Just got new tank... so excited!!

[repru04]

Just picked up a 55 gal tank last night and I can't wait to get around to cleaning it. I'm in no hurry to move them in, I'll need to make sure it's really clean. I'd like to divide it and move all my males to it seeing as my only 2 females already have a home in a 10 gal and are doing fine. I need to figure out how many partitions to make; how many of my guys can fit in there and be comfortable. Can you believe I got a complete setup minus the stand for $40?! BTW, this is my first post, I just had to share my excitement over my find.

[MandiceP]

congrats! That's a great find! Did you get it at a store or was it used like on Craigslist or something? I would love to see pics when you get it all set up! What kind of partitions are you thinking? Are you planning to use acrylic and silicone them in or making mesh ones that will allow water flow throughout the tank? Just curious. I would probably silicone them in to create many little separated chambers just in case you ever get a sick one that needs to be treated. It will be like you have a bunch of small tanks all next to each other. And you could also spread out water changes so you wouldn't have to do the whole tank worth in one day.... but then again, it is more permanent than with mesh ones that could be removed. Even tho you can remove silicone with a blade, it can be messy and time consuming if you ever decide to use the tank for something else (Like an epic female betta sorority with like 50 females, LOL) Sorry I'm rambling. Can't wait to see what you do and welcome to the forum!

[Oldfishlady]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the tank...look forward to seeing pics once you get it setup.....

[repru04]

It was a Craigslist find. I drove an hour to get it, lol. I'm sure it cost more than $40 with the gas used factored in. I was thinking of using mesh for water circulation. I really wanted to use it for a sorority but some of my females died and I'm down to two. Also, I have about 13 or so males in little tanks so I need to spoil them more. For QT, I have plenty of small tanks for that.

[MandiceP]

*poke* buy more females... lol Just kidding. I think some of your males will be very happy to have larger spaces. I can't think off the top of my head the dimensions of a 55... but how many sections do you think you'll be able to have?

[repru04]

Wow. This tank was used for turtles and had mud in it. I think it also had been a salt water tank. There's also tons of hard water scale on everything. I have most of the scale off the filters and stuff. I haven't worked on the tank itself yet. Anyone have any ideas on how to remove hardwater scale other than vinegar? That's what I'm using right now. I don't want to use harsh chemicals.

[Oldfishlady]

With a used tank-especially larger than 10gal-I like to do a 24h leak test-I place the tank on a level surface outside-fill to the top with water and add about half to 1 cup of bleach for a 55gal and if it came with a filter I hook this up and let it run with the bleach water.....

Even when you are told the tank held water-sometimes moving a tank even empty can crack a seal or if it had set dry the seals can dry out and crack....much better to find that leak outside than in the house....

Once it passes the leak test-rinse really good and you can use vinegar and a razor blade to take the mineral/salt deposits off....

Be sure and use double dose on the dechlorinator with the finial fill for any bleach residue.....

Look forward to pic.....

[repru04]

sounds good! I'll start on that tonight.

[repru04]

So the tank has passed the 24 hr test. The scale has been (mostly) removed. The problem areas for the scale were where you set the lights and I'm replacing those. I'm talking about the folding glass aquarium covers. I bought 2 but got home and discovered one was broke. Right now I can't find a store in town that has the right size so I'll have to wait for the LFS to get one in. I set up the aquarium, put in some dividers. I'm short on dividers so instead of putting 8 boys in there I have 5. The others will go in there when I get more mesh. One divider wasn't properly installed so one guy snuck into his neighbors section and caused a ruckus. The problem has since been fixed and all boys currently living solitary lives like they should.

[chrissylee13]

wow that's so exciting about the tank! what a find! i would love to have a huge tank like that for bettas!