this ain't gonna be the prettiest upgrade
 

Took the trim off the tank tonight. Man, it ain't pretty underneath, guess thats why they covered it up with trim :razz: Oh well, once its in the wall nobody will notice anyways...for the most part.

Oh and the next time you see a "wow I'm upgrading with a used tank!" post from me please send me a virtual kick in the head. I was assured that this tank had "just one minor scratch that you really have to look for". I think the fish must have played kickball with the rocks up against the front glass, there are some major scratches and not just a few of them, some are widely highlighted by green algae. However when I went to pick up the tank it had already been drained and sitting for awhile. I think the back of the tank has less scratches than the front :sad:

Might not be too bad once there's water in there. Worst case scenario, if it's just the bottom, hope to heck that DSB's/plenums come back in style and just bury the scratches. Garden eel tank anyone???

:rofl: yeah maybe if I put a 8" sandbed in there nobody will notice :razz:

yeah you never know, if I can keep the scratches clean maybe they'll be okay.

Or or or .. !!! Take a page from lastlight's "things I'd do different if I did it again" and cover the bottom few inches with trim or similar (tiles?) so that the glass is covered but you can still see over the lip and then the bottom. Might help with that whole BB tank look too. .. ?

I'd have to cover like the bottom 8" :razz:

Maybe I'll just pretend I have a child in the house and cover them with fish stickers or something :razz:

Not the greatest news but I think if you're diligent with cleaning the glass it won't be too noticeable. This also isn't your last tank so don't sweat it =)

Well Tony suggested turning it around so that the backside becomes the front. Then I just hide the overflow with drywall, put the wavebox behind it et voila! I don't get to experience the full 6 feet which blows but my god I HATE scratches in the glass, one of my biggest pet peeves.

I'm seriously thinking about doing this. Gonna go inspect both sides tomorrow.

Maybe try filling the tank with enough water to cover the scratches and see how bad they are before you make up your mind as to what to do.

yeah theres a fair bit of crap still left on the glass so i'll go at it with the vinegar tonight and put a bit of water in to see how it looks.

I remember a build thread somewhere on RC where someone did that. Covered the front ends of the tank with the wall, gave quite a cool effect when looking in as it looks wider than in appears at first glance.. If you know what I mean... I'll try and find it (like a needle in a hay stack)