My first DIY project... And its big!

I bought this 200 gallon aquarium from a woman who just never had the time to fix it up. I bought it for $150 and its just the tank. But boy, does it need a lot of work! So I thought I would start a thread about my progress. This tank will be the final home for my mpimbwe fronts colony when they get bigger, so I'm in no huge rush to get it done ASAP. The first thing I noticed was that it was going to need new trim for both top and bottom. I haven't filled the tank up, but I'm assuming that I'm going to have to re-do all of the silicone seals as well. When I got to actually look at the tank, I noticed there was some black paint residue on the outside on the back. I'm mostly concerned about one of the corners where the glass has been chipped. It doesn't look to me like it would cause a leak problem, but I'm not sure about the tank's structural integrity with it. Here are the pics of the tank, paint area, trim damage, and chips. Does anyone have any good pointers? I'm ready to get to work :cheers:

manda321 said:

How are you going to fix the chips on the corners?

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Honestly, I'm not sure if there is a way to fix the chipped glass without replacing the whole pane. If they are too deep and are leaking points, I was thinking of trying to seal it with silicone. If anyone has any other ideas, I am more than happy to receive suggestions. The glass is pretty thick.

the tank is 7x2x2. I did some calling around for trim for the tank. I called Aqueon and they said that because it has the glass Center brace, the trim is just for decoration, and since it is an oceanic aquarium, the line is discontinued so I would have to go somewhere else to buy trim, or not have any at all(which is what I'm thinking of doing). I also asked him about the chips in the corner and he said that as long as the glass silicone isn't chipped, it should be fine. The black paint is on the outside, so I think it would be ok for me to use actual cleaner to get the paint off without having to worry about it killing my fish when set up. When I get the time next, I'm going to plug the drilled hole and stress test by filling for a few days.

definatley, but when I think about how most 200g tanks are sometimes worth over a grand, and I paid 150 for it, it seems to have a lot of hidden potential

this woman knew what she had, but she never had the time to fix it between family, school, work, and the million other animals she had lol. I have found a lot of good deals on CL, its where I got my 75 for $100. I like laughing at the people wanting to sell 10g tanks as 40g for $200.