# FINALLY !! going to pick one up



## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

I found a good deal on a 84x20x32tall tank and I am going to pick it up after work today. I am going to have to drill the back panel and put a glass-holes 1500 gph overflow in the back. should I do a water test before I drill? the tank has been empty for 6 months the guys says, is there a way to look for leaks with no water in the tank? looks for airbubbles in the silicone seams? is there a way to inspect a Iwaki WMD40 pump? it comes with light and a real nice canopy and stand. what kind of lights should I look for it to have? thanks for all the help guys. I am a newbie here.


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## mncherie1 (Mar 27, 2009)

wow.....I don't have an answer to any of your questions, I just wanted to to express my jealousy!!!! What will you keep in it?


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## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

going to try my hand at a hap/peacock tank. think I will put in several yellow labs and 25 or so demasoni as well. probably lava rock and holey rock as the decor. all of this will take several months I predict as I am not made of money 

I would like to go with the eco-complete black and white sand, how many pounds will I need? I plan on doing a UGJ system so I will need to cover all that up. also where can I find black PVC? or how do I dye it?


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

that is a huge tank; hope you got a lot of friends to help you move it. Also i would fill it up with water to see if it leaked. That would be terrible to get it set up and find out it leaks.

Also about how much sand you are going to need. I would say easily you would need 150-200 pounds.

lets see some some pics


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## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

ok i might try and talk the guy into filling it up there... if not I am somewhat confident I can reseal it. If not I will fill it in my driveway before i bring it in the house. I think somewhere I saw that you are suppose to put a layer of foam between the stand that the tank? is that correct?


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

I would waste his water not yours


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

Congratts on the find!!

Personally, I always ask to see the tank filled before I purchase a used tankâ€¦ If the seller is unwilling I assume it needs to be resealed and I adjust my offer to account for the additional work I expect to do (and resealing that monster wonâ€™t be a walk in the park!).

I understand that is a lot of waterâ€¦ and I would encourage the seller to use whatever (clean items) they have available to displace water. I would offer to bring a few 5 gal buckets which can be filled with rocks from the yard, use any large rocks laying around, anything that is clean and heavier than water can be usedâ€¦

The purpose of the foam between the tank and the stand is to account for any imperfections in the â€œflatnessâ€


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

i have never used foam between tank and stand. I always put something under the stand to level it. Luckly all my tanks are on carpet so i just cut out 12" x 12" squares of carpet samples and use that. Works like a charm.


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## davespeed3 (Mar 29, 2009)

Personally I'd do the tank test with just water (approx 195 of your gallons=880lts) 32'' is a long way to be lowering and lifting big rocks just to see if it leaks, buckets of ballast with rope maybe. Mind you if you did drop a rock in it before handing over the dosh you wouldn't have to hang around to clean up the mess :lol: . I used 20lbs of Eco-complete for each foot of tank, so 7 bags (140lbs) would do it.


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## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

Thanks for all the great advice !

this trip was a disaster.... I drove 2 and a half hours to get this setup. got there and knew instantly something was wrong.... you can usually tell the people that take care of their stuff and those who don't in about 30 seconds of meeting them and seeing their house. I know that sounds bad but its true. anyways I walk in the house and tank is good sized but I looked at an oceanic that was 190g (basically a taller 180) and I was thinking... this tank sure looks like it would fit into that one. the oak stand might have been in good condition at some point, but it was not anymore. I can overlook that and refinish the stand no big deal. we start taking everything apart and I tell him I want to fill the tank before we put it on the truck he said ok and the 4 of us carry it to his grass and set it down. I was thinking this is a bad idea to set it on unlevel grass and put 1000+ pounds of water in this tank....while he was filling it I decided to measure it... came out to 72x18x28tall... I say to the guy WTF you said this was a 7 foot tank. "oh I thought it was." was his response and I am now officially pissed off. I proceed to tell him I have passed up tanks like this for 500 bucks and I am sure as **** not giving you 900 for it. he says OK I will take 600.... dude was an idiot. I ask him to finish filling it and I was going to offer him 500. once its full i start inspecting for leeks and find one in one of the corners. horrible experience. but then I took my new fiance out to dinner and met up with an old college buddy, so it wasn't a total lose.

back to the drawing board.


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

sorry to hear about that. that totally sucks. i wish you the best of luck though finding another tank.


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Sorry about your bad experience savage. Where did you find this guy from is what I'm wondering?


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## brycerb (Dec 23, 2007)

Sounds like some of the wonderful people I have meet on craigslist.


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## Raschael (May 8, 2009)

Ick, this makes me a little more cautious. . . we are going tomorrow to pick up a 75g and stand a couple hours away from our house.. . . . hmmmmmmm. . . . .


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## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

Dj823cichild said:


> Sorry about your bad experience savage. Where did you find this guy from is what I'm wondering?


craigslist :x

there are some awesome deals out there... and then you find the occasional guy who when you get there at 6 in the afternoon smells like the threw beer up all over himself when he answers the door haha and apparently cant operate a tape measure.


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

Savage25xtreme said:


> and then you find the occasional guy who when you get there at 6 in the afternoon smells like the threw beer up all over himself when he answers the door haha and apparently cant operate a tape measure.


sorry about that i had a rough night. :wink:


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## youngman (May 16, 2009)

did you see any banjos on the porch ???


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## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

GaFishMan1181 said:


> Savage25xtreme said:
> 
> 
> > and then you find the occasional guy who when you get there at 6 in the afternoon smells like the threw beer up all over himself when he answers the door haha and apparently cant operate a tape measure.
> ...


HAHA i knew it was you!

no banjo's just broke down recliners and beer bottles... :thumb:

its all good though, think i got another good lead! but this time I wont get everyones hopes up til I have it at my house :fish:


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Good luck Savage hopefully this will be a better situation for you. I wish you luck brotha!


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## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

I went down to Dallas this past weekend and went to a few fish shops and managed to find this 95x24x28" tank. It used to be a built in. looks to be well constructed. I have a few questions though. the overflow has 2 holes for 1" bulkheads. can I drill these to 1.5 inch bulkheads in the same holes? as long as its not tempered of course. also in the bottom on the bottom of the glass they siliconed a layer of 1/2 plywood and on the inside they siliconed down sheets of plexiglass, i assume to protect the glass from rocks. there are a couple scratches and the tank needs a good cleaning. how do I get the saltwater build-up off the glass and overflow? there is a small chip that is pictured but I don't think it will hurt anything. let me know what you guys think.



















There is a chamber to bring wiring for lights up through the tank as well.


















the chip









and I have started on the stand.


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## malawi_luver (May 5, 2004)

Very nice, I haven't read this entire thread since it was depressing haha but what do you plan to stock in this tank?


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## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

going to do a hap/peacock tank with a group of yellow labs and a group of demsanoi


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## malawi_luver (May 5, 2004)

What kind of haps and peacocks are you thinking of?

This is a very very large tank and I'm sure you could get some more mbuna if you'd like.

Do you have a stock list ready as well?


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## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

no I don't have a stock list yet, but I copied one that another guy was using and I have looked all those fish up and I like them a lot. Can anyone answer one of my questions? Can I drill a larger hole in the glass around the same hole? Should I take the plywood off the bottom of the tank? my stand will have plywood for the tank to sit on. how do i remove the crusty white stuff on the inside? vinegar and water? :-?

cant remember who it was that posted this stocklist for a hap/peacock but I like it  :fish:

hap side 
Copadichromis azureus 3in 
Copadichromis borleyi (Kadango) red fin 3in 
Copadichromis borleyi (Mbenji) 4in 
Copadichromis trewavasae 5in 
Copadichromis verduyni 6in 
Cyrtocara moorii 4in 
Nimbochromis venustus 7in 
Otopharynx lithobates 3in 
Placidochromis electra 2in1/2 
Placidochromis sp. "Electra Mozambique" 2in 
Placidochromis sp. "Jalo" 6in 
Placidochromis sp. "Phenochilus Tanzania" 5in just die last week 
Protomelas spilonotus (Mara Rocks) 8in the bigger one in the tank 
Protomelas sp. "Spilonotus Tanzania" 6in 
Protomelas sp. "Steveni Taiwan" (Albino) 3in 
Protomelas sp. "Steveni Taiwan" 4in 
Sciaenochromis ahli 2in 
peacock side 
Aulonocara "German Red" 4in 
Aulonocara baenschi 6in 
Aulonocara hueseri 2in 
Aulonocara jacobfreibergi "Eureka" 4in 
Aulonocara lemon jake 4in 
Aulonocara sp. "Lwanda" 3in 
Aulonocara Blue Orchid Peacock 4in 
Aulonocara bi-color 500 6in 
Aulonocara Sulfur Head Peacock 2in 
Aulonocara stuartgranti (Usisya) 3in 
Aulonocara jacobfreibergi (Hongi Is.) 4IN 
Aulonocara stuartgranti (Cobue) 2IN


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

dang i never knew how thick the glass was on tanks that big.

Lookin forward to seeing it set up.


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## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

I got to looking and cleaning last night and noticed that the bottom of the tank is actually 3 different pieces of glass that have silicone seams in between them... you can kinda see that in the pictures above. do any of you have experience with tanks like this? I have seen a few like this but didn't know what it was. Is this the old school way of doing big tanks?


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## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

wow you are all extremely helpful, thanks for all the great info :lol:


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## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

finally got the tank out of the truck last night, took 6 guy to get it out and set it on my garage floor, on half inch foam of course. filled it up and no leaks, made me a very happy camper. I can see a couple scratches in the glass, like 5 of them is there anyway to remove those? do they make something aquarium safe what will fill them in and not be seen? like the stuff they fix chips in a windshield with?


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

If you try to sand them out DO NOT use the cheap wet/dry sandpaper (3M is good), the grains come off and clump then you end up with a bunch of little scratches that also take forever to get out. If you have an entire day or 3 to waste you can get 3.5" foam polishing pads made for a drill, use some diamond compound in steps 50micron down to 10 micron or less feathering around the scratch a few inches to each side to minimize distortion. 
If the scratch is deep then it's not even worth trying on.
For a really shallow scratch car polish and the foam pad might work, maguires diamond cut #85 works but it takes a while. Cerium oxide is pretty cheap on ebay, but it's like 13000 grit sandpaper and takes a while longer.
It's a real PITA but light scratches can be polished, I haven't tried any of the fillers. Hopefully someone has, polishing is just a pain.


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## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

thanks for the heads up bulldogg, I have a car polisher, I wonder if that would make the polishing go any faster.


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## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

I have been scraping the paint off the back of the glass. It comes off really well but in some spots it leaves a thin film of paint that I cant get with a razor blade... I tried some paint thinner in a small spot but it did nothing... what else can I try that is safe?


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## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

Make sure that any chemicals you are using do not drip down onto the silicone. Some chemicals will leach into silicone, and you definitely don't want some of those solvents leaching back into your water over time.

vinegar and/or acetic acid (which is the acid in vinegar) both work well for removing hard water deposits and salt deposits. It can take a while if the stuff is really caked on, but I have always soaked the spot a bit and scrubbed it with a toothbrush and had excellent results.

You are putting that tank on concrete right? At roughly 475 gallons of water, you are looking at 2 tons of water weight alone!

What are you doing for filtration?

Can't wait to see this tank up and going!


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## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

ya I have a slab floor. 8x2x2 should be about 250 gallons.... going to do a DIY wet/dry like lowcel did... pretty excited about the who thing 

I have been using vinegar which is working but very slow... I will keep it up. its 103 outside right now and im sitting inside watching TV instead of working on my tank ...


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## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

Ahh...I thought you had a 9'x4'2' tank. I must be losing my mind :?


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