Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I found where I could buy 2 IBC units for extremely cheap, but when I investigated what they were holding it was revealed that they contained Polyester Resin.

Doing a little more research it looks like this is used to create fiberglass? It sounds like it can be cleaned using an acetone. The price is so good I think it is worth the effort, but want to know if I am going to be purchasing an impossible living environment for my system?

Any thoughts?

Thank you!

All of murray's Fish tanks are made from Fibre Glass and Polyester resin, so the stuff it's self is OK, However uncatalyzed polyester resin will be a pain to clean out, lots of Acetone!
i'm sure some ones kicking around here that will be able to tell you if you will have long term toxicity? bear in mind that polyethlene can absorb some chemicals! Acetone comes in a PET bottles not a HDPE/LDPE Bottle.

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That's interesting! I've read that polythene is very resistant to acetone. I remember working in a chem lab at school that had thinner that was stored in polythene plastic containers.

You hit the nail on the head when you mentioned long term toxicity. That is primarily what I am wondering, will there be any?

I have not purchased either of these IBCs as of yet, but don't want to waste too much time. They are 270gallons (perfect for my setup) and only $40 a piece.

Hi jsmitty

I've done a bit of work with fibreglass, and I would leave them where they are even if they were for free.

1/ the amount of acetone that will be required will be huge. In Australia acetone is not that cheap.
I don't use acetone to clean my brushes any more. It's cheaper to throw them away and
buy new ones each time.

2/ safety aspects.
Because of the styrene in the resin you should probably use breathing apparatus if you are
going to do it.

In my opinion the effort required will be far more expensive than buying brand new ones.


cheers Lou

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FISHTANK 1500 LITRES
GROWBEDS 3 X 600 LITRES
SUMP 800 LITRES
FISH 60 TROUT

Thank you! Good stuff, saved me some time and effort! And possibly lung damage,

Thanks again...

Yep def what he Said!

With plastics differrent plastics are used to store different Chemicals!

i used to work in comingled plastic reprocessing, never trust a company that has said they've washed the stuff that was stored in the bottles out!

i iched for days after processing 500 20lt drums , and dont get me started with Pesticide drums

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