# Epoxy Resin



## Guest (Mar 14, 2004)

Anybody used this stuff? I was thinking it could be used for many application....sealing wood, making water features, and my main concern...mixing with coco bedding to make a background. Anyone tried it?

Here is a link to the stuff I am looking at. It is a little thinner than the average epxy resin. It is called the *Blue System*

http://www.jgreer.com/

Thanks,


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## Guest (Mar 14, 2004)

i would guess that an expoxy resin would be okay as it cures with a solid shell. might want to try it out to see how it holds up in water thou, if it starts to disentegrate or get soggy, probably bad


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## jhupp (Feb 27, 2004)

It wont hydrate in water. It is whats used when fiberglassing. I am betting it will work great for making a background. Infact I am planning to try it next weekend, I'll let everyone know how it goes.


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## Guest (Mar 14, 2004)

jhupp said:


> It wont hydrate in water. It is whats used when fiberglassing. I am betting it will work great for making a background. Infact I am planning to try it next weekend, I'll let everyone know how it goes.


Excellent, what is your plan? Basically, which epoxy, and what substrate mix and ratio are you planning?

Thanks,


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

Wouldnt that kill the fact that backrounds help humidity though? and wouldnt it be tough for vines to grow on it?


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

I'm not sure I would mix in the coco bedding, but maybe put it on after. I have not tried epoxy, but plan to either try that or something else to make a background and waterfall.

You could ask alex at custom ecos what he uses, he makes large rock type virariums and I think he may yse epoxy. I think he paints it after words, but not sure.


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

maybe mix it for waterfall, and push it on for background.


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## Guest (Mar 14, 2004)

kyle1745 said:


> I'm not sure I would mix in the coco bedding, but maybe put it on after. I have not tried epoxy, but plan to either try that or something else to make a background and waterfall.
> 
> You could ask alex at custom ecos what he uses, he makes large rock type virariums and I think he may yse epoxy. I think he paints it after words, but not sure.


I would agree with you ordinarily, but the epoxy I am looking at has the consistency almost of water. It is very thin....sort of like a 1:2 weldbond:water ratio. I am wondering if the coco will absorb the epoxy as well but not soften like weldbond.


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## jhupp (Feb 27, 2004)

I'm not sure what the ratio is I'm going to use. But I deffinatly think that mixing it with the peat/coco will be the way to go. This stuff is designed to be incorprated with fiberglass mesh, so it is rather thin. I plan to spread the mixture over a urethane foam background and then dust the top with more peat/coco. It should have enough texature for roots to attach, or in my case moss. The entire background will have water flowing over it, so the plan is to cover it with java moss and probably some java fern.

I think the biggest issue with the resin will be not to put it on too thick as it generates a lot of heat as it sets up.


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## Guest (Mar 15, 2004)

jhupp said:


> I'm not sure what the ratio is I'm going to use. But I deffinatly think that mixing it with the peat/coco will be the way to go. This stuff is designed to be incorprated with fiberglass mesh, so it is rather thin. I plan to spread the mixture over a urethane foam background and then dust the top with more peat/coco. It should have enough texature for roots to attach, or in my case moss. The entire background will have water flowing over it, so the plan is to cover it with java moss and probably some java fern.
> 
> I think the biggest issue with the resin will be not to put it on too thick as it generates a lot of heat as it sets up.


I think that sounds like a good idea. Do you think you have cracking as it cures?


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## jhupp (Feb 27, 2004)

I cann't fore see it cracking, as it shouldn't shrink at all when it cures. The reason the Weldbond cracks is that it losses water causeing it to shrink. The resin only under goes a change in chemical structure, nothing is lost - so it shouldn't shrink and likewise shouldn't crack.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

My latest tank came out very tough (weldbond, water, eco_earth), and dried like rock, this one will not rehydrate at all. What I did was put the mix on very very wet, and then press it down. It is almost like rock. I will have to take a picture, but no plants yet.



MBMcEwen said:


> kyle1745 said:
> 
> 
> > I'm not sure I would mix in the coco bedding, but maybe put it on after. I have not tried epoxy, but plan to either try that or something else to make a background and waterfall.
> ...


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## Guest (Mar 15, 2004)

Hey Matt,
I used to work in a boatyard where we used quite a bit of West System epoxy on boats. Two concerns. Most epoxy hardens very stiff and can therefore potentialy harden into a stiff point. A more pressing concern to me would be the fact that the epoxy we used exuded fumes for a very long time after the project seemed cured. The fumes being fairly harmful, I would a little leary of most epoxies. There may be some out there that are fine to use, just thought I would give you a heads up.

J105


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## Guest (Mar 15, 2004)

J105 said:


> Hey Matt,
> I used to work in a boatyard where we used quite a bit of West System epoxy on boats. Two concerns. Most epoxy hardens very stiff and can therefore potentialy harden into a stiff point. A more pressing concern to me would be the fact that the epoxy we used exuded fumes for a very long time after the project seemed cured. The fumes being fairly harmful, I would a little leary of most epoxies. There may be some out there that are fine to use, just thought I would give you a heads up.
> 
> J105


hmm...that definitley needs to be taken into consideration. Thanks for the heads-up.


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## Homer (Feb 15, 2004)

I will second the concerns by J105. It's difficult to determine the quality of epoxy resin and the amount of offgassing that will occur. Usually, the thinner stuff has more volatiles in it than the thick epoxies. However, I ran water through my system for over one month to remove any volatiles. I used RO water to provide the maximum amount of dissolving power and changed it daily.

I really don't know how mixing the stuff with organics will change the ability to remove all of the volatiles, though. I have always just used it as a paint over the wood surfaces to waterproof things. You definitely won't have a problem with rehydration, as this stuff is never hydrated in the first place if it's a true epoxy.


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## StevenBonheim (Feb 22, 2004)

*epoxy resin*

Hello
I have used epoxy in the past and have a few tips.
If you do plan on mixing peat with your epoxy, I would reconmend mixing very small amounts at a time...maybe a cup or less. The reason being, epoxy goes through a chemical change when it cures, this reaction produces more heat than you would expect (ive melted thick plastic tubs into liquid!). :twisted: The more epoxy mixed, the more heat. You will probably end up with a fire if you mix a large amount of the stuff with peat. You will find a warning label on the can that says to not use saw dust for clean up.... this is why!! You may end up with a little shrinkage but no cracking.  
The final product will be very shiny so you may want to lighty sand with a coarse grade paper to rid of the reflective qualities...but if you add enough peat this problem may not occure. :wink: Also it will take along time to cure. I would give no less than 2 weeks for curing.
As for the plant roots being able to attach...your back ground will suck for this  ... I would add a layer of treefern fiber or something on top of the epoxy when it is still wet. Do this right after you paint it on, or you could wait till it has cured and then attach the fiber with silicone. Doing this in the places you plan to have plants growing will create a texured surface that the roots can dig into. There is no way the roots would be able to grow into your epoxy/peat background unless you use huge amounts of peat and use the epoxy as a sort of thickener to make a peat-paste...hmmm maybe I will experiment with this next week end. oh well i hope this helped some.
-steven bonheim


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## jhupp (Feb 27, 2004)

I was planing to dust the top with peat while the epoxy was still setting up to kill the shine.


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## jhupp (Feb 27, 2004)

I tried the epoxy resin to form the background, and so far I am quite pleased with the results. I will try and get some pics up this evening.

Here's what I did:
I used Bondo brand epoxy resin from Lowe's (its clear - no pigments in the hardener) and peat moss dried in the oven at 275 for 30 min. I then passed the peat moss through window screen to get in as fine of particles as possible. I mixed the epoxy 2oz at a time useing 1 to 2 extra drops of hardener. I then painted the epoxy on the background and dusted it with the peat, pressing it in as the expoy cured. The excess was dusted off after the epoxy fully set up and I repeated the proccess to get full coverage. After 2 coats the background had a rock hard, texteured shell, with no gloss.

Tips: 
Don't pre mix the peat with the epoxy - just dosen't cover well and winds up to thick.

Be sure to use lots of peat, beacuse if it looks wet when it is curing it will wind up shiny there in the end.

I put this over urethane foam: Be sure to remove all the smooth surfaces from the foam, they are a pain to cover.

I masked off areas I didn't want covered with masking tape. The heat of the epoxy transfers the tapes adhesive to what ever surface it is stuck to and if you wait to long to pull the tape up with epoxy on you have problems. Rubbing alcohol removed the adhesive quite well.


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## jhupp (Feb 27, 2004)

Here is the pic.


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## Guest (Mar 22, 2004)

Hey there,
Just a couple of tips. If you like the way the great stuff, or whatever you use as your base, is looking when it is wet, you can drop the fiber dirrectly onto it. The Great Stuff if obviosly very sticky and will grab the fine medium. This works great if you dust the GreatStuff ASAP. If you have areas that it does not take to, or if you sculp or add more Stuff later, try bronze 100% silicone dusted with medium. The silicone goes a long way, cures fast, is already brown in color, and is very work friendly. Just smear it wherever and drop your dust on it, done. I have done a number of vivs this way with good luck. Good luck to you, happy froggin,

Rich


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## Moe (Feb 15, 2004)

jhupp, did you drill large holes onto your background to mount the broms on, or were there premade holes before you added everything.

M.N


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## jhupp (Feb 27, 2004)

The background is great stuff and I used portions of those plastic containers mushrooms come in to make planting pokets. I went back after the epoxy cured and added drainage holes with a 6in long 1/8in drill bit.

Because this tank is being designed for golden mantellas there won't be any bromeliads. But even if I were to add them later for some reason they would be relativly easy to attach - either with silicon or by drilling small holes in the epoxy and wiring them in place.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Neat, did you make the tank? I like the size and the sliding front.



jhupp said:


> Here is the pic.


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## jhupp (Feb 27, 2004)

It is a restored 30 gallon slate bottom aquarium. The doors are custom, as is the end of the tank with the cooler (open spot in the background).


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## Moe (Feb 15, 2004)

jhupp said:


> The background is great stuff and I used portions of those plastic containers mushrooms come in to make planting pokets. I went back after the epoxy cured and added drainage holes with a 6in long 1/8in drill bit.
> 
> Because this tank is being designed for golden mantellas there won't be any bromeliads. But even if I were to add them later for some reason they would be relativly easy to attach - either with silicon or by drilling small holes in the epoxy and wiring them in place.


Oops, i thought that was the early beginnings of the terrarium in your avatar.

M.N


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