fish selections.... 10 gal, going to 55 gal soon.

[Caleb]

Yeah, that puts a hurting on the wallet! Have you taken the filter apart yet?

yes...propeller assembly broke it appears. thinking about putting some silicon in between magnet and plastic part that suppose to hold onto the magnet

 

[Frosty]

Super glue would be the ticket. Silicone will be to flexible when it's pumping water.

 

[Caleb]

Super glue would be the ticket. Silicone will be to flexible when it's pumping water.

if I can get a week or two, I'll be ok...maybe...

 

[Caleb]

Super glue would be the ticket. Silicone will be to flexible when it's pumping water.

if I can get a week or two, I'll be ok...maybe...


Lets talk canister filter....whats a good brand? what size? DIY or no?

 

[Caleb]

I also remembered, I have this laying around...

MCP655 - Rouchon Industries Inc., dba Swiftech - PC Liquid Cooling Systems CPU Cooler VGA Water Block Heatsink Pump Radiator Heat Exchanger Kit

maybe some handy piping and some fabric stuffing my wife has laying around, maybe I can makeshift something. Only problem I see is I used this pump with a pc watercool system and used some antifreeze stuff...clean it really good or too hazardous for fishes?

 

[Frosty]

Ok, DIY is cool if you can do it and you don't have to worry about it constantly, otherwise, I'd just buy one. Honestly, I'd go for the marineland canister. I'm sure it's a no frills basic deal, but you can always upgrade later. There's no point in getting a $300 canister when all you need is a $75. Check the chain petstores for sales, and don't forget the clearence stuff, you never know what you'll find. The pump, I don't know. I don't think I'd use it on my tank, even a drop of that stuff will likely kill your bacteria for a long time. No point in risking the life of your livestock. Walmart has cheap filters that will work until you start putting fish in.

 

[Caleb]

I siliconed the shaft assembly together, and it works. I was thinking a mag drive 7, and a DIY can...I'll scope out pet stores and see if I can find a deal...

 

[MikeDVB]

Curious question here... Why not just take some black vinyl and attach it to the back of the tank?

Same stuff you'd put on the window of your car [i.e. normally you'd have it cut into a design].

This way if you want to remove it - you can just grab a corner and peel it off - may take a little effort but less than removing paint.

That said - am settled into the new house but my fish tank budget went towards $800 worth of unexpected repairs on the new house .

 

[Caleb]

Curious question here... Why not just take some black vinyl and attach it to the back of the tank?

Same stuff you'd put on the window of your car [i.e. normally you'd have it cut into a design].

This way if you want to remove it - you can just grab a corner and peel it off - may take a little effort but less than removing paint.

That said - am settled into the new house but my fish tank budget went towards $800 worth of unexpected repairs on the new house .

You can if you don't suck at applying vinyl

 

[MikeDVB]

You can if you don't suck at applying vinyl

It's not that hard... I'd get a sheet a little bigger than needed - peel off a corner and then apply as I remove the backing - it's not terribly hard to do . Once done - cut off the excess with a razor. This way you don't have to be perfect and if you mis-align a little you won't have to try to re-apply.

Most vinyl designed for this purpose has a backing designed to make application easy .

 

[Caleb]

It's not that hard... I'd get a sheet a little bigger than needed - peel off a corner and then apply as I remove the backing - it's not terribly hard to do . Once done - cut off the excess with a razor. This way you don't have to be perfect and if you mis-align a little you won't have to try to re-apply.

Most vinyl designed for this purpose has a backing designed to make application easy .

Sounds like you done it before....how do you prevent trapped air bubbles?

 

[MikeDVB]

Sounds like you done it before....how do you prevent trapped air bubbles?

I use a squeegee to apply the vinyl and if I find an air bubble as I'm applying - I peel it back a little and squeegee it out.

Don't apply the whole thing and then go looking for air-bubbles - get them out while you apply it .

That said - worst case - take a needle and poke the bubble and squeeze the air out. The hole will be small enough that you shouldn't see it - and you can always take a small scrap piece of vinyl and put over it [since you won't be seeing the back of the tank] once you've done this if the hole is visible.

There are companies that vinyl entire cars and irregularly shaped objects so I'm sure you can get a sheet applied to a flat object if you take your time .

 

[Caleb]

I use a squeegee to apply the vinyl and if I find an air bubble as I'm applying - I peel it back a little and squeegee it out.

Don't apply the whole thing and then go looking for air-bubbles - get them out while you apply it .

That said - worst case - take a needle and poke the bubble and squeeze the air out. The hole will be small enough that you shouldn't see it - and you can always take a small scrap piece of vinyl and put over it [since you won't be seeing the back of the tank] once you've done this if the hole is visible.

There are companies that vinyl entire cars and irregularly shaped objects so I'm sure you can get a sheet applied to a flat object if you take your time .

Ok...I'm interested now. Have any idea where to get them locally and for how much?

 

[MikeDVB]

Ok...I'm interested now. Have any idea where to get them locally and for how much?

Vinyl is a common material - but unfortunately I couldn't tell you where to get it because I've always gotten it through friends of friends that had extra laying around .

You can order it online cheap - but I'm sure many places locally would carry it - just not sure where you would look.

Hopefully somebody else will know!

 

[Frosty]

Ok...I'm interested now. Have any idea where to get them locally and for how much?

I would check with sign shops first, I'm sure they would sell you a piece.

 

[Caleb]

I would check with sign shops first, I'm sure they would sell you a piece.

good idea...do I need to lay tank on side to apply the vinyl?

 

[Frosty]

good idea...do I need to lay tank on side to apply the vinyl?

nope, you just have to have room to work on it. Anytime I've done vinyl on cars I always spray a water/dish soap solution on whatever the vinyl is going on so you can move it around a little, then put it on and squeegee the hell out of it.

you might get in touch with Robby, the mod here, he works for a sign shop, he could probably give you an idea of where to go also.

 

[Caleb]

I'll send him a message in a bit...working on supper.

Man, wish Roland would come back...I enjoyed his posts...

 

[Frosty]

I'll send him a message in a bit...working on supper.

Man, wish Roland would come back...I enjoyed his posts...

Oh I see, we aren't good enough for you anymore huh???

 

[Caleb]

Oh I see, we aren't good enough for you anymore huh???

Not what I meant....I like fish discussion between you, roland, mike, and I.