Logan and I scored a 180 and we're super excited to get it up and running. It's drilled, which is actually sort of a pain for this, since I'm doing a peninsula tank. Unfortunately for us, we're still college students so we take what we can get and we'll make it work. The tank and stand are in pretty good condition, but require a lot of TLC before we can even think of filling it up.
As you can see, the back is painted blue. Spray painted, actually, which means that it would have taken roughly the rest of my life to take the paint off with a scraper. Solution: my very favorite solvent, acetone! Toluene and ethanol can suck it (yes, Logan and I both work in labs, thus my having a solvent preference).
Two hours and a bottle of acetone later, all the tank needs is a thorough scrubbing till the glass is clean. While I tackled the painted back, Logan took apart the bulkheads and cleaned out the overflows. The previous owner had used this tank for 6 years, and I don't know if there was an owner before that, but the smell of the primordial ooze that had built up in the overflows suggested that it had been there for a while. Or that it was full of fish poo. Whatever.
The next challenge will be the stand. Lots of changes that we're gonna make there, and I will post updates as we get the work done. Here's what it looks like now. We also have a 40 gallon sump that will require some minimal cleaning. Does anyone know how long miracle mud can sit without it getting really, really nasty? We might have to replace that...
My stocking list includes everything from my 72 gallon currently
Sailfin tang
Diamond Goby
Copperbanded Butterfly (picking up Friday, I hope he takes to the tank well!)
Target mandarin
Evil ocellaris clownfish (hopefully with a mate by then)
Firefish
I'm hoping to add:
A harem of Bartlett's Anthias
Purple Tang
Achilles Tang
Pair of blue star leopard wrasses?
Tiger Jawfish?
Any other suggestions?
As you can see, the back is painted blue. Spray painted, actually, which means that it would have taken roughly the rest of my life to take the paint off with a scraper. Solution: my very favorite solvent, acetone! Toluene and ethanol can suck it (yes, Logan and I both work in labs, thus my having a solvent preference).
Two hours and a bottle of acetone later, all the tank needs is a thorough scrubbing till the glass is clean. While I tackled the painted back, Logan took apart the bulkheads and cleaned out the overflows. The previous owner had used this tank for 6 years, and I don't know if there was an owner before that, but the smell of the primordial ooze that had built up in the overflows suggested that it had been there for a while. Or that it was full of fish poo. Whatever.
The next challenge will be the stand. Lots of changes that we're gonna make there, and I will post updates as we get the work done. Here's what it looks like now. We also have a 40 gallon sump that will require some minimal cleaning. Does anyone know how long miracle mud can sit without it getting really, really nasty? We might have to replace that...
My stocking list includes everything from my 72 gallon currently
Sailfin tang
Diamond Goby
Copperbanded Butterfly (picking up Friday, I hope he takes to the tank well!)
Target mandarin
Evil ocellaris clownfish (hopefully with a mate by then)
Firefish
I'm hoping to add:
A harem of Bartlett's Anthias
Purple Tang
Achilles Tang
Pair of blue star leopard wrasses?
Tiger Jawfish?
Any other suggestions?
