Back in the hobby

Hi Everyone,
I have been out of the hobby for +- 6 years. Of late I've been tempted to setup a tank again. So I dusted off my old 4ft high tank, cleaned it, filled it with water. (water testing) It's been standing empty all the time. Day 3 now no leaks.

Then today I got a 1800 x 600 x 700 tank and stand for free. The tank is very dirty and needs a good scrub.

So, to the side with the 4ft for now. I want suggestions and ideas what to do. am leaning toward a planted community tank, but I'm open for suggestions.

Also, the tank is drilled at the back for a sump. Advice need on this please.

I am hoping to get the tank before the weekend. I will post pics as soon as I got it.

 

I got the tank today. ALOT OF ELBOW GREASE NEEDED. It had mirrors on the top that were cracked. I took it off and it looks better already. Here are the before/first pics.
Please excuse the mess

 

I did some cleaning today. It's coming along nicely. Still got a lot more to do.

 

How can I remove the white paint on the back? I tried petrol and mineral spirits but nothing.

 

Is this safe for fish? I want to use it as a substrate.

 

Blasting sand is silica based and should be just fine.

 

Looks like quite the job you have there... How did you clean the glass in the front?

 

Thanks @Altus I will give it a try. @T. Guppy a lot of elbow grease. I used 50/50 vinegar/water solution with a fine pot scrubber. There is still some stains on the glass. I am going to use polish compound and buff all sides.
I am thinking of painting the back black.

 

Here is the data sheet of the sandblasting grit. @Altus please look at it and let me know if it is safe.

 

Did some more cleaning

 

Please excuse the background mess

 

I have already checked the datasheet and compared it to Black Diamond blasting sand. They are mostly similar from what I can see, and the Black Diamond sand is regularly used in the hobby. I would believe this to be inert.

 

Thank you very much

 

If you still need to do some cleaning, use a 50/50 bleach to hot water mix. Spray it on the entire tank like a fine mist and leave it on for about 30mins at bare minimum. You can then wipe it all down normally.

 

There are 2 holes per side. 25mm each. I was thinking 2 inlets an 2 outlets with a spray bar on each side. Here are some pics.

 

Hi
I will definitely try it. I will post some more pics over the weekend. I'm planning to finish the cleaning this week. Hopefully

 

try using acetone, should work.

 

So I decided to do a water test today. So far so good. I will leave it like this for the week. There is a slight bow in the front and back panel. I hope they hold. From my calculations I got +- 730 liters of water. Going to start building the sump next week. Dimensions will be 1500mm long x 500mm wide x 300mm high. This is what I can fit on the bottom shelf.