Removing The Hippo From Hell.

Tom Barr

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We redid a large planted tank today and the last few days. Removed all the old ADA AS, polished up the tank real nice, cleaned everything, it had the hippo fro hell, a large 30" 180lb statue. Confined narrow space and virtually no room to maneuver. We decided to use wooden blocks and slowly stair step it up.

This worked out well and we got that sucker out of the tank.

Could not have it slip or fall. Break the tank for certain.

Hippo from Hell.jpg
 

Tom Barr

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Yes, I removed it with 2 other people. We used large timber wood blocks to slowly inch up and out of the tank. The higher the stack of wood, the less stable it becomes.
 

Kyalgae

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That would be a cool apprenticeship. That almost looks like it’s made of soapstone.
 

Tom Barr

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That would be a cool apprenticeship. That almost looks like it’s made of soapstone.

They said Malachite, but looks like soapstone to me.

So immediately someone on FB says it's got copper and is deadly. Go figure.
Never mind it has automated water changes on the tank 10% daily. And it's a large tank and relatively low surface area relative to volume of stone, and it's not dissolved at all over a decade.
 
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burr740

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Got any pics of the tank this monstrosity came out of?
 

Kyalgae

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They said Malachite, but looks like soapstone to me.

So immediately someone on FB says it's got copper and is deadly. Go figure.
Never mind it has automated water changes on the tank 10% daily. And it's a large tank and relatively low surface area relative to volume of stone, and it's not dissolved at all over a decade.

If that is malachite I can’t accurately guess the price, but it would probably have been very expensive (thousands). It’s almost a shame they put it in the water, because water, etc, would ruin the finish over time.

The top link google is feeding people on malachite toxicity is from the source hibiscusmooncrystalacademy.com.......let that sink in.
 

Tom Barr

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Front face is 6ft by 32", side is about 4ft x 32. About 18 front to back, pretty narrow for the depth. Small acrylic tank access holes. It was unrouted edges, till last week. I routed a 1/4" bevel then flame polished. No more nipple removal when sliding in and out. I end up with a few such deep and narrow tanks, poor access, custom builds that often forgo the nice beveled edge for some reason.

I have another to do like this, 6ft x 42" deep, it's a marine tank and has more room in the middle though.
Fish only basically.