Ebay Stainless

sir_keith

Legendary Member
Contributing Member Level III
Small ss tanks are relatively easy to find, it's the hoods and fixtures that are difficult, and without them, you lose the whole effect. Re-sealing these tanks after the've been left empty for a time is a (nearly) lost art, especially for larger tanks.

ss_20g_02.jpg
 

40GallonsOfDoom

Well-Known Member
Small ss tanks are relatively easy to find, it's the hoods and fixtures that are difficult, and without them, you lose the whole effect. Re-sealing these tanks after the've been left empty for a time is a (nearly) lost art, especially for larger tanks.

Yeah, didn't see any of the accessories. That does look sharp though. Is resealing them especially difficult or do people just not do it?
 
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sir_keith

Legendary Member
Contributing Member Level III
Yeah, didn't see any of the accessories. That does look sharp though. Is resealing them especially difficult or do people just not do it?
As you can see in the pic, the glass panels are held in the ss frame with a thick black adhesive that is very soft when the tanks are new. When filled with water, each glass pane is pressed against the frame, so much so that it is often necessary to trim the excess sealant that seeps out around the outside edges of the frame (and looks terrible). But so far so good.

With time, the sealant hardens, and if the tank is emptied, the glass panels pop back into their original position, but the sealant does not, leaving gaps between the glass panes and the sealant. These tanks almost invariably leak when refilled with water.

Back in the day you could buy tubes of a material that was basically just a thinned-out version of the sealant, and you could apply this to the outside of the tank (this never worked) or to the inside (this rarely worked). The only sure-fire way to repair these tanks was to disassemble them- not an easy task, especially as they have heavy slate bottoms- remove the hardened sealant, and reassemble with fresh sealant. In practice, the best option was to avoid the problem altogether by keeping the tanks full of water at all times.

So you can see why modern tanks with silicone sealant took over the market, especially as they were much less expensive.
 

DMD123

Administrator
Staff member
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I would want the hood for sure. I would gut the electrical and update it with LED's but like @sir_keith said you lose the effect when you dont have the hood.
 

40GallonsOfDoom

Well-Known Member
I see. So its a completely different means of construction. Not that I want to get into it, but I wonder if you could just replace all the glass and bottom with new stuff and seal with modern sealants? Just to keep the stainless esthetic but circumvent the hassles. Did they have standard sizes as compared to today or were they oddball?
 

DMD123

Administrator
Staff member
Contributing Member Level III
I see. So its a completely different means of construction. Not that I want to get into it, but I wonder if you could just replace all the glass and bottom with new stuff and seal with modern sealants? Just to keep the stainless esthetic but circumvent the hassles. Did they have standard sizes as compared to today or were they oddball?

That website had some good information espically in regards the 'cement' used. I guess the hope is that all the old stuff would just crumble off and be easy to remove so you could reseal with silicone.
 

hyp3rcrav3

Well-Known Member
I just reseal these steel tanks with silicone and it works just fine. Problem with lids is lights always rust out from water splash. I have a 25 gallon show tank (10 x 36 x 17) with apistos and two 15 gallon tanks. One has the lid but I started keeping glass under it for safety sake. I have an 8 gallon that I have celestial danios, ember tetras and a trio of pygmy cats as well as a 4.5 gallon with dwarf aquatic frogs. I have a bunch of other stuff but I love my stainless steel. None of the bottoms are still slate.
 

DMD123

Administrator
Staff member
Contributing Member Level III
I think slate was the original material used, glass bottom tanks came later.
 

sir_keith

Legendary Member
Contributing Member Level III
Was the glass not strong enough and that's why they used slate?
I believe so. Clearly there must have been some compelling reason, because all of the ss tanks I've ever seen had slate bottoms, regardless of brand. It made the tanks quite heavy for their size, and also more expensive. But as you suggested, I think it would be cool to upgrade one with black silicone sealant, as well as a tempered glass bottom. And as long as we're going that far, how about a low-iron glass front panel?

BTW, @DMD123 suggested upgrading the hood to LED lights. Well, the period-correct upgrade was to replace the incandescent tube bulbs with a fluorescent fixture and one of those new-fangled plant grow-lights! The incandescent tube bulbs made the surface of the ss hood very hot, and as for the tank- heater? Who needs a heater?
 

MegaraSai

Well-Known Member
If I remember correctly SerpaDesign did retrofit a small steel tank in the last year or so. I think they're neat, and remind me of the 55 that my ex's roommate had in their barracks room (that I stole a hybrid baby convict from to raise amongst my goldfish!)

--MS
 

hyp3rcrav3

Well-Known Member
Slate was cheaper and it also looked natural in bare bottom tanks. Slate tanks are more expensive now because collectors will pay for them. The 15 that I mention above that has glass below the steel lid still has light. I've put in LED screw bulbs to save on juice and to keep top cooler. Plant's like it better too.
 
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