# 276 gallon industrial stainless steel aquarium



## Johnny1983 (Sep 8, 2013)

Hi All,

I recently got a 276 gallon industrial aquarium 96 inches wide x 28 inches deep x 24 inches tall. Here is the kicker the tank is stainless steel all around except for the front viewing panel (glass). I tried using a magnet on the steel and it will not stick even a bit, so my thoughts are that it is true stainless steel.

However I want to make sure this aquarium is 100% saltwater/reef compatible. Is there anything I can line the inside of the tank to make it 100% safe (i.e. epoxy resin, pond liner, etc.)?

As well I would like to make sure the liner is strong enough for sea urchins and starfish. Or would I have to re-home these guys? (currently in a 110 gallon glass aquarium)

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Jon


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## CoralConnoisseur (Mar 5, 2014)

I thought it's was interesting so I looked into it a bit. The so called stainless steel pipe clamps rusted pretty bad when I used them on my return pumps, so I switched to zip ties. Clearly the clamps I had were low end stainless.

But for it to be non magnetic stainless, it's called Austenitic stainless steel. Seems like nickel is added, which changes the properties of the steel making it no longer magnetic.

I quickly found this tho,

"Austenitic stainless steels can suffer from stress corrosion cracking to various degrees when fully immersed in seawater."

My only experience with "stainless" and salt water was the pipe clamps. Not sure which type of stainless it was. Good luck!


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## Crayon (Apr 13, 2014)

Hi Jon,
My thoughts are that the stainless will have to be lined with something. Any metal will continue to corrode or leach into the water, no matter what it is made of. Even small amounts of metals can be harmful to sea life.
There are lots of threads and you tube videos of European tanks made of plywood and then coated in fibreglass and epoxy to seal them.
The issue you will have is how to make a good seal between the glass and the stainless so water doesn’t leach between the glass and epoxy to get into the stainless steel.
If you can remove the glass panel, that would be helpful. But then how do you get the glass back in, with the additional thickness the epoxy has created.
You don’t have to worry about urchins and starfish. They don’t have teeth strong enough to cut through the epoxy. Just don’t keep triggers, puffers or chitons.
I would be more concerned about the rock cutting the epoxy, so make sure it is a good thick layer.
But.......I’m not even really sure the epoxy will stick to the stainless.
This is unusual territory. Good luck and keep posting. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.


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## Johnny1983 (Sep 8, 2013)

Thank you for your CoralConnoisseur and Crayon for your replies.

I was thinking that the stainless steel tank can act as a shell opposed to plywood (stronger product) and the epoxy acts like an inner hull. Essentially the reverse application of how a boat is constructed.

What brand of epoxy would you recommend?


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## Windowlicka (Mar 5, 2008)

Curious to see how this pans out too. A buddy of mine makes live-edge tables, and swears by a two-part epoxy by West Systems. Apparently this product is suitable for a number of different applications on a broad range of base materials.

I must admit that I haven't used it personally, but it is marketed as a marine-grade epoxy. I cannot seem to find whether it is either 'food safe', or whether it might leech any chemicals in time though - might be worth asking the Mfr directly?

https://www.westsystem.com


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## Johnny1983 (Sep 8, 2013)

I wonder if I can use the bathtub epoxy (Klenks Enamel Paint @ Rona)

Any thoughts? Thinking this should be strong and fish safe....


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## amps (Feb 24, 2015)

Why don't you use a product designed specifically for aquatica?

http://www.petsandponds.com/en/ponds-and-supplies/c5815/p16898191.html

It's more pricey but designed from the ground up for fish tanks and fish.


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## mmatt (Feb 12, 2012)

Just gonna throw this out there. Thinking outside the box. Why not vinyl wrap the inside? Clear wrap or coloured. Would have to be one seamless piece from the glass on one side and then wrap all the around to the other. then seal the parts that meet the glass and top with a marine grade silicone. However that doesn't solve the problem for the bottom. Lol oh well. I tried. My next idea would be to sell it and buy a reef ready tank. Much easier 

Pool.liner would be easier than pond. It is thinner so keep the rocks away.

Or take the epoxy right on to the first inch of the glass. I'm just thinking out loud with this stuff


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