Testing Liquid Rubber on a Cardboard Box

Well, the test is complete and I have to say that I'm impressed overall.  After six days in a greenhouse, where the water was getting to a point of almost boiling, it held up!  With zero water damage visible on the outside of the box and zero signs of any leakage on the table I’m willing to say that Liquid Rubber is quite effective as a waterproof coating!

The box itself did better with the overall pressure from the water weight than I expected as well, due I suspect in no small part to the strength of the Liquid Rubber coating.  The product will take on the color of the uncured product when it remains wet for long periods but there are coatings to deal with that.

The only down sides that I could see were a high pH level in the water, which is easy enough to deal with, and when it is in hot wet water, the product can be moved with firm enough pressure.  Since the average aquaponic fish tank should never get as hot as the water was in the box, I don't imagine this will be an issue for most aquaponic gardeners.

Based on the results so far, I have decided to build a 2ft x 3ft x 12 inch mini fish tank for the floating aquaponic garden.  The tank will be shaded most of the time so warming up the Liquid Rubber shouldn’t be a problem.  Don't worry, I'm not building it from a cardboard box … that was just an early stage test.  I'm excited to begin on this next stage of testing and will let you all know how it works out!

Is Liquid Rubber the Answer for Waterproofing Aquaponic Gardens?

Waterproof is something of a keyword when it comes to aquaponic gardening.  Waterproof the garden grow bed, waterproof the fish & sump tanks, make sure those water lines are sealed up tight … the list goes on and on.

If, like when I got started, you are happy with using storage totes for pretty much everything then this can still be helpful to you, just not as much.  I was happy with my totes for quite some time but as my garden grew, it became obvious that something larger was going to be required.  While many people seem able to find IBC tanks practically free, I am not so lucky and they are in fact, rather pricey here.  Add to that the fact that while they are very efficient and easy to set up, they aren't terribly pleasing to the eye and some building was going to be needed no matter what.

Building from wood and then finding a way to waterproof it seems like one of the best options.  Wood can be shaped into as many forms as the carpenter can imagine so it is somewhat ideal for a garden like these.  No matter what you want your garden to look like, it can be shaped with some wood and a skilled woodworker.  If your plans are simple enough, even the skilled woodworker becomes somewhat optional.  YouTube is filled with videos on how to do pretty much anything you want so …

Traditionally, waterproofing has been done with large rubber sheet liners that are cut and folded into the shapes needed with the waste tossed off to the scrap pile.  If it gets a hole, or doesn't fit, or any large number of things goes wrong … the whole thing is a write off.  Money wasted and it’s still not done.  There are some people that are using Marine fiberglass to waterproof  aquariums and such but fibre glass can be quite a pain to work with if you are inexperienced.

Liquid Rubber is the perfect combination of positive qualities in one easy to apply product.  100% VOC free and food safe (I've spoken directly to people at the company about this), Liquid Rubber is a paint on waterproofing product that almost anyone could make use of.  Depending on what way it is to be used, 1-4 coats are applied and left for 24-48 hours to cure.  Once that’s done, it’s safely water tight.  Areas that are exposed to water after curing will turn a brownish color but that has no effect on it’s ability to maintain the ‘waterproof’ status.  As an additional bonus, if a hole develops in a Liquid Rubber liner it can be dried off, have another layer painted on, left to cure and then put back into use.  No throwing away large sheets of pond or pool liner because of a small hole or being an inch too short!

For those who are concerned about color, Liquid Rubber also sells ‘Texture Coatings’ which can be applied to the surface in a few different colours to suit personal tastes.  All of these are available through their online store and they ship just about anywhere in North America!