The new glass will be ordered on Friday. I'm not sure if it's something they can do the same day I'm there if it's something they'll have to have a few days to do.
100g Metaframe
- Thread starter Gervahlt
- Start date
Well, it's ordered. Unfortunately, it won't be ready until week after next. 
The good news is that I'm replacing both side panels and the main viewing pane. I'll use one of the older panes in the back still. Since this will pretty much be a holding tank for a while, I'm not too worried about it. Once next years' project is ready, I'll convert this tank into a planted community tank with a 3d background that will hide the back pane anyway. Now for the waiting...grrr
The good news is that I'm replacing both side panels and the main viewing pane. I'll use one of the older panes in the back still. Since this will pretty much be a holding tank for a while, I'm not too worried about it. Once next years' project is ready, I'll convert this tank into a planted community tank with a 3d background that will hide the back pane anyway. Now for the waiting...grrrI don't think you will be disappointed with the way the new glass will look. The waiting is always the most frustrating part of doing a project like this one.
Im very glad to see how this is being done. I have a 3 old metaframes (two 10 gal, and a 20) that i got free a while back and none hold water, now that i see this, im not sure they're worth this much work for a 20 gal tank lol.
I don't think it would be near this hard for a smaller metaframe as it could easily be heated up at one time with a single heat gun and it could be soaked in a soak tank to remove anything left over.
Honestly though, you may not have to do any of this. If the sealant isn't completely dried out, try just pouring some hot water into the tank. The heat will melt the sealant into a semi-liquid state which will fill any leaks your tank has. After it cools, the tank should be fine. I couldn't use this method with this tank as the sealant was beyond being melted and had turned into something else entirely.
Honestly though, you may not have to do any of this. If the sealant isn't completely dried out, try just pouring some hot water into the tank. The heat will melt the sealant into a semi-liquid state which will fill any leaks your tank has. After it cools, the tank should be fine. I couldn't use this method with this tank as the sealant was beyond being melted and had turned into something else entirely.
Great post, great project! I love Metaframes. I currently have set up a 10 gallon Metaframe (along with my 75 and my son's 20L). It had been floating around various family basements since forever. I grabbed it from my Dad's basement a few years ago. Last year I scored two Metaframe hoods to match for $20. A couple of el-cheapo 6500k spiral fluorescents in the hoods and we have a cool old-school shrimp and oto tank. I am always on the lookout for vintage tanks.
What do you plan on doing for lighting?
peter
What do you plan on doing for lighting?
peter
I'm hoping to find two 36" original (or modified) Metaframe hoods or light fixtures. If all I find are the fixtures themselves, I'll use a plexiglass top along with them. If I can't find the fixtures or hoods then I'll probably look at the Beamworks LED lighting that I'm seeing a bit about lately until I can find the originals.
As a side note, it looks like the glass is coming in tomorrow.
As a side note, it looks like the glass is coming in tomorrow.
Alright, so tomorrow morning will hopefully be spent cleaning the last bits off the frame and slate, cleaning up the workroom, and installing the pulley system that I devised to lift the slate back into place...BECAUSE THE GLASS HAS ARRIVED!!!
Argh! Let me just say that having a Mother-In-Law move into your basement right next to the storeroom where you're trying to work on a project makes things impossible! I haven't managed to do anything with this since the post above. Her house was supposed to be completed and ready for her to move into as of about the 12th of December; they are STILL not done...and she's stuck here until they are. Meanwhile I'm trying to keep the now 11" Oscar and 8" Severum from killing each other in the 55 they're cohabiting until this is complete.
The good news is that I've pretty much decided how I'm going to work the sump now. I'll be doing a PVC overflow down through the wall. It will then run through my furnace room and another wall into the storeroom where I'm doing the work on the tank now. The pipe will empty into the 30 gallon tank that was previously pictured as the Oceanic trickle filter via two filter socks. Since it's already drilled, I'll run a line from the side of that tank down into my 40 gallon breeder where the bio-filtration and heaters will be before it's pumped back to the tank. My only real concern here is whether the drilled output from the trickle filter will handle the volume I need to move. I'll do some measurements and tests in the next day or two since I can't work on the project I really want to.
The good news is that I've pretty much decided how I'm going to work the sump now. I'll be doing a PVC overflow down through the wall. It will then run through my furnace room and another wall into the storeroom where I'm doing the work on the tank now. The pipe will empty into the 30 gallon tank that was previously pictured as the Oceanic trickle filter via two filter socks. Since it's already drilled, I'll run a line from the side of that tank down into my 40 gallon breeder where the bio-filtration and heaters will be before it's pumped back to the tank. My only real concern here is whether the drilled output from the trickle filter will handle the volume I need to move. I'll do some measurements and tests in the next day or two since I can't work on the project I really want to.
