HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi Peeps,

Does anyone on here have experience or advice for restoring old crusty fish tanks?

I managed to score a 30g tank for free. It’s been left outside for I don’t know how long, but it’s structurally sound and has a fitted glass lid I don’t have any experience with fish tanks & have quickly realised this isn’t just a ‘wash & wear’ kinda job

I’m hoping someone on here has some advice on effective cleaning and re-sealing. Do I need special products?? Also, is this tank/condition worth the work? I don’t have money, which is why I jumped at this free tank. I’m not opposed to buying cleaning/resealing products as there’s no time limit on when I get this done (can buy stuff per pay check).

So far:

Have removed the crusty-ish silicone inside the tank -it has mostly come off with a scraper and I think inside should be safe once I reseal it.

The tank has an aluminium frame

and cross-brace that I’m unable to remove coz parts the silicone holding it on are rock hard. This hardened silicone is on the inner and outer glass at the top. Between the aluminium frame and the glass is gross & dirty & it looks yuck from inside of the tank.

Ideally I would like to:

- Remove the entire frame and cross-brace to scrub them clean
- Clean off the yuck that was beneath the cross-brace
- Remove all necessary ‘contaminated’ silicone/bits & reseal the inside
- (Ideally, but not necessarily) spray paint the frame/cross-brace white or black
- Reattach & seal frame & cross-brace

Based on the pics, do y’all think this is doable, or have any tricks & tips for me?

Any & all information gratefully received.

Cheers!
Jen









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I've been watching a lot of this guys videos while planning out a crabitat upgrade for ideas. He recently put up this one on restoring an old aquarium with a metal frame which might help.

https://youtu.be/IvUQMwrsjyc

Oh sweet thanks! I’ll have a watch. Hope your crabitat planning is going well


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Yeah, that video is an excellent resource on how to deal with these old tanks! I have friends who were able to salvage the watertightness using a heat gun to melt and reactivate the old tar that was used, but this one is in rough shape and I would say needs a full teardown for safety. They still have pretty decent resale value as well, especially on larger tanks with intact slate on the bottom. I love them, but only have a 15 right now for my toad.

Edit: just realized that this one was revamped at some point and the bottom replaced to glass. That makes me a little nervous as it may not be strong enough to support substrate. Something to think about!

Hey Wodesorel,

Thanks for the vid recommendation - it was so helpful! I’ve been able to almost completely remove the hardened silicone (possibly asphalt?) from beneath the aluminium frame!

The 2 base panes popped out cleanly when I’d finished cleaning out the caulking, but pretty sure I can add new silicone and just sink them back in to place.

Originally I thought I’d have to remove all the glass panes, but now I’m pretty sure I can just clean beneath the aluminium frame with a variety of scrubbing brushes and then re-caulk the glass to the frames. Which is good coz I’m not experienced with any of this & the less I have to move/re-secure/handle the better.

Re the base of the tank in the video, I thought he did replace the slate base into the the frame, and just had it sitting on a bit of cardboard wrapping from the glass?

My tank just has a glass base but there are no cracks or anything. As long as it’s properly secured back into the frame and sitting on a strong & flat surface, it should be strong enough for the 6+ inches of substrate right?

Thanks again for all your help here!

Cheers,
Jen


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I've only ever used manufactured tanks that were made to support the weight. Regular glass needs to be of a certain thickness to be safe, or it has to be specialty tempered glass instead. Without knowing who made the changes, what materials were used, or what the tank was used for afterwards - it could have been for a reptile or as a terrarium - I would just be very cautious. A crab tank ends up weighing about the same as an aquarium full of water due to the substrate. I tend to be paranoid though as I've shattered multiple tanks over the years and they are scary when they go.

This is a manufactured tank I’m pretty sure, the glass looks to be ‘aquarium’ thick. Lol. But I will take on that advice about the glass coz shattering a tank sounds terrifying!