::HAPPY DANCE!::

[Ohyouknow]

you're taking back the halfbeaks?! I thought you loved those and wanted them to mate?

CHAT!

[Lil' Swimz$]

Haha sorry, I was reading something else...

I do! I have all males though. The one I thought was female colored up. Must've been just scared or somehting. Plus I doubt they'd like the tank. We'll see I may, I may only keep one.

[Mezzovex]

"found that if I wash the sand well - put it in - then 'decorate' it dry (before putting water in, or with minimal water) it will turn out better and be easier to plant my plants and such."


idk about that. You will find that it will ALL get uprooted when water goes in...
How is this system? does it have a sump, pump, etc. or HOB?
Also, do you have city water? or well? If you have well, you can do what i do, and go get a white ((white means drinking water safe)) hose and faucet adapter and its a whole heck a lot easier then 24+ buckets of water.

[J-P]

"found that if I wash the sand well - put it in - then 'decorate' it dry (before putting water in, or with minimal water) it will turn out better and be easier to plant my plants and such."


idk about that. You will find that it will ALL get uprooted when water goes in...

What you can do is plant the tank without the water.. scape it the way you want and lay wet newspaper over it. Add the water and your tank should be 95% the way you anticipated.

[xrayjeeper83]

did you get home with it?

[Ohyouknow]

I'm home with it - it's HUGE. I'm working on cleaning it up. It's got a LOT of gross hard water stains, and some serious dried on algae. My boyfriend is a little concerned where the strips of vaneer are a little loose at the corners (those are just decoration, glued on - right? cuz I could probably yank at least one off if I wanted to - it's not totally secure)

Any recommendations for gettin rid of all this gunk? I'm using white vinegar (per suggestion of my cousin who helped me move it) and a lot is coming off - however the glass is left 'foggy' once it dries (working on the hood, I realize the inside will be wet so won't matter) and don't want the outside left foggy??

Also, the plastic strip that goes between the 2 panels of glass (that makes the one panel a flip top) is really gross and yellowed, and filled with gross algae all dried in...Is that something that is replaceable?

The filters are HOB, and I got the aquascape idea (just a little water or dry to aquascape, then use a plate (can also use a collendar on top of the plate) to distribute the water lightly) so the aquascape doesn't get as disturbed... not direct flow when filling. Looking to rearrange some furniture tomorrow, and then invest in one of those $30 hook-to-tap siphons.

[xrayjeeper83]

And you didnt post up pictures why?

[J-P]

vinegar works so does oxy clean. I soaked paper towels in vinegar and adhered them to the tank sides, let them sit for 24 hours and a little bit of elbow grease and it all came off. A good rinse and the tank was sparkling. Now it is a different story

[Mezzovex]

Yes the hinges are replaceable. Look around first before you buy. most places sell them by the foot... so it can get quite spendy. find a place that sells only the strip. most salt shops do that... Use some fine steel wool on the hard water stains.

[Ohyouknow]

I know - No chemicals - so I bought a huge container of vinegar last night, soaked the glass toppers in vinegar soaked towels... then scrubbed them for ever this morning... I wiped them dry, lo and behold - the stains came back. UGH. How frustrating. Dad says Lime-Away as long as you rinse it well (but I'm seeing it's going to be hard enough to make sure all the vinegar is out - it's not like i can just dump this tank out super easy - it's got a lip and it's stinkin HEAVY!) I'll have to flood it out, and how will I KNOW there is no more anything in it?

Gettin hungry, and need to go buy some scratchie pads. Gonna check out the dollar store and get some burger king (LOL)...

but I shall return.

[Ohyouknow]

OH yea.
PICTURES!

This one, with a 2liter on the upper left - to see 'scale' of how HUGE this is...



and from the side-ish You can see Vicious back there, in his TINY tank... He's gonna love this

[J-P]

Very cool! Nice project tank

If you can get the majority of the physical scale off it won't show that much once it is filled with water.

[Flutter]

I'd keep using vinegar. Let it soak several times, it'll come off. Make sure the towel or whatever is completely saturated and let it sit over night. It may take a few times but it's safe and it will work.

The tank looks great though! I love the wood

[Ohyouknow]

So far so good - I've gone over the front and sides with a scouring pad and the vinegar, wiping off the milky residue with a paper towel. Thus far, I only see a few problem areas that will require MORE tlc, but I can let that definitely sit and soak tonight while I'm at work. Going to work on the back of the tank now, hopefully I can get that looking pretty decent. Not as difficult as I thought it would be, for sure. I need to call the LFS to see if they sell the hinges - I'm thinking they had them... hoping they not too expensive!

[Ohyouknow]

Ok, cleaning the filters - I got them all scrubbed out... One looks considerably older than the other. The older one, I put the impeller in, but left the intake tube off... put water in and turned it on. I noticed a bit of water dripping from the motor... this is bad, right? Or is it because the intake tube isn't on? The motor and where the impeller goes kind of turns easily - could I just seal it and be ok you think? (that's my thought, maybe just needs a bit of sealant run around that part to keep water in?