Stainless Framed Geezer Tanks

[jjohnwm]

I vividly recall when those were the only tanks commonly available. When I saw my first all-glass tank, at K-Mart, I was just a kid getting my dad to buy me a couple fish; I oohed and aahed over that cool space-age aquarium, and my old man just snorted and muttered "Impossible! That will never hold water!"

At the time, I wanted nothing more than an all-glass aquarium. Now, nothing would be nicer than an old stainless-steel tank in decent condition and of decent size, IMHO.

"Geezer tank?"? Maybe...but I want one because I'm...ah, never mind.

If anything the design needs some updating, tweaking. Maybe skeletonize the frame or make it aluminum and finish it with a sharp looking cerakote or similar.

Not a nostalgic bone in your body, is there?

Cerakote??? Good Lord!

 

[aliadamm]

Silicon will adhere to cleaned slate without any problems . Can also use ceramic tile as a base if you don't have glass.

Speed Test​

 

[Backfromthedead]

Silicon will adhere to cleaned slate without any problems . Can also use ceramic tile as a base if you don't have glass.

Speed Test​

It will adhere, but not bond with the strength that it will to glass. It may work with small tanks for a time, but there's virtually no benefits over using glass in this instance imo...pretty sure you'll pay more for cut slate than glass these days.

 

[skjl47]

It will adhere, but not bond with the strength that it will to glass. It may work with small tanks for a time, but there's virtually no benefits over using glass in this instance imo...pretty sure you'll pay more for cut slate than glass these days.

Hello; I tried to smear a layer of silicone all over the slate bottom to stop the leak thru. May have worked for a while. If i do try to use that tank again a piece of glass or ceramic.

 

[jjohnwm]

An interesting curiosity that I recall being available for only a very few years was the old-fashioned metal-framed aquariums, constructed using silicone as a sealant rather than the then-ubiquitous black asphaltum. My only source of aquarium fish and gear in the Dark Ages of my involvement in the hobby (1965-70) was the K-Mart pet department; that was the first place where I ever saw an all-glass tank, and for a short while the metal/silicone ones were available alongside the all-glass. I am assuming that they were simply an attempt to use up old inventory of metal frames after the makers had switched over to silicone.

They looked strange, but were probably the best of both worlds in many ways. If they had been made using black silicone rather than the clear that was actually used, they would have retained a lot more of that classic "geezer" vibe.

 

[Trouser Cough]

A smidge of related minutiae concerning the tanks...

- They were stainless rather than chromed steel as is often thought.

- The black asphaltum amalgam had a couple of recipes that would probably not be approved of in many modern work environments.

Supposedly there were two primary recipes for the black muck used as a sealant. One was jjohnwm 's black asphalt sometimes called Gilsonite. The other contained something called litharge which is a lead oxide. A page from a 1944 publication called Exotic Aquarium Fishes indicates that both were used options:

More info available here at http://www.rickwrench.com/index79master.htm?http://www.rickwrench.com/stainlessaquariums.html

 

[jjohnwm]

How did I miss this last response until now?

Yes, I remember seeing those pages in my original edition of Exotic Aquarium Fishes; sadly, after years of enthusiastic thumbing, it deteriorated into a stack of papers held together by...nothing! My girlfriend at the time was a bit of a clean freak...don't know what the hell she was doing with me!...and she bought me a replacement copy, and gifted me with it only on the condition that I toss the old one! I foolishly did just that; I still have the copy she gave me, but it's the 1966 reprint version and no longer has cement recipes in it.

Thanks a lot for stirring up that can of worms, Trouser Cough ...I just spent over an hour browsing through those grainy black-and-white photos and reading those ancient accounts of fish whose names have all changed since then. Loved every second of it!