Found a Vintage 20 Long at a Flea Market

[Indlers]

$15. Mostly because I like the idea of a fish tank that, in accordance with natural law, allows me to shout "WOODCHUCK!" and bruise someone's shoulder. Seriously though, it's in pretty good shape. The glass was pretty stained, but I got that sorted out no problem, good enough for me anyway. Not sure if it's been resealed, but it held water overnight. I'm still gonna reseal it anyway, just in case though. There are two reasons I'm even bothering to post it though.

The first is that it's signed, and I'm curious who Pat. B. is. Tried to google it and didn't turn up anything at all so I don't think it's some old company or anything like that, but I could be wrong. I'm assuming it's someone who decided to make a fish tank at some point and put their name on it. Figured I'd see if any of you NERMs had any idea.
The other thing is the vinyl 'wood' paneling here is cracked, and other than super gluing it into place I don't really know what to do about that. What would be my best option? 

[Odd Duck]

Pat B. Is just whatever random company employee assembled the tank.  As far as glueing the crack, I would lean toward an epoxy but hopefully others will chime in with more experience on that subject.  With age, those plastic rims can get very brittle.  Future cracks may happen.

Nice score, though.

[Indlers]

On 10/3/2021 at 8:19 PM, Odd Duck said:

Pat B. Is just whatever random company employee assembled the tank.  As far as glueing the crack, I would lean toward an epoxy but hopefully others will chime in with more experience on that subject.  With age, those plastic rims can get very brittle.  Future cracks may happen.

Nice score, though.

So it's not the Pat. B., world renowned aquariumsmith extraordinaire, making this worth a thousand dollars? Darn.
Just kidding, that makes a lot of sense though.

Forgot to post this old temp strip as well. I don't believe it works anymore lol but I like it so it's gonna stay

[lefty o]

by the wood trim , well plastic wood grained, id say it was an old All Glass brand tank. they were good stuff. i would try epoxy in the crack on the trim.

Edited October 4, 2021 by lefty o

[StevesFishTanks]

nice find. the wood look plastic are my favorite

[Torrey]

On 10/3/2021 at 6:29 PM, Indlers said:

So it's not the Pat. B., world renowned aquariumsmith extraordinaire, making this worth a thousand dollars? Darn.
Just kidding, that makes a lot of sense though.

Forgot to post this old temp strip as well. I don't believe it works anymore lol but I like it so it's gonna stay

I gotta say, I understand how Dean feels coming back from Peru to read about God saying "let there be fish" and Dean made the fish😅

Nothing like seeing a tank that came out around the time of early adulthood being called "vintage"🤣

I guess I'm not older than dirt anymore. 

 

Now I can tell the grandboos I am Vintage Bird🤭🤣🤣🤣

[Indlers]

On 10/4/2021 at 4:24 PM, Torrey said:

I gotta say, I understand how Dean feels coming back from Peru to read about God saying "let there be fish" and Dean made the fish😅

Nothing like seeing a tank that came out around the time of early adulthood being called "vintage"🤣

I guess I'm not older than dirt anymore. 

 

Now I can tell the grandboos I am Vintage Bird🤭🤣🤣🤣

lol Well, generally speaking, to the best of my understanding, vintage refers to anything between 20-99 years old. At 100+ we're getting into the realm of antiques. Anything less than 20 years old, but has fallen out of style or relies on antiquated technology falls into the retro category. Even stuff from the 90s is vintage at this point, which places me in the same boat. 

Some items have a shorter threshold they need to cross to become antiques though, like cars. If I was a car, I'd already be an antique. 😭
Not sure if fish tanks have similarly separate categories, given their fragile nature I wouldn't be surprised if they did. I don't know though, so safe to call it vintage.  

[lefty o]

oh great, im vintage.😲

[Odd Duck]

I’m definitely vintage and getting closer to antique every day!  😆 

[Streetwise]

One option to strengthen the tank would be some sort of fiber tape looped twice around the frame.

[Torrey]

Multiple comments on vintage, and Streetwise gets us back on track....🤭

[Streetwise]

I’ve asked a sailing buddy about adhesive tape with fiberglass or carbon fiber for boat repairs. If you look at my Askoll 20 in my indoor journal, it is a rimless tank, but has tape (without fiber), where the top and bottom frames would be. It plays a cosmetic role to hide the original tech, but it may also provide some extra strength.

[Indlers]

On 10/5/2021 at 9:34 PM, Streetwise said:

One option to strengthen the tank would be some sort of fiber tape looped twice around the frame.

Oof, That's a really good point. I just hate the idea of covering up that faux wood trim. This is a rare moment for me where I was putting form ahead of function. I think it's too good of a suggestion to ignore though. 

I've been looking into a few options to retrim it for the past twenty minutes or so. Found this, looks like it would hold up well, but my only worry is it's possibly too sturdy, might be hard to work with.

It's wood grain repair tape for furniture and paneling. It looks pretty thick, and if the claims hold up, it just might do it, but idk.
"Free cutting: High-end simulation, repair and refurbishment, free cutting. You can also easily cut it into various shapes with scissors, and adapt to uneven surfaces"

Then of course there's wood grained duct tape. I think I could make that look quite nice with the exception of a seam that I would have to hide somewhere. Pick a side, call that the back, and let the seams fall there. 

With both these options there's a problem with the top. Whatever I do to the bottom, I'd have to do up there so it matches. Could that be a problem? Granted it wont be in contact with water in the tank ever, with the possible exception of the occasional drop that fell off a net or something, hit the tape, then ran into the tank. I feel like it's not a big concern, but I could be convinced otherwise. 

Edited October 6, 2021 by Indlers
spelling

[Indlers]

Reseal is done, curing now. Got the tape on as well, I'm not crazy about the way it turned out tbh, but the repair tape wasn't as rigid as I was worried it might be. Some of the pics of it looks like it wouldn't do a 90 degree angle.

[Torrey]

Well done!

Reminiscent of tanks in my twenties🤔 Might have been my 30's. 

 

Regardless, looks great!

[StevesFishTanks]

That came out nice. Where did you find that tape?

[Indlers]

On 10/10/2021 at 3:15 PM, Torrey said:

Well done!

On 10/10/2021 at 3:24 PM, s1_ said:

That came out nice.

Thanks 😎

On 10/10/2021 at 3:24 PM, s1_ said:

Where did you find that tape?

There seems to be a lot of different tapes like this out there, and I think they might have slightly different specs. I ended up going with a fairly cheap option on amazon for $5. It's basically duct tape made of pvc without the tear lines. It's a little thicker, enough that you can feel the difference, but it handles more or less the same. https://www.amazon.com/Rbenxia-Textured-Furniture-Beautification-Decoration/dp/B09713KZBP
Some of the pics I was finding of similar products really had me nervous lol like this one. That looks like it would split if I tried to hit 90 degrees with it.