Making a big ebb and flow table out of wood and epoxy

Lets say you had a hard to fit space, like 3x9. I'm thinking you could make a tray out of plywood and boards, then use epoxy paint (the two part stuff they sell for garage floors) to waterproof it.

Any idea if this will work / hold up? The e&f is only going to need to hold 1/2 - 1 inch of water, so it shouldn't take much of a support shell.

Just get some 6mil or greater poly and line your wood box with that. If you keep the poly in one piece it cant leak except where you put holes for your bulkhead fittings.

Just get a couple large Rubbermaid type totes (@33g ought to do it) and daisy chain them using bulkhead fittings. Tall sides are a plus

+1 for the 6 mil poly. Worked just fine for me. Cheap and easy.

I'd get 3 3x3's

I was worried about chemicals leeching off into my water when I was thinking of wood and some waterproof coating system. And plastic seemed like it might rip over time. I've seen a user who made one with some blue spray on rubber type paint. Never posted how if it worked.

PetFlora said:

Just get a couple large Rubbermaid type totes (@33g ought to do it) and daisy chain them using bulkhead fittings. Tall sides are a plus

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Problem is, if you are trying to use nursery trays, you need a big open area. The one this one is replacing was made out of concrete mixing trays, which are probably better than totes in terms of space-efficiency.

6 mil poly really won't rip?

firsttimeARE said:

I'd get 3 3x3's

I was worried about chemicals leeching off into my water when I was thinking of wood and some waterproof coating system. And plastic seemed like it might rip over time. I've seen a user who made one with some blue spray on rubber type paint. Never posted how if it worked.

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With a 3x3 you can fit like 2 nursery trays. It's a shame how none of the commercial E&F tables are designed to efficiently hold trays (plus they are all way too deep)

My aero chamber uses 6mil and its 3 foot deep, granted I am not flooding it but when I rinse it it regularly holds more then 2 inches of water un supported. For your requirements a table made from 2x4's and a plywood bottom would give you ~2inchs of flood depth and whatever size you want, cut holes in the wood for bulk heads then cut slightly smaller in the poly.

It will work fine. I've custom built fish tanks and viewing ponds out of plywood and epoxy. If you are filling more than a few inches you might want to go with some center bracing. 9 feet is a long run. The pressure on those boards increases with the height of water column and a few inches makes a big difference.

Make sure you have very good ventilation with the Epoxy. That stuff is pretty nasty.

tibberous said:

Problem is, if you are trying to use nursery trays, you need a big open area. The one this one is replacing was made out of concrete mixing trays, which are probably better than totes in terms of space-efficiency.

6 mil poly really won't rip?

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6 mil poly will rip easy, trust me I sold and worked with liners for years. Go for something 20-30 mil for a liner and make sure its NSF certified ( food grade) like a poly propylene liner ( most city water reservoirs are lined with NSF poly propylene.

firsttimeARE said:

I'd get 3 3x3's

I was worried about chemicals leeching off into my water when I was thinking of wood and some waterproof coating system. And plastic seemed like it might rip over time. I've seen a user who made one with some blue spray on rubber type paint. Never posted how if it worked.

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DOnt use a PVC liner or chemicals will leach into your water, use maybe a HDPE liner or a Polypropylene

The White Buffalo said:

It will work fine. I've custom built fish tanks and viewing ponds out of plywood and epoxy. If you are filling more than a few inches you might want to go with some center bracing. 9 feet is a long run.

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It's sitting on a table made of mini-ties (http://allenbuildingcentre.com/catalogue_home/?PRODUCT_DETAIL=4023) -- it doesn't sag, even under hundreds of pounds of water (I had to rebuild it once, because 2x4's sagged)