55 gallon Metaframe restore

[andyjs]

I finally sold my 150 gallon and had the extra cash to pick up this tank I've been looking at on Craigslist. Here's a picture the seller sent me, but I'll be posting up my own pictures as I work on it.

It included the stand and full original tops (one of the back cover pieces is broken, but over all, the tank is in pretty good shape). The tops are set up to each hold one 18" fluorescent tube and 2 incandescent bulbs, but the 40+ year old wiring is pretty scary. So far, I have swapped out the fluorescent balasts for new ones. I'm also planning on getting some new incandescent dual sockets to replace the ones it came with to keep it close to the original. I've also done a little work cleaning it up and polishing the stainless steel. After that, I'll just need to repaint the stand and get it to hold water. I hope to have it up and running very soon.

 

[aclockworkorange]

Awesome. I love these tanks. Almost all the furniture in my house in vintage from the 1950's-1960's. It's always fun to restore something, and it being fish related makes it cooler.

 

[ElectricBlueSeanBurch]

Simply stunning, That's a true piece of fishy history! Congrats and keep up updated with pics!

 

[andyjs]

Well, I took a bunch of pics with my camera of stripping down and cleaning up the lights, but now I can't find the cable to put them on my laptop. Here are a couple pics of resealing it. It's been full for a week and so far so good. I stripped out all the old silicone someone attempted to reseal it with, scrubbed down the slate with acetone several times and resiliconed it

Next, I'll be sanding down and repainting the stand and then adding a plywood shelf to the bottom of it and covering it in slate tile pieces to make it a little more decorative. The bottom shelf will hold at least one 10 gallon Metaframe tank and possibly a second 10 or a smaller Metaframe if I can find one (So far I have 3 10 gallons and someone asked if I wanted to buy another 10 and a 20L that I'm still considering)

 

[the big kahuna]

looking good so far, i have an old tank that says metaframe on it but its black plastic not metal

 

[aclockworkorange]

That's looking great! Here's some inspiration:

 

[B_IN_SD]

Way cool !!!! I really like seeing these old tanks getting a new life.

 

[Killakacti]

Love the old meatal frame tanks, glad to see one getting restored. there is a 10g metal frame on craigslist in my area after seeing this i am seriously considering it.