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I just knew there was a reason I needed to stop by the Salvation Army that day. I was looking for lamps, but I walk in a find a fish tank instead. It was labeled as a reptile/small animal cage. I laughed. The glass was the thickness of aquarium glass, terrariums have thin glass as they're not meant to hold the water. Anyway, I bought this tank and screen hood for a grand total of $8 and then had a lot of work to do. 


It was covered in writing, tape, paper, small animal bedding and toys. The silicone seal was a dark yellow and frightening. parts of the glass looked chipped and scratched, the rim was in terrible shape and the top was split in half. That is when you question what you have gotten yourself into.

First thing to do after cleaning out all the trash and cleaning the paint and tape off the glass was to remove all the old silicone. This has to be thoroughly as new silicone will not stick to old silicone. I removed the rims and went to work with my little knife. It took two days to reseal the tank and it's only 30 gallons. Next up, I wanted to work on the rims. The rims were an odd brown color that you can't really see in the above picture. I sprayed the exterior of the rims with oiled rubbed bronze paint. and spray painted the bottom of the tank to look like black sand. The tank had to be allowed to seal properly before I could test fill it though, so it sit around looking pretty.
After the test fill proved the tank would hold water, I let the silicone finish curing for a week before filling the tank. Now it's a African Cichlid tank with an Aqueon 50 Filter, my Odyssea light, an Aqueon 100 watt heater and a variety of rocks and decorations to create territories for the fish. 
10/6/2016 01:24:54 pm

Before you proceed to buy a stand, you will need to know the weight of your tank without water is. Usually, this information can be found if you bought the tank online or alternately you could ask from the fish store in which you have purchased from. At the same time, you will need to know the weight on the number of decorations that you are intending to put in the tank.

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    December's Tip

    Have you seen The High Low Project on HGTV? If not, check it out! It's a great ode to DIY and how a little bit of paint can make all the difference in the world.

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