cheapest reef epoxy?

dixiedog

New member
Gonna need a good bit for an upcoming 'scape. Anyone done any homework on this lately? This stuff can cost a fortune when you're using it in great gobs.
 
Check out System Three and West system epoxies. I'm a woodworker as well as a reefkeeper, and epoxy putty is a common item in the shop for rot resoration/structural gap filling. I haven't done an analysis, but I'm betting epoxy paste sold for contracting and woodworking purposes is probably a lot cheaper than the same stuff sold for fish-tank use.

The System 3 sculpwood product may be what you want, and it's sold by the bucketful at various woodworking outlets for about $40 per quart.

You might also want to check out Klingspor Woodworking's cyanoacrylate gel. It's sold as a tube of 20 grams for $6, and works well underwater - it's what I've used to fix coral in place in my tank.
 
Look into Emaco GP and the Acryl 60 polymer. Around here, it costs about $80 for 65 lbs of it (a 5gal bucket) and a gallon of the polymer. We use it quite frequently to build aquascapes, frag plugs, etc
 
I use an epoxy stick found at Home Depot. Looks identical to the stuff sold at the LFS for a fraction of the price.
 
Following along I need some cheap epoxy too. Building a reef wall and need it for the crushed coral between the rocks. I'd go broke using the home depot epoxy! I need like a quart at least!
 
I don't have the tube in front of me, but I'm thinking it is called Aquamend. The epoxy is green with a white center, exactly like the stuff my LFS carries, but at a fraction of the cost.

It's been a couple years since I bought any so i can't vouch for whether they still carry it or if it's even still called the same.
 
I don't have the tube in front of me, but I'm thinking it is called Aquamend. The epoxy is green with a white center, exactly like the stuff my LFS carries, but at a fraction of the cost.

It's been a couple years since I bought any so i can't vouch for whether they still carry it or if it's even still called the same.

Aquamend is one brand that Home Depot used to carry but at least around here they no longer do. Word on the internet says it is/was reef safe, but I've never bought any.

Another common one is Oatey Fix-it Stick. I have used that one, but I never will again, nor would I recommend it.

Yesterday I went ahead and picked up several sticks of JB WaterWeld from Lowe's. It wasn't what I'd call "cheap" (if I may use that word) at $5.77 for a 2 oz tube, but it does state "NSF/ANSI Certified Drinking Water Safe". I don't see that on some other epoxy sticks - such as Oatey Fix-it Stick, or A+B Epoxy Putty (both of which I used in my tank, but perhaps should not have, and never will again).
 
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