Fishcat’s Ten Gallon Blue Ugly

I happened to find myself at the LFS with my son, who was buying his next piece of aquarium equipment, and I guess I got impatient with how long it was taking him to save up for the whole aquarium. So, in a fit of “want aquarium NOW”, I came home with this:




Trust me, you are not getting the full picture on just how rough this thing looks. There’s a label “MANUFACTURED BY BRIAN I”. I hope he got better. The siliconing is not a thing of beauty, let us say.
It is, however, currently passing its leak test.
My rationale for buying this thing was that I could start plants in it for my son’s aquarium, but if I am to be honest I must admit that livestock will end up in here. Maybe shrimp. Who knows. The real question is whether I can hold off filling it for realsies long enough to make it look slightly presentable. Whatever that would take.

 

What an eyesore, you have your work cut out for you getting that thing cleaned up. Is that duct tape covering a drilled hole? How many gallons is that thing anyway? $2...

 

The duct tape is my one addition to the, um, decor - it’s marking the water level as of last night. Amazingly, that appears to be the same as the water level this morning. It is probably ten gallons -haven’t measured it, but that’s about how much water is in it. Husband didn’t even shake his head when I walked in with this thing.

 

The duct tape is my one addition to the, um, decor - it’s marking the water level as of last night. Amazingly, that appears to be the same as the water level this morning. It is probably ten gallons -haven’t measured it, but that’s about how much water is in it. Husband didn’t even shake his head when I walked in with this thing.

It was $2, right? I mean, a brand new 10 gallon is anywhere between $15 and $20 most places. If it holds water and you feel like cleaning it up I don't see a problem with it. That silicone is pretty ugly though!

 

Oh, boy, wait until you see the silicone from the inside. I’ll take a picture after I drain it.

 

Pffft. I may have to wait a few days to get started on this. Got a nasty bite at work, ten days on antibiotics and my right arm is kinda hurty right now.

 

Wow, I've seen nasty tanks. You sure have your work cut out for you. Hope you didn't pay anything for it. It might turn into something really nice after it's all said and done.

Hope you feel better soon!

 

It may look bad, but it may look better when the outer and inner glass is cleaned out with a mix of water and white vinegar or baking soda. You could try you hand at resealing the tank if you don't like the look of it, or there's problem down the line with it. My LFSs, like PetSmart and Pet Supplies Plus, usually have Marine Land Sealant for tank sealers. An alternative, I've heard, is using pure 100% silicone which could be something to look into
As for raising aquarium plants, I wouldn't be worried about the look of the tank as much as the light, water quality, and fertilizers used. I'm not sure what type of shrimp you'd like to raise either, but my ghost shrimp normally love anything they easily climb onto or hide around.
I hope you feel better, and that some of this helps!

 

Ugly no but it should scrub up

 

You can get aquarium silicone a lot cheaper at Lowes, I've use both 100% and aquarium silicone and prefer the aquarium stuff over the other. I've taken them like that and turned some into nice tanks, but I enjoy doing it. If its only a 10 gl. it really is not worth it, you'll have as much or more in than buying a new 10 gl. at Walmart for 14.99.

 

Ah, but I have more time than money right now, and I already have silicone, and a little project is just what I need - as soon as the swelling in my arm goes down. Love cats, do not love their teeth.

 

Make sure the silicone is labeled as 100%, and if it is labeled as aquarium safe. Be sure to look up some YouTube videos of how to remove the old seal and reseal a tank just so the instructions are clear in your mind. On YouTube there's a channel called King of DIY, he'll have a video about adhesives and I believe one about how to remove seal and reseal.
Wish you call the best of luck with recovering from your arm injury and with the tank!

 

Could be a while before I get started with the tank. I’m getting admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics.

 

While the arm is healing, Fuzzy is guarding the tank.

 

The promised interior shots!




And ten seconds’ work with a razor blade:


So, er, yay?

 

I'm glad you're feeling better! You have a wonderful looking cat
For the tank, what have you done so far? To me it looks clean of hard water stains. But did you remove and redo the sealant?

 

I don’t have plans to redo the sealant at moment, though I could probably be persuaded otherwise. Main reason is it’s not the prettiest but it does for sure hold water. I know the theory of redoing silicone but haven’t done it before. There are rough edges that I plan to trim - literally bits where it appears to have trailed off when being applied. It did undergo a pretty thorough leak test, seeing as I was in the hospital for the whole weekend. Currently scraping off paint on sides. Think I will leave paint on back. I would want something opaque there anyway.
I am very open to comments on my plan, though. Total noob at this renovating a tank thing, and really nothing else to do while I wait for my follow up appointment so I can go back to work.
Not expecting this to be a show piece. It’s just going to be something to bring plants and fish into my bedroom with, but I do have to live with it.

 

A little bit of scraping later:


Not quite there, but perhaps a bit closer?

 

Even the cat looks cleaner!

 

There's some great improvement! I noticed the blue on either of the side walls has been taken off. Did you trim the excess sealant off yet?

 

Working on it. Trying not to rush. I don’t have quite all the blue off; needs neatening up, but it’s getting there.

 

Looks nice. Although the time spent working on aquarium will likely be factored into the cost, the renovated version looks nicer than many used tanks Ive seen. Keeping that opaque background is a nice touch.

 

Well, I had an unexpectedly large amount of time - couldn’t go back to work until after my follow up appointment for my arm. So it’s been nice having something to do. And, of course, the cats like having a perch.
Husband says it’s going to be a terrible shock for the cats if I leave the cover off, though.

 

Speaking of cats and uncovered tanks...


I had a brother-sister pair of Norwegian Forest cats who both enjoyed watching my Oscar in it's 75 gallon tank. The girl cat would sit on the edge and go "fishing" with her paw, and because she was so slender this was rather easy for her. Her brother, on the other hand, was fat and clumsy. One day, he thought he would join his sister up on the ledge fishing. Well...he over calculated his jump, and ended up full body in the water. I laughed for a solid 20 minutes while he fumbled his way back over the edge of the tank and managed to flop three feet back down to the floor. He was unharmed, and both the sister-cat and myself were thoroughly entertained.

 

Got impatient, put water, rocks and sand in. Pictures when it clears up a bit. Also bought some wisteria, which came with duckweed (a bonus as far as I’m concerned) and one piece of this:




Anyone know what this is, and do I plant it in the substrate or let it float?

 

It looks like buce or a type of ludwigia to me, but I'm no plant expert (says the horticulturist). No idea whether both of those plants create roots,but you could either float them OR attach a small weight to the bottom of the plants and bury them in the substrate. That's what I do with a lot of "floater" plants, since I prefer the look of a nice, planted tank.

Good luck with the tank, though!

 

Well, it’s been a while!

You may notice a slight excess of plants right now, due to my basically going for every plant being sold on this forum for a while. Some of these are just hanging out until they get transferred to my son’s tank. The pothos is waiting on my rigging up something to hold it at the top rear of the tank.
Exciting news is, tank is nearly cycled. Nitrites at zero today, waiting a bit longer to make sure (and also to neaten up my plant situation).
Also, pardon the syringes hanging out in front of the tank. I got tired of putting away the one I use to put water in the test tubes, so they’re all just inelegantly plopped in front of the tank until I feel inspired to organize them.

 

Well, it’s been a while! View attachment 496507
You may notice a slight excess of plants right now, due to my basically going for every plant being sold on this forum for a while. Some of these are just hanging out until they get transferred to my son’s tank. The pothos is waiting on my rigging up something to hold it at the top rear of the tank.
Exciting news is, tank is nearly cycled. Nitrites at zero today, waiting a bit longer to make sure (and also to neaten up my plant situation).
Also, pardon the syringes hanging out in front of the tank. I got tired of putting away the one I use to put water in the test tubes, so they’re all just inelegantly plopped in front of the tank until I feel inspired to organize them.

Very nice! You can never have enough plants
What are you planning to stock it with?

 

Fishcat I see pothos. It cannot grow underwater, the leaves will die and rot off. Only the portion of the stem with the root node should be submerged.

 

I love seeing that tank stuffed full with plants
Agreed, take the pothos out from underwater, only submerge the roots.

 

Something small, possibly CPDs or emerald dwarf rasboras. Would love to have scarlet badis but from everything I hear you’re supposed to have more females than males, and the females are hard to find - a shame, because they are gorgeous little things. Probably also ghost shrimp.

 

Pothos is just stuffed in there for a couple days until I get its support set up, probably tonight or tomorrow. Otherwise it overbalances and falls out of the tank, and then I have to fish it out from the little gap between the dresser and the wall.

 

Pothos is just stuffed in there for a couple days until I get its support set up, probably tonight or tomorrow. Otherwise it overbalances and falls out of the tank, and then I have to fish it out from the little gap between the dresser and the wall.

Airline suction cups can be attached to the stems if you have some

 

Oh, I have the suction cups for sure. It’s a question of finding the suction cups.
Nevermind, I found ‘em. The problem was, the other suction cups (without a place to put the stem) are black, and the airline ones are transparent, and I just kept overlooking them - in a six inch by six inch box.

 

Well, the pothos is now propped up over the rim. Suction cup holes not big enough.
The water wisteria I planted in the sand has grown leaves almost to the surface. Now I just need to offload more ludwigia to my son so I have room to get in there and rearrange a bit.

 

Thinking of a different direction for this tank. I’m considering getting nerites and scrounging up the rest of the equipment I’d need to try hatching and raising them. Any particular opinions? The way I look at it, I would at least have the original snails, even if I don’t have any luck with the offspring, and nerites are handsome little things.

 

Thinking of a different direction for this tank. I’m considering getting nerites and scrounging up the rest of the equipment I’d need to try hatching and raising them. Any particular opinions? The way I look at it, I would at least have the original snails, even if I don’t have any luck with the offspring, and nerites are handsome little things.

Unfortunately nerites can't reproduce in freshwater, they'll lay eggs but they need brackish or salt to hatch. You can definitely breed mystery, ramshorn, or rabbit snails though.

 

Oh, I know. Therefore the additional equipment. I found a source who uses a relatively simple method of allowing the snails to lay eggs in freshwater on driftwood and then moving the driftwood; they also say they hatch in full salt and then gradually dilute down to fresh. I’m curious about this method because it sounds relatively uncomplicated, but seeing as it requires only one additional tank I’m willing to try it.