king oz

I picked up an old 60's style 13 gallon metal frame cube tank, at a fish auction. the dimensions of the tank are 16x14x14.
I have taken out all the old glass and have had new cut to fit.I wanted to have the frame re-dipped in chrome, to spruce it up a bit, but come to find out its stainless steel, so I am working on polishing it right now. It may be a little slow going but i should be able to upload pics tonight or tomorrow of the process.
I'm not sure what style I'm going for a far as far as scaping or even tank inhabitants, but most likely shrimp,cpds or some sort of pygmy fish, I'm hoping to get suggestion ideas as I go so feel free to speak up. i should be done polishing the frame tonight and start to put glass back in tomorrow!

kimcadmus

I love those tanks! I just rebuilt one as well. I used barkeepers friend to polish the stainless and it worked great. Any chance you got the original light fixture with yours?

Stainless tank resto - Halong Bay Shrimp Scape
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...imp-scape.html

Saurek

Uh! Sounds intriguing! Did you made some photos before removing old glasses? In any case - made some before polishing it. Its interesting to look at this ol` tank - I didnt expect to see atomic-style tank,but still)

jargonchipmunk

it'll be nice to see what happens to that tank! I remember seeing the original batch of these metaframe tanks in Walter's Barn! lol. I'm happy to see one of them'll be planted!

king oz

also kimcadus, I have always loved these tanks too, I have been seeing them and have always wanted one. Now I have two. i did not get the OG fixture, would love to see one though.
Here is the pic of what the tank looked like upon purchase, minus the tape. I originally thought I would just hand scrub and polish the stainless steel,clean the glass,and re-seal the tank. after hand scrubbing it and polishing by hand it still was an old tank,lol. after cleaning the glass i noticed it was pretty scratched up, i decided to pull the glass and replace it, and use an air driven cotton wheel to polish the stainless frame.
I finished polishing it tonight, but I need to give it one final cleaning in the morning before re-installing the new glass here's pics so far, more to come tomorrow!

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king oz

sealer coming out.

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glass coming out.

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empty frame awaiting polishing

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and during the polishing

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more to come tomarrow

king oz

me too,lol. have been wanting one for sometime now.

king oz

I just finished puting the bottom glass in the tank, im thinking I will get it nice and level, let it dry and later tonight tackle the rest of the glass sides.

kimcadmus

King oz - Here are pictures of some original stainless light fixtures that you were inquiring about. The first pictured is on the 10g shrimp scape that you saw in my journal for that tank. In addition to the light strip it also has a stainless flap (not pictured) that can be attached which covers the entire back with holes for tubing.

The light originally held two incandescent bulbs. I have two spiral flourescent (6500k) in it instead

I have an even smaller stainless tank a 5 gallon "long" is what I call it. I use if for a quarantine tank.

The fixture length is identical to the 10g but it takes a T8 fluorescent.

Tex Gal

Kim, love your two tanks.

King Oz - your tank's dimensions are so neat. It's gonna be a nice tank when you're done!