Tank Repair Question--Broken bottom trim

sarcare

sarcare

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Aug 3, 2006
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I just got back from the columbus auction, and I picked up a 30g tank for 5$. It is quite dirty, and the bottom trim is cracked into two peices. My questions are: how important is the bottom trim, should I try to glue it back together, buy a new one, or use it without it? I plan on testing it for water tightness, but want to know if it is worth fixing up with broken bottom trim.

The tank will house some of the fish I picked up at the auction. I got a little carried away. ugh I kind of need to get it set up soon--because the fish I bought are crammed in a 20g qt--much too small for all of them.
 
Can you get a large rubber maid container to help tide you over until the tank is fixed?
 
I could, or I could put them in my 38g, but it isn't cycled or heated. It is for my tiger barbs--but they are still in qt and in the original tank. I could go get a heater today, but I don't know how long it will take the water to heat up, and I don't know about the cycle on it.

What is your opinion on the tank repair question--does it need a new bottom trim?

The fish in question are 8 angelfish of various sizes, and 5 juvie rams. So they are very crammed in the 20g high. Eventually they will be spread across two 20s, a 30g and a 55g, and possibly a 10g, so that should eventually mean I wont be too overstocked, but for now I need to figure out what to do.
 
What's your room temp? I'd put them in, watch parameters, water change as necessary, get some bio-spira if you can, get any heater on there to help slowly bring up temp, and if possible move some filter media over from an established tank.

And find a replacement bottom frame.
 
Would it be more traumatic to leave them in the 20 or to move them again--they've been stressed a lot today. I can move some filters around, to get some seeded media and it is planted, so maybe some of the plants can absorb the exess waste--easing the transition.
 
Maybe let them settle a little overnight? That's a lot of fish for a 20, IMO.
 
I know it is a lot of fish--I meant to only get two angels and two rams, but they sold them bagged, so I got more then I bargined for. I will move them in the morning, when they have calmed down a bit. This 20 was never meant to be perminant home to more then a single pair of rams, it is the qt tank.

Any thoughts on where to find replacement trim--I have not seen any sites that offer them for sale, and I found one site that said it usually is more expensive to replace the tank then to change the trim. This is a thirty, and it does not have a center brace--none of them do, so maybe if I silicone it together and back onto the tank it will work.
 
Normally you might want to get the frame that matches the tank, just in case of slight differences.

They do sell them, but with the size of them they are not often sold online, try calling your local aquarium store (as opposed to local pet chain) and ask if they can order them for you.. chances are they can.
 
IMO the plastic trim does very little, other than covering up the raw edge of the glass. And keeping you from knocking the glass when you're washing out the tank. If you fix the trim, you will want to make sure the tank is evenly supported. Rigid foam underneath is always a good idea. If the tank isn't in a "pretty" area I'd just strip it off, maybe wrap tape around it if the glass is sharp.

The rams won't want to get cold. In your shoes at this point, I'd leave them in the 20 and do a small water change every day until I could get things going.

You can keep fish without doing a full cycle on a tank. Breeders often have bare tanks with just an airstone and heater, though most will use a sponge filter. Make sure you don't overfeed (in fact, you might want to skip feeding or only do the tiniest bit). Watch carefully for signs of stress, and do lots of small water changes.

If they are showing stress and you need to split them up, go ahead and move them into an additional bare tank.

When things settle down, give us a report of what interesing fish were at the auction!
 
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