My New/Used 33g African Cichlid Tank - Update - 3 Fuelleborni/2 Red Zebras

[bingerz]

***Pics Index***
After cleaning the tank out...
Canada's Worst Handyman...the Paintjob
Stand dried and set up...minus the water.
Rocks and sand
Moving...
3 Fuelleborni & 2 Red Zebras

I haven't kept fish in like 10 years and the thought never occured to me to get back into it again until my wife and i were invited out to eat at this place called thai house in north vancouver. they had this african cichlid tank setup by the entrance. looking at it just brought back memories of when i used to keep fish. I had a 29g tall and a 20g set up in my, ~10x6 if anything, room. I had the 20g long set up right beside my bed, so i could watch it as i laid down. Anyways, they had this fuelleborni that reminded me of the one I had in my old tank. And right there, I was bit by the cichlid bug! So i scoured the craigslist for-sale section for a new tank. I don't know how long i waited for a deal to come up. since we have a kid on the way, i couldn't spend a lot of money. (i really tried not to!!) One day, someone posted a 33gal for FREE (perfect!!) so i jumped on it....emailed him and everything....but someone had gotten to it before me and they already scheduled to pick it up. I left him my number and told him if the guy flaked out...give me a call. i'll pick it up whenever! So he calls me a couple days later....and it's mine. It was the stand, tank, hood, lights, some gravel and a filter w/ a whole bunch of media, for FREE!! The guy giving it away was pretty cool...he just said he wanted it to have a good home. I let him know it was going to be in good hands. I go pick it up and this is what it looked like. Took about an hour to clean. I threw out all the gravel that came with it cuz i wanted to do some crushed coral. probably about a week later, garbage collected..I read online about tank cycling and using the gravel from an established tank. i felt like kicking myself cuz i could've used that to cycle!! once my tank's all done, i wanna send that guy a picture of it!! so he knows his tank is doing fine.

[bingerz]

the stand was in need of a little touch-up paint job to spruce it up...so i took a trip down to home depot and picked up a can of some Rust-oleum Painter's Touch - Espresso and some new door knobs. The knobs alone were like 20 bucks! Afterwards...we went to walmart and found out they had similar knobs there for only 6 bucks...so it was back to home depot to return the other ones!

[Clownloachlover]

the stand was in need of a little touch-up paint job to spruce it up...so i took a trip down to home depot and picked up a can of some Rust-oleum Painter's Touch - Espresso and some new door knobs. The knobs alone were like 20 bucks! Afterwards...we went to walmart and found out they had similar knobs there for only 6 bucks...so it was back to home depot to return the other ones!

and you waisted 14 bucks in gas driving back and forth so your even..LOL..stand looks great...I had one many years ago that was very similar...I made it in woodwork in high school, overbuilt it just in case but looks very much like the one you are using.

[bingerz]

lol! nah nah...the homedepot is right across the parking lot in langley. hey, maybe this was yours? the guy who gave it to me said that it was made especially for this tank like 12 years ago.

[Clownloachlover]

well sorry to state I went to highschool in the late 1970's early 80's so I doubt that stand is the one I built. I only wish I had the internet back then to give some ideas on how to build stands, back then I had to go to the library and look in books...how times have changed...good luck with the new project.

[bingerz]

i'm not as distinguished as you. but im not a young buck myself, i was in high school in the early 90s...and back then we had to go to the library too!! i've used microfilm!! i know my dewey decimal system! for real though...nowadays...with information at your fingertips, i can't imagine going back to them days.

[crazy72]

Great pick-up. Looking good. Amazing deals sometimes on CL eh.

[bingerz]

definitely, crazy! i looked at my tank before i left for work this morning and it's starting to look small already! my fish are starting to getting bigger. i think it's time for an upgrade!! oh btw...my tank's already set up. i'm just trying to get all these pictures and text together so i could share it with everyone my build.

[bingerz]

after a few days drying...i brought it back upstairs. dat ahhhh!!! Apparently, the doors, belong to a specific side of the stand cuz I was trying to put them in...and they just wouldn't fit right and fall in. I mean they still do fall in whenever I fully slide the doors open, that's the best i'm gonna do for now. maybe that'll be another mini-project to do once everything is done - redo'ing the doors. had to put the tank back on top, i was soo excited i finally had a tank, i had to get the whole effect! (minus the water) things are starting to move along!

[pinkjell]

What a great story! Im looking forward to seeing more pictures as you work on things!