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im going to be making a backround in my 29 gallon, and i have been reading online that regular epoxy, as long as its allowed to cure (over a week) out of water, will not be toxic for any fish. can anyone verify this? people are using the 2 part epoxy and mixing some food coloring in for pigment, and seem to be using it without problems.

i am checking and asking as many people as i can about this before i try it for myself however.

Good epoxy should be inert when dry/cured. Make sure that the label says 'waterproof' or something to that effect, when you buy it.

I haven't put epoxy in an aquarium yet, but I've got a bunch of stuff made for a tank-in-progress (that I'll probably never get around to finishing) with epoxy, slate, foam, etc that my local aquarium club deemed 'fish safe'. I just epoxied some rocks to the base of a piece of driftwood that I'll be using in a 1/4 gal tank that I'm setting up. I'll let you know how it goes

thanks! yeah, i have been scouring the internet and there are alot of people saying the exact same thing, that a good grade of epoxy will be inert when dried, and the only thing stressed was to not put it in water and to let it cure for about 2 weeks.

to be on the safe side, i wont be adding any type of a pleco or scrubbing fish, just in case munching on the back "rockscape" would cause health issues.

i did want to run the idea of epoxy past everyone and get your opinions!

when the project in complete months from now i will add fish in one at a time over a several week period and watch them very closely.

I wasn't aware that it had to cure. Maybe I'd forgotten that... I hadn't used epoxy in over 5 years. The last project I used epoxy on (finished... just need to put it in a tank, whenever I get around to that) has been curing on my shelf since the day I finished it over 5 years ago o.O (Procrastinators unite!... tomorrow!)

I guess I'll be letting this cure for a few weeks. That'll leave me some time to fine-tune the design, pick up a few more parts, and get some fun plants

Thanks for the tidbit of info

With many of today's adhesives, glues and epoxy it has to cure ( a process where chemicals evaporate) and the product sets. Some take hrs and other can take weeks. If it is placed under water too soon this process will not happen and problems will occur. BEFORE you use any product like that contact the manufacturer and ask them BUT make sure you give them all the information of what you are doing.

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i am going to a few differant hardware stores to look for non toxic and water proof resins. i will poke around and see what i can find. if i cannot find a non toxic variety locally i will look for a fast set up resin and then search on the internet to find out if it will be safe to use, and how long the total curing process is.

Probably being nitpicky, but epoxy doesn't "dry" and doesn't need to have any chemicals evaporate out of it.

heh, sorry, being vague using the word dry, i suppose i should use the word cure...yes?

Yup.

ok, so, if i have done my research properly, it looks like epoxy, as long as it is mixed properly and given extra cure time, is inert, and safe for fish.

any disputes?

No disputes here. I've never heard otherwise

What kind of epoxy is it? Is it liquid 2 part epoxy, or are you using the solid 2 part epoxy that comes in a stick and you just smash it up and make sure its well "mixed"?

I'm using the liquid 2 part epoxy, btw o.O

The "Solid 2 part in a stick that you mash up" stuff is sold here as knead-it. Great stuff. And aqua knead-it at least is aquarium safe. It's commonly used in marines for things like attaching coral frags.

ok, update. first post, I did more research and found that the epoxy I was thinking about using was WAY too expensive, so I have found another alternative. this is the product I plan to use, not only is it cheap and readily available, several people have documented using it in their fish tank submerged projects.

http://www.evercoat.com/productDetail.aspx?pID=45

look over the hazards sheet, and also product information, and this looks perfect for my plan.