thought it was a rail car tank at first. :P

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...p/000_0001.jpg

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

If you were to use that truck bed coating stuff for the inside like you do around boxes and such, that would look pretty sweet. Go army man! \m/ let's see your fiberglass skillz

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haha :P ill start on it soon. actually if you look it up. lowes sells a white epoxy paint that is hard and strong and resistant. albinoburmese.com has a guide on building a snake tank for giants. he use's the same stuff. just have to allow adequate amount of time for drying and venting the fumes away. i built a 7x2x2 tank out of a desk for my burm and used the epoxy. smells strong so i suggest using it far away from the snake room. takes about 2 weeks and you cant smell any fumes. i let it sit another week even though i couldnt smell anything and after that, i washed it with chlorexadine and P-A-M.
i think this will be a test. i want to make sure the fiberglass/carbon fiber hold the humidity and heat. if it does, i might just make and sell a few. i have a local friend who lays carbon fiber and im thinking a few sheet lay'd over the outside would be awesome.
as far as the resin for fiberglass, yes it does have a strong and toxic oder at first. but thats why i stated, lay the fiberglass, bondo which creates a barrier that is somewhat water proof but it also seals off the fiberglass and fix's imperfections. then paint on top of bondo. so pretty much a nice 1/4 layer of fiberglass, sand to even, few layers of bondo, then paint. overall thickness would be descent and should work nicely.
while at work i was thinking, where the heat tape would go i could place a piece of cardboard set to where the heat tape would be placed and layer of that as well so when all is said and done the heat element would be outside the tank underneath and could be swapped if need be. be so awesome not to tape anymore :P

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Originally Posted by Greenlover

Well the main thing is styrene now from what i remember from all the books we had to read was that any plastic (which is a polyestersin same as fiberglass) (meaning every tub a snake is) puts off just as much styrene as a finished fiberglass part.... and i need some one whos more ... educated on the subject ... any words of advice would be appretiated

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last i was told is the same thing. upon completion of a fiberglass craft and drying and venting. it has the same output as any other plastic made item. but shouldnt have the smell due to an epoxy paint sealing it. i had that question when i was at a friends body shop.