new filter does not fit on old aquarium with big frame

mintz

Hi all! I'm new here. Yay for fishies!

I was given an old 10 gallon tank with frames on the sides. I've been thinking about moving some of my guppies in there but the frame on the rim of this tank is too wide (a little over an inch) for my filter and basically anything that needs to hang on it. I've been thinking about sawing off a little portion of the frame but am afraid that the tank might not hold once I put water in. Do you have any ideas on what I can do to get the hanging equipment on there? If possible, I don't really want to buy anything new that's too expensive. I've been warned about my fish supplies' budget.

onefish2fish

can you post a picture of this so i can see exactly what you are talking about.

and welcome to the forum!

mintz

I don't have a camera right now but the top of the tank looks similar to the one below.

onefish2fish

cutting a notch out shouldnt be a problem.

mintz

ok, thanks! Now I'll just have to find something to cut it with.

Tyyrlym

Dremel tools are your friend.

mintz

Okay, I took another look at it. The frame is exactly 1" wide and my hanging equipments can only hang onto something that is 0.5" wide. Also, the frame seems to be quite sturdy and thick. I think it'll be a long painful process to cut it up. Are there any other easier ideas/alternatives before I start cutting? Has anyone experienced these problems before?

Tyyrlym

Given the situation you're probably best off notching the frame. Modifying a filter like that would require some serious cutting and altering of the filter itself and would worry me down the road about the thing falling off.

mintz

I wonder if I could find something that'll stick out of the tank for the stuff to hang on to... hmm...

aspects

of course, the other option would be to get a different filter.