Michigan Cichlid Association
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Steve on December 14, 2013, 08:37:05 PM
-
About a year ago I got my Niece a turtle and now he's outgrowing his 29g tank pretty quickly. So she's going to need a bigger tank for him come spring. My Niece has also taken a liking to fish now that she see's mine all the time and mainly she likes Koi, goldfish, comets because they have a small koi pond outside their house in the backyard. They plan to dig it larger in the spring so I decided to get her a larger tank for her turtle, yet also get her some pond fish so that she can keep the fish in the tank in her room till spring, then once they go in the pond then the tank will be a new home for her turtle Timmy.
So I picked up a 60g 48x12x22 along with a stand and filter the other day. The trim on the tank was pretty trashed and the stand needed some help so I decided to simply restore the entire package so I could give her something she would be proud of.
Luckily I had got a leaky 55g tank a few months ago for free from Pete that I keep my Bonsia tree's in to keep them humid during the winter, so I was able to remove the trim from that leaky tank which the trim was in perfect condition on that one, and then put it on the tank for her. My brother in law just finished painting my Nieces room this summer in a sea foam green that she wanted so I had him bring what was left of that paint and I painted the trim and stand after I sanded it to match her room. Also built a shelf on the bottom of the stand out of some left over oak I had left from one of my stand builds on my tanks.
I also salvaged a couple pieces of the old broken trim and cut/sanded them, then modified them so they would be able to be used on the front corners of the tank because a tank in a teenagers room is bound to get hit with something. So after painting those pieces to match as well they not only dress up the tank but also serve a purpose to protect the corner edges. Also spent the better part of a day scraping the blue paint off the back and redoing it black.
I got her four fish as well, two larger ones are 10" & 12" and the smaller ones are about 5"-6".
(http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/8589/t5go.jpg)
(http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/1531/f4qd.jpg)
(http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/6653/3n5j.jpg)
(http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/4171/vtzs.jpg)
(http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/9886/l4jt.jpg)
(http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/9093/mcji.jpg)
(http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/9648/jwqg.jpg)
(http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/8508/3a7t.jpg)
(http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/251/o3ww.jpg)
-
Looks great Steve! How much sanding on the plastic trim did you do to get paint to adhere to it, that nice?
-
Just quickly rough it up with some 180 grit and then use some Krylon Fusion for plastics paint, then after it dries hit it with two coats of clear and it's pretty durable then.
-
That's fantastic.
The white fish is gorgeous.
Good work all 'round :)
-
Your projects always come out looking nice. Great job man.
-
Nice Christmas present. Looks like you're turning your family into fishaholics too. ;D
-
Looks like you're turning your family into fishaholics too.
Yeah I'm startin' to rub off on them a bit. My Niece will have this (and the turtle) and my Nephew has a 29g tank which I'm going to do a 3D background for between Christmas and new years for him and then when it's cycled I'll be giving him some of my yellow labs that are about 6 months old now. And my sister wants me to help dig the koi pond bigger with my brother in law in the spring. It's nice that they are starting to enjoy fish as well now.
-
Great work Steve!
-
Awesome! Just plan awesome!
-
Cool tank. I like the paint
-
The paint looks great with the black background. Nice looking fish, too. Your niece should love it!
-
Very nice looking Steve.
-
I can honestly say that none of your projects I've seen you do are in the least bit half passed. Yet again, its looks great bud.
-
She loved it :) :)
(http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/9574/einm.jpg)
(http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/1491/s0kr.jpg)
-
She certainly looks happy.
Please tell me she was kneeling in that photo.:P
-
lol she's kneeling...but she is actually very short. She's only 4'11"