# Need help. Epoxy resin or silicone or both?!



## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey there, I am in the middle of creating a fake rock and pool vivarium. I am grouting over polystyrene, 3 layers ish and was then planning on acrylic paints, acrylic sealant and finally aquarium silicone for the areas that are completely submerged 24hrs a day. My question is do you believe this is the correct route to take? or should I use epoxy resin for the area that is submerged? Or should I use epoxy resin and then aquarium silicone?! Also will 3 layers of grout plus acrylic paint and acrylic sealant be suffice for the rest of the viv or should that also be further sealed?! 

Sorry for all the questions, just so many sources seem to contradict each other and I thought this would be the best place to ask. 

My viv build is in the link below if needed. 

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/habitat/699735-cwd-viv-build-another-fake.html

Cheers everyone for any help or suggestions. 

Tom.


----------



## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

you might as well just use epoxy resin on top of the paint. If it's going to have a pool then the whole thing will presumably have high humidity, so the epoxy will work better.
So grout, pain, epoxy and leave till the smell goes


----------



## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Ok cheers for that, just the answer I needed. What about the submerged areas though, will epoxy resin be suffice or should I use aquarium silicone on this area as well. 

Cheers again, Tom.


----------



## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

just the resin on its own will be fine.


----------



## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Thank you very much, saved me a few quid there.

Tom.


----------



## Pendragon (Dec 8, 2008)

Yup, Epoxy all the way : victory:

If you want to see what happens when you just use grout, check out my build thread.

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/habitat/625590-ribbon-snake-viv-build.html

Jay


----------



## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Pendragon said:


> Yup, Epoxy all the way : victory:
> 
> If you want to see what happens when you just use grout, check out my build thread.
> 
> ...


Cheers Jay, just read from start to finish, very nice and i didnt realise how water tight the grout would be, especially in a fully submerged area so thats promising, I'm just about to update my progress thread in habitat if you care to take a look, pretty much finished the waterfall structure today, always good for someone with some experience to have a look and give an opinion!

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/habitat/699735-cwd-viv-build-another-fake.html


Thanks again, Tom


----------



## Pendragon (Dec 8, 2008)

Sorry mate, I've just read my thread, didn't realize that I didn't update it again!! To fill you in, it did leak again so I lined it with Epoxy resin, it is now water tight.

I must go back and update that thread :blush:

Jay


----------



## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Pendragon said:


> Sorry mate, I've just read my thread, didn't realize that I didn't update it again!! To fill you in, it did leak again so I lined it with Epoxy resin, it is now water tight.
> 
> I must go back and update that thread :blush:
> 
> Jay


Aaah, I thought it sounded too good to be true, I shall be epoxy'ing the whole thing anyway to withstand claws as well as water!

Tom.


----------



## Pendragon (Dec 8, 2008)

Ok, but to let you know it will turn out very shiny, this is ok on the bits that stay wet, but it looks a bit crap on rock that is suposed to be dry, Plus the Lizards will struggle to find grip on the resin.

I'm going to use Floor tile grout for my Beardie viv build, I recon it should be strong enough to stand up to a Beardie on it's own. So a Water Dragon should be fine.

Jay


----------



## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Pendragon said:


> Ok, but to let you know it will turn out very shiny, this is ok on the bits that stay wet, but it looks a bit crap on rock that is suposed to be dry, Plus the Lizards will struggle to find grip on the resin.
> 
> I'm going to use Floor tile grout for my Beardie viv build, I recon it should be strong enough to stand up to a Beardie on it's own. So a Water Dragon should be fine.
> 
> Jay


Maybe I'll try an acrylic sealer on the bits that arent submerged then. You have any experience with this? Or maybe just a light layer of grout or paint over the epoxy?! Or maybe PVA and sand?!

This whole business is tough work!


----------



## Pendragon (Dec 8, 2008)

tomcannon said:


> Maybe I'll try an acrylic sealer on the bits that arent submerged then. You have any experience with this? Or maybe just a light layer of grout or paint over the epoxy?! Or maybe PVA and sand?!
> 
> This whole business is tough work!


Acrilic sealer, never used it, so I don't know mate.

You can cover in Epoxy and sand, this is very strong, check out my Leo and Hognose viv builds.

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/planted-vivariums/478486-planted-natural-leo-viv.html

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/planted-vivariums/416151-natural-hoggie-viv-build.html

Again though, you must cover in plenty of sand and not let any damp patches show through, otherwise when it dries it will always look wet.

Jay


----------

