aquarium restoration

[lizzy]

Hi everybody! I am in the process of restoring a 100+ year old fish aquarium. I am at the point where I need to seal the iron frame to make it rust-proof. I was thinking of doing a "powder coat" (professional paint job that is water resistant), but I want to be sure whatever I use does not contaminate the future fish inhabitants - any ideas of products/ingredients I need to look out for.
Once the aquarium is sealed, I will need to seal the glass sides to make them water-tight. I am thinking of using silicone. Again, any ideas? I assume silicone is safe for fish? I will probably just get some variety of goldfish & plant life, but I want to do the restoration right. Any & all advice is welcome! I am in the LA area & would love advice of where to go to buy fish & equipment.
Thanks Lizzy

 

[RTR]

I have an antique steel-framed tank, but not nearly as old as yours (built in the 1950s for saltwater). It was chromed originally and has never harmed any fish kept there. But, the metal in this tank is nowhere in contact with the water. The glass sides and base were origally sealed with the peculiar caulk then used, but that was removed many years ago and replaced with aquarium-safe silicone (it is not all tank safe - some formulations contain chemical to combat/kill molds, not safe for tank use).

 

[lark]

Well, I am not sure about the iron frame. Does it just brace from the outside of the tank, as I assume? But, I can tell you that silicone is fine. Just watch out for silicon that has things like anit-mildew agents. Some will even say "safe for fish" on them. Sometimes if you check the garden section where they have pond stuff, you can find a selection that will be safe. Or you can buy aquarium silicon. For how much you get it is expensive though.

 

[sdb]

I thought I'd read on here somewhere that Home Depot (and probably other hardware stores) sells a pure silicone, without additives (like the anti-mildew), and it says aquarium safe.

How big is the tank? Sounds nice.

 

[lark]

I do not remember what magazine I was browsing through, I think Smithsonian, but they had a picture of an antique tank like yours that had been fully restored. It was gorgeous. When you get yours done, I would really like to see some pics. Come to think of it, it would be a fun project to build something to look like them.