DIY 50G Tank Restoration & DIY Stand

[Giannis86]

Hello folks,

The good news: A while ago i managed to get a 50G Tank for free.
The bad news: It was in awful condition

So i decided to completely restore it, a project which cost me a lot of money already (could have bought a new one), BUT in the end i will have a nice looking tank exactly how i want to look like.

Before the restoration would begin, i decided to make a DIY stand - my first one - as i had nothing to put the aquarium on.

Enough talking, here are the pictures!


DIY Stand

Pre assembly

Filling the gaps

What a mess!

First layer of paint

Final layer

Finished product with the "ugly" aquarium

Another angle

This was the first time that i worked so intensively with wood and here is my experience:

-PLAN AHEAD EVERYTHING!!! I started with a rough idea and sketch and went along.
-Plan even more if planning to stain. Buy a wood that will look nice when stained and buy a good quality oil based paint (water based worked very bad for me)
-Please do make a shopping list. Thank god the DIY store is about 5minutes from here but i went there about 100 times;D
-Screw everything from inside if you can (the outer panels etc). The less holes you have to make the less filler, the less work and the nicer it will look! I tried staining the wood and the filler made it look horrible.
-Take your time. I was patient at first but when i got around the end i got to unpatient and messed up with painting
-Lay off sanding machines. I used a round sanding machine and although its fast it can easily lead to uneven surfaces if you dont do it properly (my case...thank you wood filler again LOL). I eventually went with simple hand sanding along the grain which proved nicer and more effective..

 

[Giannis86]

Restoring the aquarium!

1st i removed the wooden frame on top

Removal of the silicone
I tried doing this with a Filling knife which did work but went slow. I then used Bison silicone remover which virtually did nothing. Today i got a cheap glass scraping knife and it worked really well and i was able to completely remove the silicone (no picture of this yet, the picture below is after using the scraping knife)

New wood for the frame cut in shape and sanded

First layer of paint!

Wood after 3 layers of paint

After a while i asked myself "where will the filter tubing go through?
So i drilled some holes with a 32mm spade bit. After 5-10 tries on a scrap wood i got the hang of it. Keeping the wood very steady and taking my time was the key to a perfect round hole;D

Angle profiles on the base!

Attaching the wood on the glass

 

[Giannis86]

I did the left side and rear a few hours later as i was out of clamps

All corner profiles installed!

UGLY CORNER (one out of 4 bleh)

Another one (after removing the glass)

Support reinstalled and sealed properly!

THE CANOPY
The canopy will hold 4 bulbs so i thought it was necessary to have some ventilation slots for cooling. After searching a while in the local DIY shop i found some nice wooden vents.
Also the canopy will have profiles on the side (matching the stand) and will be painted white

QUICK Pre-Assembly

Carving out the ventilation slots

Vent in

 

[Giannis86]

Wood filler!

1st layer of paint

2nd layer

Tank sitting on top of DIY stand!

NOW Another issue. The tank was full of scratches. I bought a buffing pad for my battery powered drill and tried to buff the scratches with toothpaste.
Result: lots of time wasted!

I then did some good research and found that some fellow aquarist had some good luck with cerium oxide. This compound is often used for mirror polishing and for stone polishing by jewelers.

 

[Giannis86]

Because i was polishing the scratches with a battery powered drill, i found myself having to wait for the battery to reload very often. So i kept myself busy with the canopy and the electrics

Canopy

Pre assembly

Thats 2x Scythe S-Flex F fans which i had lying in my basement, which will be wired to a AC/DC converter with adjustable output voltages.

Bulbs:
1x Philips TL5 Master HO 840 39W
1x Philips TL5 Master HO 860 39W
1x Philips TL5 Master HO 840 24W
1x Philips TL5 Master HO 860 24W
Total of about 126W of lighting.
All bulbs will be wired to Phillips E-ballasts

Ballasts mounted in stand, along with a fan to blow air across them

Wiring in the closet!

Ballasts connected to mains via a timer

Talento 472 Timer

Painting the inside of the canopy!

Today or tomorrow my TL5 caps will arrive (after a long wait of more than a week! )
So i will finally be able to put the bulb wiring together..

UPDATES SOON!

 

[FishEggs]

Awesome job !
you may have spent as much or more than buying a new tank but it wouldn't look that good. really great job on it.

is the talento timer hard wired like a circuit breaker?

how many different controller/programs does it have?

will the tank be salt or fresh water?
looks like you're an electrician by day. cant wait to see more updates.

 

[Giannis86]

the costs for the tank itself were not that bad actually. its the lighting that cost the most. I think that if i add all costs up i could have bought a new one indeed but it wouldnt have Tl5 lighting let alone 4 bulbs.

The diy stand did cost a lot of money though. But it is unique in a way.
Anyway the feeling that you get when making these things exceeds all costs i believe^^

the talento 472 timer came along with the tank so i was quite lucky. that thing costs ~90 euros new..

anyway it is hardwired as a circuit indeed, it has 2 channels both programmable seperately. i dont remember how many programs it can handle but i think it was about 30 if not more..i will check the manual and let you know. at the moment i already programmed it to switch on 2bulbs and after 30m the other 2. the same thing goes for turning off the bulbs. hopefully this will reduce stress of the fish

the tank will be freshwater. i will put my 23 baby black moor goldfish fry (check the breeding section for my thread). once they grow a bit more i will give most of them away and keep 5

for the record, im no electrician but i surely do enjoy playing around with electric appliances and wiring

 

[joy13]

That light system you made is great, are you going to have a planted tank? The hours and money you have spent on it is well worth it.

 

[Giannis86]

it is going to be a planted aquarium indeed.
it might take a while until the inside is complete though. my first concern is to finish the basic setup so that my goldfish can grow properly..in the meantime i will be constructing the background, terraces and decide on the plants to keep

time consuming process but in the end it will all be worth it ^^

 

[joy13]

You will have to update with pictures. Choosing plants that goldfish won't eat is going to be difficult.

Goldfish and Aquarium Board Article-Goldfish and Plants: The Low-Tech Approach

 

[Giannis86]

i am aware of that fact and also of thegab site

I will mostly use fast growing plants to compesate for any eating and the plants will have more than enough time to develop roots to avoid uprooting (they are far too small to be able to do that now)

Also here is one thing that i have been hearing:
If you make sure that the goldfish has enough green in its diet, it is more likely to leave your plants alone. For that reason i plan to make my own food for goldfish (thegab also has some great recipes available)

my only concern for now though is that i will have lots of light in my tank but i dont have a CO2 injection atm...So i will have to make a DIY one or try to scavenge one for a good price

 

[mfdrookie516]

wow giannis, that is an incredible looking tank. you have some awesome diy skills

 

[Sonomakid]

Wow.. thats some amazing work... you got skillz

 

[Giannis86]

Here is a little update

Progress on the canopy!

Wiring diagram

tl bulbs installed - no cable management yet!

Closeup op connections & heatshrinks

enjoy!

 

[Giannis86]

Small Update
Fans wired and installed

Pads to reduce vibration

DIY el cheapo fan holders - OPEN

DIY el cheapo fan holders - CLOSED

 

[Giannis86]

Yet another update! (final one for today lol)

Cable management done! Bulbs installed

Closeup
Only Stainless steel screws were used!
Green/Yellow wires for grounding the reflector that i will use

Stupid that i didnt think of it before...Will need to do some patching here

Canopy on aquarium - Semi open
Used some scrap wood sticks to hold it open. I will make a similar mechanism for it soon.

 

[Giannis86]

Here is an update

I installed the lighting outside of the aquarium and took some pictures

Connections on the ballast

Lighting. I made the photo much darker than it was so that you can see the bulbs and the light easier

After this i will focus on removing those scratches from the glass and get this thing filled with fish

 

[Giannis86]

its been a while after my last update but here it is!

I moved the aquarium and stand from the basement to my house (3rd floor)
OMG the stand was heavy!

The surface of my diy stand wasnt what i would call straight
Thats when i figured that Styrofoam is your best friend!
My problem: styrofoam would stand out and make the whole look ugly
So i came up with this:

Thy Styrofoam dressinator!

Turned around

Aquarium on top

Closeup

DIY Styrofoam Test Kit holder!

Inside of the Stand (still need to put the pumps, CO2 etc in it. Note the plastic holder for the test kit charts)
Funny enough, the 2 big bottles fit on the side so i said to myself wth! another space saver!

More updates very soon!

 

[mfdrookie516]

Just be careful with that styrofoam... ive seen alot of tanks cracked because of it... i think the way youve got yours would be better than they ones ive seen that cracked tanks, but make sure that only the trim is touching the foam and not the glass

 

[spoonman]

The styrofoam will compress and eventually be touching the glass. Not a good idea IMO....Better to replace the piece of wood on top of the stand with one that is flat, or a piece of slate....etc..