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Hi Group,

I posted a few weeks ago about my 29 gal nice tank set up which is now
home to 6 small clown loaches. They are doing very well but hide almost
all the time and they have lots of cover for security. Thanks for the
help on that to the fine group here.

I picked up a 55 gal set up for only $50! Yeehaa! It's an older one
with a center brace and thick plastic frame / molding at top and
bottom. It all came with; wooden stand / cabinet in need of speckle
repaint, gravel, lots of plastic plants, ornaments, rocks, two smaller
fluorescent lamps, one medium fluoroscent lamp, two air pumps, heater,
and a whisper 60, but no hood. It all needed LOTS of cleaning due to
nasty Arizona water deposits. It looked like they just let it all
evaporate out! Cleaned so far is tank, filter, and heater. They are
loookin' nice!

One side of the tank has no silicone bead inside so I plan to reseal
the whole thing just to be thorough and safe.

Q: do I cut out the old silicone from all corners before doing the
reseal? Do I do the same and reseal under the top fram / molding?

New silicone does not stick to old silicone, so it is always a question
as to where to end the new bead. I would cut away any imbrittled
silicone from the inside and lay a fresh new bead down.

Live update! Tank is filled outside and top frame is leaking.

Top frame don't normally leak, unless you have a capilary action going
on. Might be a leak on the sides, under the top frame? Once cause is
isolated, cut away old silicone (remove top if possible, but often it is
not) and add more silicone.

Q: If I want to be a cheap-0 what is a good way to make (or buy) a hood
that I can put the two 10 gal lamps on top of? I want it to look clean
but not fancy. PetCo here has a 55 fluorescent hood for $100, Ouch!

Glass plates and then you can fit a variety of hoods on (which just slide
around on top). I pick up dual flourescent lamps systems, complete with
ballasts at reno stores. It isn't pretty, so eventually I get around to
making a nicer wooden box around them.

ps: plastic plants, air pumps, and probably the ornaments and gravel are
what I usually leave in a box somewhere.

have fun!
--
www.NetMax.tk

Thanks as always, best wishes, Karl.