800g Tank Reseal (for the 2nd time)!

[Trouser Cough]

Current status:

Several of these Costco totes have a single fish in them and an FX6 on roughly 1/2 pressure. There are several other pics that are similarly set up and not in the photo. These are temporary and I'll scrounge up some better accommodations PDQ.




The tank is not empty but it's nearly so and covered such that the remaining water isn't contributing to the humidity and potential snafu.

If all goes according to plan I'll locate some DOW 795 tomorrow and have the tank mostly stripped by Sun night. It'll take a week or so of working evenings to get the interior clean to the degree necessary and during that time I'll also be looking for a handful of 55g's or similar. I have been shocked at what the local economy has done to the cost of tanks lately and just missed out on a 210 that sold last night but... eh. Very little calories needed to hang in these totes so each has an ayirstone, an FX6, a heater, and a reasonably secure lid. Oddly, they seem content and when I pop a lid to have a peek they're looking like they're ready for whatever's next.

 

[Trouser Cough]

Another bonus I always look at after a flood, which is more often than I like to admit, is a nicely, newly mopped, clean floor.

That's a ways off for sure! This place is a crowded mess so even tools I just used are MIA as soon as I put them down. Like a crowded dumpster maintained by a global organizer. Not pretty.

 

[jjohnwm]

I just love that impression of limitless potential that overtakes me when I look at a big empty aquarium. Take your time, and whatever you do I would avoid targets like "should be done by this weekend", etc. If things go smoothly, keep working; if you have one of those days when everything you touch turns to fecal matter, drop the tools and walk away.

When you've been scraping and cleaning for a few hours, you sometimes find yourself at a point where your standards begin to slip; you look at an area of just-cleaned glass and say "Yep...that'll do". If you call it a day at that point, you often find that the next time you get back at it, you look at that same patch of glass and are aghast that you actually thought it was done...because it ain't! The cleaning must be perfect!

Your temporary housing looks like it's better thought out and healthier than many folks' actual aquariums. I'm sure you are aware of this, but you can use a single canister to filter a couple or a series of those nice bins just by linking them daisy-chain style with siphons, and then putting the filter intake at one end of the chain and the exhaust at the opposite end.

Looking forward to following along on this project. When you get done, you will be able to do what virtually every new poster on this site fantasizes about, i.e. fill up your newly-set-up tank and then immediately plop in a full complement of adult-sized fish immediately. When you do so...and then don't follow up a week later with the typical "My fish are dying! HELP!!!" post...you will be the envy of all the land.

 

[Trouser Cough]

Rehomed the berried crays today and have shagged better temp living quarters than the tiny storage totes. After that I'll take some of your advice John and sit back for a moment and plan. I'm going to take a long weekend in a few days and ride a bike to Dawson City, YT. I want to be able to leave these bad boys for a few days w/out constant concern.

I've scrounged up a 65g glass tank and two 100g totes. That'll be a much better setup and I'll plumb them tomorrow, load 'em w/ sand and get rolling.

 

[Trouser Cough]

I'm uncovering something a little disturbing. I've never noticed any of the tank's inhabitants tearing off sections of silicone but there are bits and pieces of silicone panning up in the tank's bottom gravel. For scale that section is 2" (or 5cm) long.

I wonder if one of these goofball bass has been ripping at the sealant while I've not been looking?

Naaa... I'd have to have seen that.

 

[Trouser Cough]

Small hiccup.

I was in a motorcycle wreck at the Canada border. Just got out of surgery last Thursday and it's going to be a few more days before I can get my butt inside that big tank to start stripping sealant.

All the fish are healthy and there are no problems aside from my being a bit broken for a while. By hook or by crook this will get done and I'm not losing a fish in the interim.

 

[phreeflow]

Small hiccup.

I was in a motorcycle wreck at the Canada border. Just got out of surgery last Thursday and it's going to be a few more days before I can get my butt inside that big tank to start stripping sealant.

All the fish are healthy and there are no problems aside from my being a bit broken for a while. By hook or by crook this will get done and I'm not losing a fish in the interim.

Yikes, sorry to hear. Hope you get better soon

 

[Trouser Cough]

Yikes, sorry to hear. Hope you get better soon

Thanks! I have a few fresh 3.5" deck screws in my left leg and should have a cast installed in little more than a week. Sliding down the stairs on my keister is not fun but the prospect of actually climbing up and into the old tank at this point is flat scary. I'll figure out how though and I'll figure it out within a few days. All fish happy as of this AM.

 

[cockroach]

Another opportunity to practice and hone this new resealing skill

 

[jjohnwm]

Hey, TC, I hope the healing is going well; was wondering how much this would delay your re-seal project. I'm hoping we don't read about how well the re-sealing went, only to find that you cracked a pane by swinging your cast around while you were inside the tank.

Your fish's temporary accommodations sound better planned and executed than many folks' actual aquariums. Should be no desperate rush to get the job done, they'll be fine for awhile. Slow and steady may not actually win the race...but it lets you finish!