# Christmas gift for my Niece



## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

About a year ago I got my Niece a turtle and now he's outgrowing his 29g tank pretty quickly. So she's going to need a bigger tank for him come spring. My Niece has also taken a liking to fish now that she see's mine all the time and mainly she likes Koi, goldfish, comets because they have a small koi pond outside their house in the backyard. They plan to dig it larger in the spring so I decided to get her a larger tank for her turtle, yet also get her some pond fish so that she can keep the fish in the tank in her room till spring, then once they go in the pond then the tank will be a new home for her turtle Timmy.

So I picked up a 60g 48x12x22 along with a stand and filter the other day. The trim on the tank was pretty trashed and the stand needed some help so I decided to simply restore the entire package so I could give her something she would be proud of.

Luckily I had got a leaky 55g tank a few months ago for free from Pete that I keep my Bonsia tree's in to keep them humid during the winter, so I was able to remove the trim from that leaky tank which the trim was in perfect condition on that one, and then put it on the tank for her. My brother in law just finished painting my Nieces room this summer in a sea foam green that she wanted so I had him bring what was left of that paint and I painted the trim and stand after I sanded it to match her room. Also built a shelf on the bottom of the stand out of some left over oak I had left from one of my stand builds on my tanks.

I also salvaged a couple pieces of the old broken trim and cut/sanded them, then modified them so they would be able to be used on the front corners of the tank because a tank in a teenagers room is bound to get hit with something. So after painting those pieces to match as well they not only dress up the tank but also serve a purpose to protect the corner edges. Also spent the better part of a day scraping the blue paint off the back and redoing it black.

I got her four fish as well, two larger ones are 10" & 12" and the smaller ones are about 5"-6".


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Very nice job on the tank and stand rehab!!! The green color gives it a bit of the Art Deco classic look and it should look great in her room.


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## NJmomie (Jan 17, 2013)

What a great Christmas gift and that's a nice looking white koi...
Timmy will love that large tank in the Spring time. Take a picture of how your niece will transform that tank into a turtle tank so we can see.


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## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

:thumb:


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

Great transformation! I like how you framed the tank.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

She loved it


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## NJmomie (Jan 17, 2013)

Wait a minute.... why does SHE get to open her gifts before midnight?


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

My family always does Christmas on Christmas Eve. We open gifts around 6pm but I let her open this one early since it's downstairs.


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## NJmomie (Jan 17, 2013)

Steve C said:


> My family always does Christmas on Christmas Eve. We open gifts around 6pm but I let her open this one early since it's downstairs.


WOW... don't tell my kids. I make them wait till Christmas morning to open gifts.


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