[joeyor]

Hey folks,

I've just made a wooden and mesh frame top for my tank. (wood is pine, 1inch by 1/4 inch).
the wood is sitting on top of the tank(rim), about 2/3 inches above water level.

so the problem i have is, i need to treat the wood to stop from water damage, and not sure what is safe for fish. I did some digging and was told waterbased varnish is ok, but my local fish store said he wouldn't recommend using it, or even using wood!

I've seen loads of tanks online with full wooden lids, so there has to be something safe for aquariums??

extra info if needed: tropical tank, 60ltr, planted, with a mix from gouramis to shrimp.

any help would be great!!, thanks

 

[SardinePatheNews]

could swap out the pine for a length of cladding ceder cut in to inch strips which wouldn't need any treatment , other than that for sealing the pine maybe beeswax for 100% non toxic guaranteed solution (you will need some elbow grease too, some people find that part toxic though )

 

[Leeatl]

I use exterior latex paint to do the insides of my canopies , made of pine , with no problems . I use semi gloss white for the reflectivity .

 

[ahem]

I agree that some form of buffed wax for the wood is a good choice. If beeswax is the most natural then that is a great choice.

 

[Oughtsix]

2 part clear epoxy finish is what they use on the top side and bottom side of wooden boats to seal out the water. There are several available on Amazon.

I tried polyester resin that is used for fiber glassing boats. I recommend skipping the polyester resin and using the 2 part epoxy.

 

[joeyor]

could swap out the pine for a length of cladding ceder cut in to inch strips which wouldn't need any treatment , other than that for sealing the pine maybe beeswax for 100% non toxic guaranteed solution (you will need some elbow grease too, some people find that part toxic though )

beeswax!! ok i never thought of that, ill look around for that so. getting pre-cut cedar (i have only hand tools and would never cut that myself how i need) is very hard to get here, without paying silly money. thanks for the beeswax solution, ill defo look into that!!

Bump:

2 part clear epoxy finish is what they use on the top side and bottom side of wooden boats to seal out the water. There are several available on Amazon.

I tried polyester resin that is used for fiber glassing boats. I recommend skipping the polyester resin and using the 2 part epoxy.

Thanks for the help. I've heard this before (epoxy), but bit of an unknown to me. I looked into it briefly for making epoxy chopping board, but didnt know it was fish safe. so are we talking something like this? and then brush it on?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Epoxy-Resin-Clear-Crystal-Coating/dp/B084FYDBL1/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=2+part+epoxy+finish&qid=1602576815&quartzVehicle=72-1783&replacementKeywords=part+epoxy+finish&sr=8-8

 

[Oughtsix]

beeswax!! ok i never thought of that, ill look around for that so. getting pre-cut cedar (i have only hand tools and would never cut that myself how i need) is very hard to get here, without paying silly money. thanks for the beeswax solution, ill defo look into that!!

Bump:
Thanks for the help. I've heard this before (epoxy), but bit of an unknown to me. I looked into it briefly for making epoxy chopping board, but didnt know it was fish safe. so are we talking something like this? and then brush it on?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Epoxy-Resi...&replacementKeywords=part+epoxy+finish&sr=8-8

Yep, I haven't used that particular one but there are many available.

youtube.com/watch?v=6jidFYYjJ6o