Tank stand overhaul

Gennaio · May 7, 2020

Hey all you refers out there.

Working on setting up 32g reef.

I have a stand that was homemade. Right now it is unfinished wood.

I'm planning to sand it and do vinyl wrap.

I was thinking that before wrapping I should prime and sand to get out imperfections.

Also wondering if I should go ahead and apply some kind of sealer to the wood to make waterproof?

Any help is appreciated.

ndrwater · May 7, 2020

Definitely sand. Anything under the wrap will show through.
I would also paint the bajeezus out of the inside prior. I use Kilz personally, but many a reefer had used a marine grade paint. Definitely helps with water spills that way

Gennaio · May 7, 2020

Ok thanks

Ippyroy · May 7, 2020

Definitely prime the whole thing with KILZ.

Gennaio · May 7, 2020

Is this the kilz you speak of?

ndrwater · May 7, 2020

Gennaio said:
Is this the kilz you speak of?

That or the Kilz 2. Kilz 2 is in a blue and white can and is water based. The regular is solvent based.
Either work well

jaxteller007 · May 7, 2020

The best thing I did with our "new" stand when we set up our 180 was multiple coats of the extreme Killz on the inside. The one for outdoors and water/mildew resistant. I then followed that up with a couple coats of white appliance epoxy paint. Not only does it look good (even if I'm not a painter), it's easy to clean up if you spill something and since it's white, it makes working under the tank so much brighter.

jaxteller007 · May 7, 2020

Also for both the Killz and the appliance epoxy, I wound up using liquid paint instead of spray paint. Same price and for me, it was easier to apply and I could apply it thicker and more even.

jaxteller007 · May 7, 2020

Here's my build thread where you can see how it turned out (mostly). Keep in mind I'm not the best painter in the world lol.

Large Build - Making the move from 75 to 180

So this is pretty early in the process and we've been going slowly but we're hoping to have the new tank up and running by the end of the year. Came across a deal way to good to pass up (free if I came and got it and helped move a brand new 220 and stand into the office) so we'll be moving from...

www.reef2reef.com

Gennaio · May 7, 2020

Nice looks pretty good!

Think I give that a try.

I'm not best painter either so was lil worried about it but shouldn't be to hard seems like

jaxteller007 · May 7, 2020

Gennaio said:
Nice looks pretty good!

Think I give that a try.

I'm not best painter either so was lil worried about it but shouldn't be to hard seems like

Yea it didn't turn out bad at all. I should have taken more time to sand it but I was kind of rushing. That's why I went with the liquid instead of spray paint as well.

jaxteller007 · May 7, 2020

I used the Kilz 2 All purpose Interior/Exterior for both the inside and outside of the stand. Home Depot tinted the container of it that I used on the outside the same color as we were painting it which made it easier to use less coats on the outside.