Photo: Gomez's new £4.50 tank!

[ted22]

Ive been posting alot lately about these cheap tanks I found, so I got one and here it is! Only cost £4.50 in the end and gomez is lovin it!

Apart from abit of crusty limescale on the back (removed with cocacola, lemon juice and vinegar) and a couple of un-noticeable scratches it seems like its built to last!

 

[CherryBlossom]

awesome

love the split rings/segment rings.....does he swim through them? I would love something like this in my boys tanks

 

[Shizeric]

Are you sure that table is sturdy enough to support that tank? Remember that each gallon of water is about 8 lbs, so that could get pretty heavy.

 

[ted22]

Are you sure that table is sturdy enough to support that tank? Remember that each gallon of water is about 8 lbs, so that could get pretty heavy.

Yeah im abit concerned about the table myself, i have braced it with some 2x1 and seems alot sturdier than it was (was told by the guy when he dropped off the tank it should be fine once braced) but unfortualntly its gonna have to do until I can get a stand in a week or so, I just hope it holds up!

Thanks for your concern!

 

[dragonlady]

Looks great, Ed! I, too, am a little concerned about that table but the tank looks wonderful! I wish I could find a deal like that over here! Great find!

 

[Mac Myers]

Tank does look great. You have a knack. :happy:

 

[tomkeogh]

I think the guy who built that tank had a bad experience in the past with a tank colapsing, that is a lot of silicone around the joints!...I am trying to figure out how it is so cheap...how thick is the glass 8mm, 10mm or 12mm.

when I looked at the website it looked like they sold stands as well, is this not the case?

 

[tomkeogh]

Are you sure that table is sturdy enough to support that tank? Remember that each gallon of water is about 8 lbs, so that could get pretty heavy.

I think it is easier to remember 1 litre = 1 kg

 

[Mac Myers]

I think it is easier to remember 1 litre = 1 kg

Tom... is that there some kinda metrical thing?

 

[tomkeogh]

The man is making the markets use that jibberish

There trying to make me convert it is like when you go to another country and spend 45minutes wondering if my can of coke was overpriced. I will never If I can not buy my fruit and veg in g and kg's I am just going to be supplementing my meat with....more meat

 

[olympic]

Nice tank Ted, especially with that price.Good deal!

Like the other ppl already told you try to replace the table.
There is something else that concerned me.Your extension lead,is it not better to put it down on a higher place?You never know if the tank start to leak.(lets hope that never happens)

 

[daniellog]

Where did you get it?

 

[dazkeirle]

The man is making the markets use that jibberish

There trying to make me convert it is like when you go to another country and spend 45minutes wondering if my can of coke was overpriced. I will never If I can not buy my fruit and veg in g and kg's I am just going to be supplementing my meat with....more meat

Why convert? Metric is surely always the best option, base 10 and all. JK

And for £4.50 who cares about a bit of silicon, at least it won't leak.

Looks great Ted, Gomez sure is lucky.

Now, how am I gonna convince the mrs.....

 

[tomkeogh]

What I think is they have used so much silicone because the glass thickness is probably 6mm which is not suitable for this size tank that is how they have saved money....also the excess silicone may deteriorate.

for that size tank glass has to be 10 or 12 mm and as the person said that stand is fine I don't see them having a problem with using weak glass

 

[dazkeirle]

you can see the thickness at the joins, looks to be about 12mm i reckon.

Ted said the tank is used, so it's been full of water before, if it isn't leaking now, should be fine.

Looks great though, dead jealous.

How many litre is that? 200?

Is Gomez about to get some friends?

 

[tomkeogh]

you can have a tank filled with water for 10 years does not mean it wont leak.

there is a reason why that tank is so cheap and I am going to find out what it is, the ammount of silicone at the joints worries me as it makes absolutley no difference to the strength of the tank all you need is a small bead the excess silicone is just that, excess silicone.

How you reakon you can tell 8mm 10mm or 12mm from a picture I will never know

Edit: I am sorry, as I read back my comments sound patronising, I mean no offence

 

[Mac Myers]

Why convert? Metric is surely always the best option, base 10 and all. JK

It's all so confusing. Do I understand that a kilogram is a kilo of grams? Or is it one kilo of a gram? A Millimeter is a million meters? Or maybe it's the other way around. Or maybe I'm just wrong. Nah... I'm just, old, ethnocentric, and most importantly.... I fear change.

 

[ted22]

Tis 10mm glass. and yeah overkill on the silicone but doesnt hurt I guess. Tis still a mystery how he can sell em soo cheap you should give him a call to find out, he used to keep axies too so is good to have a chat to him bout all things tanks and axolotlish!

He does sell stands but like the tanks they are bespoke (dont know prices yet, hopefully they are as reasonable as the tanks) so I will have to wait for him to build me one!

From what I gather he has a few shops for aquatic stuff and reptile stuff a glass workshop for the tanks and a joiners for the cabinets so its all an internal affair and doesnt seem to buy in anything other than the raw materials to make the stuff, I asked him how he can afford it and he just said he keeps his out goings low and passes the saving on to people like us!

Would love to get gomez a slimey friend but am abit warey of it, I love gomez so much and would hate it if he got into a fight with another axie as he was pretty aggressive when he was younger and bit off another axies legs during his short stay at the fish shop, if some one can guarantee that gomez wont be harmed by introducing another axie I'll go for it otherwise im gonna continue being cautious untill I find a little monster i just cant resist!

 

[dazkeirle]

I understand, but thats one big tank for 1 little axie. Maybe get him a mate to do his funky stuff with.

Maybe another Melanoid, I'm sure by the time he's ready I'll be Axie crazy and would take one off your hands

El Duque, no offence taken. I'm a designer, I work with dimension and resolutions every day of my life, I'm usually fairly close. 2mm tolerance on 12mm is pretty bad, but then didn't have the best photos for reference.

What I do know is though, that glass which is only sealed from the inside at the joints will be undergoing the stresses of the water pressure from the moment that water is added.

Unless something changes, like the silicon becomes unstuck, then i can't see why there should be such a leak.

How can he sell it for that price? well it's pretty big and as Ted says was a bit scratched and had limescale. Could be that it was just waste to the guy and didn't have the inclination to do it up. One man's rubbish is another's treasure as they say. If he's building glass tanks then it may be easier and cheaper for him just to build a new one than refurb.

My gf's uncle is a glazer and they earn ridiculous profits, something like 85% mark up on materials. crazy. Glass and plastic is not expensive.

Ted may have saved him a trip to the dump, and gave him enough for a pint and peanuts

I just wish I had such a massive tank, awesome.

You should get some red sand and arrange a little (scaled) 400 meter scale track around the bottom, give the little feller some exercise.

How many litres was it? How is the temperature? Found yesterday to be overcast but muggy, was quite high temp down here. Today is similar.

 

[dragonlady]

Hi Daz,

In case you did not know, Tom does work with glass himself and has experience building his own tanks so he is very aware of the costs of raw materials, that's why he's questioning this...

I can tell you from my own experience as a fish keeper of many years, that on occasion, a tank can and will spring a leak. I believe it depends on how many times it has been re-used and how long it may have been allowed to sit empty. I had a twenty gallon to spontaneously spring a leak once and right now, I have a 55 gallon that refuses to seal for some reason despite my many efforts!

@Ed, Since this is a used tank, just make sure to keep an eye on it, watch for tiny droplets of water around the seals. No intention of causing panic at all, just that since my own near tank catastrophes, I like to err on the side of caution...That price, I'd definitely take the chance myself though, no doubt!

As for getting Gomez a friend, he/she would need to be quarantined for at least 30 days before you introduce them to each other. As long as they are similar in size, have plenty to eat, and plenty of places to get away from each other (hides), they should be fine. However, I don't think anyone can guarantee you they will get along perfectly. I recently introduced 2 new ones to a golden who had been on his/her own since only an inch long (3 cm - I think!) and they have had very minor incidents. They are all about 4 inches long (12 cm ?), have plants and hides, and of course, well fed.