wood rot

akward_silence91 · Member Joined: Feb 14, 2008 Posts: 14

I'm building a wooden cage right now and was wondering what wood be the best way to keep it from rotting and wouldn't be terribly hard to setup? THANKS!

davebelcher · Member Joined: Mar 17, 2008 Posts: 41

in my honest opinion buddy, id go with something like mdf...once youve buiult the basics, you can either use varnish which would withstand high temperatures and making it 100% waterproof, before that id silicone all the gaps where youve joined wood to each other, making sure its perfectly air tight...then varnish it,people say mdf is toxic, and i would agree, but as long as you have a good varnish which reading the back of the tin, mentioning heat proof and water resistant, then your away, ive had mine set up for a good few weeks now, and beleive me its perfect, i even installed a 80mm pc fan to the front to circulate stale heat,works wonders, iftheres anything else you need to know, just pm me ,

all the best with the new tank

dave

meanah · Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 4:50 pm Post subject:

i lined the whole inside with showerboard and sealed the edges with caulking sealent and it works great
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Warner · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:02 am Post subject:

I lined the entire interior of the cage with vinyl sheet flooring and caulked the seams. I had a mister malfunction (when I was using a timer to activate the misting system) and the cage ended up with over 90 gallons of water inside it....the mulch (in an 8 foot enclosure!) was FLOATING there was so much water. It didn't leak a drop!

Warner

Davii · Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 2:20 pm Post subject:

From my own experience.. MDF can be a bad idea.
If you have high humidity, the water always manages to find a way behind the veneer causing the sides to bubble and mis-shape.

The best Idea I have seen so far, and already mentioned, is that laminate flooring stuff.. Lino they call it here, not sure whether it is the same where you are. Thats a really good Idea and I'm thinking about using it in my next big tank.

Oak is a good strong wood to make it out of, but then again, Oak can be expensive. and toxic.

Use a non-toxic, water based varnish to seal out any air and water, and to make it safe. Use a good three or four coats.

Hope that helps
Dave.
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