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June 22nd, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Complete rebuild and build up of a 55 gallon!
Been looking for a few weeks for a project tank, and ran across a killer deal on craiglist. Complete 55g setup for $20!
Now, seems too good to be true right? Wrong. I went to take a look at it Friday and the guy told me it has been sitting for a few years since they moved.
He said it had no leaks, and was in an "okay" condition, but it was really old like 10+ years.
So I picked it up!
Here are some pictures: | 
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June 22nd, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Good deal!! I got my 55 for $30 from someone in the Army. Gotta love it!  | 
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June 22nd, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Now I got it home, cleaned it up a little bit but it was really dirty.
I filled it up with water and it held fine, but I didn't want to chance it.
I ended up taking the entire stand, hood, and tank apart and rebuilding them.
I took the glass to a local glass shop and had it sanded down and resealed. The outer rim of the tank itself I pulled off and hit it with a power sander then threw some adhesion promter on it and painted it black (HATE the oak look)
As for the stand, I tore it apart completely. Some of the wood had been rotted to heck and back. I picked up some replacement wood from lowes, as well as some heavy duty screws to replace the old wood staples that were holding it together. Picked up a new set of black henges to repalce the old broze ones as well as some $10 stainless steel handles! Bought some black stain and went to work!
The lighting was another story. It was corroded beyond belief. It didn't work when I tried it. I was a bit disappointed but for $20 I wasn't worried about it. I took it apart to find all the wiring was pretty much destoryed. I went back to lowes picked up some new wire and wire caps and re-wired the light. Bought a new 48" floresent bulb and plugged it in, to my supise it came one! The light housing also had the oak trim. So I hit it with the sander and some paint too!
Pictures as it sits now, sorry for the crappy cell pictures and dirtiness of the tank. Filled it up last night to make sure it was completly sealed from the glass shop!
Last edited by Lucy; July 8th, 2009 at 12:33 PM.
Reason: edited for curse word, please check the rules | |
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June 22nd, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Total investment so far: $57 (including the 50lbs of black gravel)
I'll be cleaning it tonight.
I'm also picking up an aquaclear 500 HOB filter, and a visa therm 300w stealth heater tonight for $30 (brand new!) | |
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June 22nd, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Wow, that's awesome that you can re-wire the light & everything. I have (2) 48" strips that someone left in thr rain, and don't work now.  | |
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June 22nd, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| I honestly, have no electrical knowledge what so ever.
It wasn't hard though.
All I did was take a screw driver and a nut driver opended up the casing and replaced what looked like it needed to be replaced.
Just put the new stuff in place of the old the same way I took it out. | |
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June 22nd, 2009
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| | Moderator
| It looks great! What a find. I hope you have many years of enjoyment with it. | |
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June 22nd, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| You can't go wrong for that price! Best of luck with it!  | |
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June 22nd, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Thanks for the replys.
I plan on doing a gravel / sand mix.
Putting black gravel on each end and sand in the middle.
The gravel will have a varity of fake plants with bigger leafs and various caves, while the sand area will have a few tiny pieces of drifwood with needle / grass like plants. | |
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June 22nd, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| That sounds really cool! I would like to see it when done!  | |
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June 22nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I got my 55g for free! It came w/ a wrought iron stand, filter, heater, and lights, but no hood, and it leaked, and the stand was rusted like CRAZY!
Great deal! | |
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June 23rd, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Picked up the aqua clear 500 and 300 watt stealth heater yesterday.
Filter is LOUD as heck, and the heater doesn't work.
Guy I bought them off of wont answer his phone, go figure.
Last edited by Lucy; July 8th, 2009 at 10:47 AM.
Reason: edited for curse word, please check the rules | |
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June 23rd, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Congrats on the new tank! It looks great since you rebuilt it I can't wait to see how it turns out. Sorry about the heater and filter....what a bummer | |
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June 24th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Yeah it was
I called marine land or what ever the company was that makes the heater.
Its a lifetime warranty product, they are sending a replacement!
As far as the filter, I ended up taking it apart. It was horrible inside. I had to cut away alot of sealent to get to the motor itself. replaced some wires and glued the plastic piece that connects the propeller to the motor back on and it works somewhat but its not perfect.
Its REALLY REALLY loud still.
Hoping to find a replacement soon. | |
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June 24th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Updated pic:
Gravel in, sand in.
I picked up that plant for $1, not sure if I like it just yet.
I will be getting some 2-3" tall rocks and placing them in between the gravel and the sand as a "barrier" type thing tomorrow.
Hopefully getting my bubbles worked out too! | |
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June 24th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Rocks in, messing around with the plants tonight. | |
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June 24th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| If I still had my aquaclear 70/300, I could of given it to you for free but I think my dad threw it out. If I find it, I'll let you know. That's good to know about the heater! I'll keep that in mind in case any of mine breaks down. | |
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June 24th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Thank you for offering your filter!
I picked up 3 bala sharks today ><
I know it was a horrible idea, but the guy is moving tomorrow and he has been posting his fish up everywhere for weeks trying to give them away.
No one would take the sharks, pet stores included. He was going to put them down so to speak, so I picked them up!
Hopefully the survive the cycle =/
I might toss them in my already cycled 10g if they start looking too bad | |
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June 24th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| When did your cycle start?
In case I can't find the filter. Petsolutions.com has a good deal on their emperor 400 filter. for $49 bux + 8.99 shipping. But I think you can type THKY in their coupon code section and save 5 bucks on your total amount. There's a catch though, you have to buy items at $50 minimum for the coupon to work. You can buy an airstone or even fish food for a great deal there and it'll all cost less than $10 bucks breaking the $50 minimum. | |
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June 24th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Cycle only started a few days ago.
I've been looking everywhere for that "Tetra safestart" stuff to help boost the process but I cannot find it.
Doing 25% water changes daily, so far tanks peramiters are decent...just waiting for that first ammonia spike
Thanks for the webpage / info I'll look into it! | |
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June 24th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| looking good way to go! | |
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June 24th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I'd have been happy to have it the way it was lol. I wish I could stumble on a deal like that. It looks great after all the work you did. | |
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June 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Thanks guys!
Got a few tiny plants in tonight. Going to toss a few bigger ones in tomorrow.
Also started working on a "Plateau"
Basicly I'm trying to do something different. Everyone has a tank with the standard bottom, middle, top.
I want to have two bottoms. I plan on creating a rougly 8"x8" piece of plastic, covering it in gravel and plants, put a cave on it and have it sit about 6"-7" from the bottom of the tank. | |
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June 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| There's a product called SuperBac. It'll speedy up the cycle process in a week. I used that when I started my 10g, it was easier to come by than TSS. http://www.naturbac.com/dealers.html
I forgot to look for the filter when I got home, I'll remember to look for it tonight. | |
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June 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by eiginh  There's a product called SuperBac. It'll speedy up the cycle process in a week. I used that when I started my 10g, it was easier to come by than TSS. http://www.naturbac.com/dealers.html
I forgot to look for the filter when I got home, I'll remember to look for it tonight. | Good info.
Only dealers close to me are 2 hours away. | |
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June 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| I picked up some prime, gonna do daily changes with this stuff.
See how well it works, if it goes down hill I'll order that.
Picked up a brand new aquaclear 500, its sooooooo quiet. Also got my new heater from marineland today!
Put some plants / caves in, got the bubbles running but not hidden...
Still looking for a nice piece of driftwood to put in the center. | |
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June 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Updated picture | |
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June 26th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Thats the same 55 gal I got off craigs list. Great tank | |
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June 26th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Great job! I hope your bala sharks are doing fine. | |
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