clear cast polyester resin cure inert?

[jake koppen]

i made a rock wall and used clear cast polyester resin. after it hardened it still has a bit of an oder to it. does this particular resin cure to an inert stat that would be safe to use in aquarium? i am curently soaking it in fresh declorinated water to see if oder goes away. i'd hate to scrap the project cause alot of time and money has gone into it, but if this doesn't cure to a safe state, my fish are going to be ****ed that they're not getting a new sweet home!
any help?

 

[bertoni]

I'd ask in the DIY forum. I suspect the polyester is fine, but I don't know much about making my own plastic forms.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Do you have a link to the material?

I would not call polyesters inert, but I'm a chemist and what I call inert may be different than your definition.

 

[jake koppen]

http://eti-usa.com/clear-polyester-casting-resin-with-catalyst/

 

[jake koppen]

if not inert, reef safe?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You are probably smelling the residual styrene in the resin, and maybe the MEK in the catalyst. I expect it may slowly hydrolyze and release material from the surface, but probably not to an extent that is a harm to anything.

I'd run extra GAC as long as it seems to smell.

 

[jake koppen]

I'm soaking it in fresh water then poetically going to cycle it before use. Is there anything I can test the water for to see if it's ok?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Not really no. Your nose is your best for these solvents.

 

[jake koppen]

Any thing I could add to fresh water bath to help neutralize any chemicals? Baking soda or white vinegar? Also thanks for the replies and help so far