Greetings Fish gurus and fellow newbies

Hello, i'm Will, new here

I recieved a tank from a bud of mine this past weekend. he is a marine tank enthusiast, and this specific tank was supposed to be a filter system or somesuch for the marine tank... now its mine... i once had a tropical aquarium long long ago... and thought with some luck, money and the right advice i could make a new, better tank, with something to look at in my dull apartment. The tank is 90cm in length, 50cm in width and 45 cm in height... id say the effective volume of it would be around 180-190 liters.. now whats odd, is inside the tank is a divider, but it doesnt come up the full length of the tank, its placed 39cm from a side, and has a height of 35 cm... it an odd placement, supposedly meant for the filtertank it was supposed to become... now, ....... who has a creative idea of what i should do with this tank, as i have no idea.. i dont currently have lights, a canopy, air or water pump... nothing really...

pics will follow... just need to get past the post minimum

almost there... sorry

 

Welcome Home Ferryman - What you have there is a sump (refugium). Is the divider siliconed in place ??? If so slip a stanley knife blade into the glue space and cut it out.

If you want to keep it there, why not create two different aquascapes in each portion ?

 

yes, its siliconed in. i knew it was something to do with stuff you hide in the stand area , lol, now there i have it, a sump... it'd be interesting to have different scapes.. he suggested i make the one half for adults, and the other for the little squirts, or maybe a fighter fish, but thats the odd thing, seeing as the divider doesnt go all the way up.. if i stanley knife it out, how will i get rid of the silicone residue? i tried rebuilding an old tank once, never got all the reside off the plates?

 

Welcom to TASA... you WILL become addicted

 

lol, i certainly hope not ... i'm already addicted to bonsai growing and tending. Little trees ALL OVER THE PLACE. sigh, here we go again

 

ohoh... better warn your other half...

 

Hi and welcome to TASA

 

Welcome to TASA

If you'd like to keep the two sides separate you could always add a piece of glass to the existing divider - silicone it together and make it higher.

Oops - almost forgot though - if you have the sides separated like that you will not have water flow on the one side nor will your heater work on the side without the heater....better to remove the smaller piece of glass and keep it as one larger tank rather than a sub-divided tank.

 

Hey, welcome Ferryman!!! Just an observation but looking at the overall height of that divider I would take it out otherwise you would have very little height for volume in that tank. Removing the silicone residue is a bit of work but possible - get a new stanley blade and keep at it.

 

Yea to get rid of the Silicone is elbow grease and more elbow grease

 

I know this is off topic but it is about silicon. when you have laid a beed of silicon to the two faces of the glass make mixture of sunlight dishwashing liquid and water and dip you finger and then smooth out the silicon. It won’t stick to your finger and it will leave be easer to make a clean lip if that’s what it is called.

 

@zoom - luckily no other half yet to scorn me,
still single, 23yo, law student. finishing up this year though...

@Zafgak - i noticed that last time i tried to dismantle and reassemble my dad's really old 60l tank... its still only plates with traces of silicone on it.. i use them to grow and warm seed trays for bonsai now, hehe. recycling.

@veegal - yeah, that too was a concern i noticed, it'd need two circulation pumps and heaters or alot of pipework to keep both sides equally warmed and circulated, wouldnt it... hmmm.. sigh. all roads lead to scraping the divider out...

if i dont get the residue off nicely, it's always gonna bug me, i'll see what i can do. another thing.. i have a desk-extension that is a metal frame with strong, sturdy top.. its long enough, but its lacking 10 cm in width to completely support that tank base.. would placing a wood board on it, and a full tank on the wood board cover the needed support? or will i need a cabinet thats made to fit the whole base?

 

Welcome , you can buy silicon stripper now at most builders and as for taking the pannel out i found a stanley blade chips the glass , i use fishing line , it breaks before the glass chips and it doesnt scratch the glass , i havent had a problems with it and i tried alot of different ways. I you put a board on the table it will be fine you wont need another cabnet made

 

how do you use fishing line?

 

first i use a thinner line and cut a piece about 400mm long and loop one side around one hand and the other side around the other hand , put the line inbetween the 2 pieces of glass and make a sawing motion with your hands , once u got the first few cm done u can change to a thicker line so that it doesnt break easily. you just us the thineer line to make a gap for the thicker line. dont know if i explained myself properly

 

I'm imagining a motion not unlike flossing? thanks... that is a handy tip as i also found the blade i used to dissect that old tank did chip a little... and it was a fresh scalpel no less... i'll try the fishing line..

Now where do i get my hands on silicone stripper, never heard of it? will it leave chemicals behind that need heavy washing or is it safe in a tank?

 

yea thats a perfect analogy its exacly like flossing your teeth . you can get the silicon stripper from most builders express or warehouse. You will have to give the tank a good wash with warm soapy water and then a good rince after but still easier that getting the silicon off with elbow grease

 

Ferryman - check the glass thickness - that divider might also have been a support for "cheap" glass --- i.e. thinner than what is safe.

for a 90x50x45 you are looking for at least a 6mm glass thickness ... Bit I would still want a brace with that since that only gives you a safety factor of 2.5.

 

He makes a very good point there i see no other bracing in that tank or though it is a very strange bracing I would still take it out and put your regular bracing in

 

Welcome and enjoy!