Just got a free 160 gallon tank. Lots of work

[mbh7848]

Hey everyone so i'm pretty new here and new to saltwater but not to the aquarium or water chemistry world at all.

Little back story here.

I've been in the freshwater side of things for about 10 years now and work with cleaning water as a living. My wife and I started looking for a new house about 3 months ago and my original plan was to get a 120 cichlid tank for our new house, once we found one. Well we went and looked at a house about a month ago and the guy that owned it had a 160 gallon saltwater tank. Gorgeous tank but i could tell he didnt do his upkeep. So we put a offer on the house with the fish tank included and they accepted!

So we have to refinish the hardwood floors so I am going to have to drain the tank and move it. While i'm doing this it will give me a opportunity to refinish the stand and clean what i can.

Just looking for tips and recommendations for anyone that has moved the tank and refinished a wood stand to a gloss white.

Thanks

[mbh7848]

[davocean]

Those pics are not working for me, not sure if you have anything living or not, that's key for advice there, and on the stand you should find out what's on it, oil or water base, and the pics would help again there on what to do, but usually I'd say semi gloss would be better than high gloss unless it's super clean, gloss highlights imperfections.
We should also know what gear you have.


To Reef Central

[mbh7848]

what do most people use to host the images on here to get them in the post? couldn't get it to work.

I move in, in about two weeks so going off what i remember i believe i have 5 fish all together. Quite a bit of rock in it but no corals. Sand is very dirty and it looks like it had quite a bit of algae growth.

As far as gear I know for sure its a 20 gallon sump with protein skimmer and ozone.

[mcgyvr]

Note: This site also as a goofy function where it will block/jail your external links/photos,etc.. due to your low post count without any notification.. Then the moderators will typically come back in 24 hours or so to "unjail" those photos and they will show up again..
You should just be able to "attach" those photos here directly too..

Assuming you are accessing this site through a computer and not using tapatalk..

"Go Advanced" if replying..
Then hit the "Manage Attachments" button down below in the "additional options" section and then when that window pops up hit the "Choose a file" button.. Then "upload" button and your filename should be shown there like this..see attached...then close that window
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Preview the post button to make sure it shows.. Then submit reply

[mbh7848]

ok awesome thanks for the help.

Here is my tank and stand. Hopefully i can get the stand painted and the floors refinished in a weekend. I went and bought 3 30 gallon tubs to put my fish and rock in and im going to clean the sand and reuse it.

[davocean]

I was going to suggest getting brutes for any livestock, what many of us use and also great for water changes, but tubs for holding live rock and fish are fine, small pump, heater for fish, keep eye on temp.

Looks good in pics, personally I prefer stain and would maybe just give a new clear coat to clean up, but if matching home decor needing white...it's a bit of work, just make sure you prime and paint w/ compatible products to what is on there now, a local paint supply is better than home depot, I'd bring a door in and tell them what you want to do, let them advise forgiving products.

I don't rely on paint and primer in one for this, and expect one coat of primer, sand, 2 coats of finish, sand between coats.

It's a full weekend done right.

[mbh7848]

ok thanks for the help. I have a local saltwater store near me that also builds cabinets so i thought about asking them to go ahead and do it. But with moving and everything i have to see how much it cost. Ill probably get them to at least come clean it the first time and show me the ropes.

The guy that used to own this tank is in this forum and his set up dated 2000. so its a pretty mature tank

[davocean]

Well hopefully either he used really new quality gear at the time or bought some new stuff, lots of improvements have happened since then.
List gear, lights, skimmer, return and main flow pumps.

That stand is not bad, just letting you know changing from stain to paint involves a little more work than most may think.