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90 Gallon Predator Reef


AlexC

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After having a 14g cube for a few months, I decided that wasn't enough space. Looking around on Craig's list, I found a drilled 90g tank, stand with canopy for $150. 1867467f31f9bee5f744cb3365095b07.jpg Seemed perfect and to good too pass up. Figured I'd post the process of restoration of the used stand and tank. This is going to be fun!

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Part one: The great clean

The display tank has a lot of algae build up from the previous owner.

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Some worm calcium deposits that I really don't want.

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Going to be using a diluted CLR 1-1 water solution to clean, along with a paint scraper and firm bristle scrub brush.

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You can use muriatic / hydrochloric acid instead of vinegar. It's quite a bit stronger of an acid, so you won't need near as much for it to be effective in a whole tank. I've found that vinegar loses most of its effectiveness if it's diluted more than about 50%, and even at that, it can take a long time if there's a lot of calcium to dissolve.

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Can't stand the smell of vinegar, and hydrochloric acid would kill the silicone seals if I remember my chemistry correct. Ended up okay with just the CLR, water, paint scraper, and a few scrubbing pads.

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Out of time for today, work and whatnot. Going to pressure wash it at a local car wash tomorrow or Saturday to make sure I get all the CLR out.

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Looks like you had some great results with the cleaning!

It's as clean as I think I can get it. It's never going to get it out of the box clean sadly. Going to hit the power wash tomorrow while the turkey is in the oven. Then the leak test once it dries.
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I know the job is said and done, but HCl would have been safe to use. I used a mixture of muriatic acid and tap water to clean out my 90 gallon when I set it up. The actual inside of the display was no problem, but the overflow had a TON of hard tube worm shells and about 1" of sand at the bottom I couldn't seem to get out and the Muriatic acid did the trick. 15 minute soak and it all looked brand new. Dissolved every grain of that sand and the silicone seals were unaffected entirely. Tank has been full of water and running for close to 2 years now since doing that

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I'll have to remember that for another time. The tank was placed on a back burner during Christmas. Currently in the process of redesigning the stand. It doesn't look like it can hold the weight. When the stand is built, I'll be pulling the black silicone seals out and rebuilding with clear. Extra work, but it would bother me if I had to look at it everyday. Lastly, thinking about how to seal the drilled holes and refilling for a different overflow. Constantly seeing the corner overflow would bother me also. Does anyone have experience with taking down a built tank without damaging the plastic bracing, or with sealing drilled holes?

Sent from my N9515 using Tapatalk

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The stand as is. Built out of 3/4in fence wood. Could be reinforced easily, but I want the stand to be about 8in higher so I don't have to lean down to look into the tank. It's the little things....

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