That 5g looks a lot like my grandmother's old tank that went through several owners in the family, including me. It had a sweet little wrought iron stand, too. Wish the set was still around, I'd set it up in a heartbeat!
Metaframe Madness!
- Thread starter andyjh
- Start date
48 hours worth of leak testing and this old timer's still dry. I can't even believe it, but I'm willing to run with the old adage of "if ain't broke, than don't fix it".
I have a 29 up and running right now. It has some nice Skiffia lermae in it that are breeding nicely. If I recall correctly, and it is a bit of a stretch for me, the deluxe had a better grade of non-magnetic stainless steel in the frame itself and may have had slightly thicker metal parts. Either one was far nicer looking than a modern all glass tank but they were somewhat of a maintenance problem if you used anything besides straight fresh water in them. Any traces of salt would destroy the metal frames rather quickly. The saltwater hobby adopted the all glass tanks much faster than the freshwater hobby for that reason.
Fantastic memory on that. I just tried a magnet on my "value line" tank, and the magnet stuck right to it. On the deluxe, no magnetic attraction at all. Not sure exactly what this means, but there's definitely a difference in the metal material.
Andy
It means that whatever the frame is made of, it is not steel of any sort. Or anything containing iron. At least not on top (outside), or in any great quantity. I don't know how heavy a layer of chrome would have to be to keep a magnet from registering but probably not that much.
Any chance it's aluminum? I (being old) remember vaguely that aluminum was a Hot New Thing in comsumer goods in the late 50s-early 60s. Which might also account for why it did not work with salt water? Just a guess here mind you.
Any chance it's aluminum? I (being old) remember vaguely that aluminum was a Hot New Thing in comsumer goods in the late 50s-early 60s. Which might also account for why it did not work with salt water? Just a guess here mind you.
The non-magnetic is a better grade of stainless steel with a higher chromium and nickel content than the lower grade tank's metal. I always took a magnet with me when I went shopping for a new tank back in those days. (They don't call me old man for nothing) Mild steel, the kind that rusts easily, was magnetic. The better grades of stainless steel were not.
Steel is not just iron. Good quality stainless never rusts and is non-magnetic, at least on the simple levels that we saw in the aquarium business.
Steel is not just iron. Good quality stainless never rusts and is non-magnetic, at least on the simple levels that we saw in the aquarium business.
