Some of you may have seen this before but for some reason I never posted a thread about this tank restore on here, so I figured I'd do it now. Here's a tank I came across on Freecycle and how I went about restoring it. I did this project about 1 yr ago.
Before I cleaned it...
Here's the pics after cleaning the tank...
I used vinegar and plenty of razor blades to clean up the glass. Used a brillo pad and some elbow grease to clean up the stainless steel frame.
The tank is definitely old. The person before me said they used it for turtles.
When I got it I filled it up with water and it leaked in a few spots. I stripped out the old sealant (that black tar type stuff) and re-sealed the entire tank from the inside.
I also caulked the outside of the frame with black silicone to mimic the look of the old tank. I caulked the inside with black for the verticals and clear silicone around the base between the glass and the slate bottom. I let it cure for a couple of days and then water tested it.
Once it held water for over 24 hrs with no leaks I set it up.
I was trying to figure a way to get my glass top on the tank and finally figured it out. I got some 1/2" x 1/2" aluminum angle at the hardware store. Cut it to length 1 for each end of the tank. Siliconed it to the glass behind the top frame so you can't see it from outside the tank.
Some full tank shots...
As you can see it's just a bare bottom tank with a sponge filter. I'm using it for a growout tank for my severums.
Before I cleaned it...
Here's the pics after cleaning the tank...
I used vinegar and plenty of razor blades to clean up the glass. Used a brillo pad and some elbow grease to clean up the stainless steel frame.
The tank is definitely old. The person before me said they used it for turtles.
When I got it I filled it up with water and it leaked in a few spots. I stripped out the old sealant (that black tar type stuff) and re-sealed the entire tank from the inside.
I also caulked the outside of the frame with black silicone to mimic the look of the old tank. I caulked the inside with black for the verticals and clear silicone around the base between the glass and the slate bottom. I let it cure for a couple of days and then water tested it.
Once it held water for over 24 hrs with no leaks I set it up.
I was trying to figure a way to get my glass top on the tank and finally figured it out. I got some 1/2" x 1/2" aluminum angle at the hardware store. Cut it to length 1 for each end of the tank. Siliconed it to the glass behind the top frame so you can't see it from outside the tank.
Some full tank shots...
As you can see it's just a bare bottom tank with a sponge filter. I'm using it for a growout tank for my severums.
