Journal: Restoring a 15 year old 55 gallon tank

Remember that tank? The one I got for free?

Yeah. I figured out why it was free.

Besides the usual (filter, heater, tank. stand, etc.) I have inherited the following:

157,000 Malaysian Trumpet Snails
An... ahem... interesting, and different, resealing job
157,000 Malaysian Trumpet Snails
A generous quantity of rust
An equal quantity of dirt & algae
157,000 Malaysian Trumpet Snails
Several large shells and a "No Fishing" sign
And did I mention the 157,000 Malaysian Trumpet Snails?

Apparently, someone had attempted to reseal the tank before, and they used a VERY generous ammount of silicone.

On the outside of the tank.

P.S. What do I do about the snails? I SURE don't want them in my tank, and it's illegal to release them... and I don't want to squish them...

 

My god I feel for you, I remember years ago my family tank was overtaken by snails, lucky we brother had a friend that wanted a lot of them, but sadly we ended up killing a lot of them, nowhere to put them and they were multiplying like crazy

 

put a piece of lettuce in the tank and capture them...maybe your LFS wants them...explain they are great food for some fish...

 

The resealing job could have been me... u should see my 10g right now where I thought it was leaking lol..

See a snail...... puffer eat the snail???
Id get a few fish that liked to eat snails....
And post pics..

 

sell them on aquabid or on here, i'm sure you'd get plenty of people that want some.

as far as the tank, i'd put it outside and fill it with the bleach/water mixture for at least 24 hours, 48 if you don't mind waiting. you'll probably be doing lots of scrubbing, so i'd invest in an algae scraper if you don't have one.

 

Got any pictures? Especially of the MTSnails and the 'bad' resealing job.

As agabr123 said, there are plenty of people that want Malaysian Trumpet Snails (myself included in the near future ) because of the benefit they bring to any freshwater tank's substrate. Most sellers just ask the buyer to pay for shipping costs btw.

As for resealing the tank, get off as much of the old sealant - best with razor blades and/or a caulk removal tool. Clean out the tank; best done outside (I use CLR and a nonscratch pad then rinse off very well with a garden hose).

Reseal the leaking area with new silicone and use a glove over your fingers when pressing in the silicone or a caulking tool. Let it cure for about 5 days outside (make sure it doesn't get wet). Then a quick refill to test and you should be good to go if there are no leaks. :;th

 

Ok... PICTURES!!!!

The tank in the condition we brought it home in:



The overly-siliconed outside corner after I worked on it a little:



The snails:





Yes. Those are all snails.

You may say "Eeeewwww" now.

The algae:



The tank after I stripped the silicone and scrubbed it:



The corner with generous silicone on the outside AFTER my brother got at it with his pocket knife. Still a ways to go, but at least it's way better. And at least it won't keep me from re-sealing the inside. It actually doesn't interfere with the tank at all.

It's just ugly.

 

The stand:



Oh joy.



My new rust collection.



It's... er.... an antique. Yeah, that's it, an antique! Maybe I can sell it to a collector for $700 and buy a 200 gallon tank off of Craigslist PLUS get a wooden stand for the 55 gallon!

Or else get it sand blasted and paint it with Rustolium.

Here is where most of the snails are now:



I salvaged as many as I could. The rest perished in The Great Purging Of The Tank.

OK... here is a short story of what's happened:

Before:



After:



Before:



After:



Before:



After:

 

YEah....those snails just sitting in the tank...kind of nasty.
I have hundreds if MTS, but you would never guess that.

 

wow you weren't kidding about the snails!!!!!!

 

Looks like you are doing good with the silicone problem too :;th By chance, have you used a glass scraper on it? I find they help a bunch as long as you change the blade often. Once you get to the 'haze' of silicone that you can't seem to get off, use acetone (carefully and adhering to all safety recommendations) and that will make it look like it was never there

As for the stand, well if it were me, I'd get rid of it and just build a 2x4 wooden one; considering the antiquity and condition of it - but that's your call ;D

Regarding the snails in the blue tote, are they definitely MTS ??? I only ask as I couldn't make them out that well in the picture

If they are, what are you going to do with them (those that are still alive that is > )

 

OMG and I thought my 55 had silicone and more stuff to seal it when I got it. Good Luck.

 

Yes, they're MTS. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them... I've been sort f trying to sell them, but it's not going well. I could always get more puffers though!

 

Hmmm.... I tried the acetone thing (fingernail polish remover) and it didn't seem to work... any more suggestions to get silicone residue off?

 

The only thing I use to take silicone off is a razor blade. Is going to take some time but it will take it off.

 

Are you sure the nail polish remover actually has acetone in it? Many are made minus the acetone since it's a poison.

 

It listed acetone in the ingredients.

 

You can buy pure acetone, that would probably work better. Not watered down with perfumes & dyes.

 

Pure acetone is what you need - available in the paint section of Walmart, Ace Hardware, Lowes & Home Depot. Get the small can.

You have to get off as much as you can though with a razor blade or glass scraper (makes things a bit easier); the acetone will remove the really really thin layer that the blade cannot.

 

Does anyone here know where I might be able to get 157,000 snails?...lol

you could tickle them to death....they hate it....use a feather.