>Once I get beyond 15-20 gallons I can no longer easily >carry the tank so it becomes a chore to clean out. I >stick to the smaller tanks for most clans and increase >the space by layering with kitchen wire shelves, hung >wheels, boxes, etc. But the gerbils do love the >space! I have one 39 gallon. A good way to get these >for free is to get a cracked on that you repair with >the...what's it called (clear fish-tank-repair-goop-it >a tube stuff, you know) >Donna >ABC Gerbils Anything larger than a 20 gallon or a twenty long, gets too unwieldy to handle by yourself. I got a whole lot of fifteen gallon tanks that had been store displays at one time, from an aquarium/fishstore that went under. They seem perfect for a breeding pair, as they give enough room for everyone to romp around. And they are small enough I can handle them myself. I also have a number of ten gallon tanks, but compared to the room of the fifteens, most of those are reserved for hamsters (breeding syrian females). The stuff Donna is referring to... you can go to the home center, and get the blue/white tubed GE clear silicone in caulk tubes for about $5 each. I think they label it 'kitchen/bath' these days. This is cheaper and the exact same thing they sell in teeny tubes at the pet stores. To repair the tank, it's often easiest if there's just one or two (or a few) cracks to get a new piece of glass cut to fit just inside the tank over the cracked pane...clean the glass very well, smear the new piece on one side with some of the clear silicone (this is a well-ventilated area job, trust me, and buy a pair of the disposable painting gloves it's well worth it and wear your oldest junky clothes and wear goggles or something so you don't touch your eyes while doing this--those fumes will sear your sinuses.) and put it in place. Use a little more to smoothly seal around the edges, you can wet a finger (or glove tip) with water and use that to smooth to get a nice edge...and then let dry/cure for at least 24 hours. Garages with the main door cracked work well. You can do the 'unship the cracked pane and cement a new one in', but unless you're well versed in silicone/glass tank building, this is a mess. Trust me. [we've been doing our own aquariums for almost ten years now for our fancy goldfish and koi--and I do stained glass and have things like stuff to take sharp edges off glass and cut large pieces and all that] So. If you repair a tank, have a glass shop cut the glass, pay them to knock off the sharp edges-glass can hurt you really badly especially if it slips-and you can do the smear the silicone yourself. Just make absolutely sure you have none of that uncured silicone on your hands then mess with contact lenses (especially gas perm hards). Like I mentioned, this is one time to buy disposable painting gloves, and not the filmy ones that are sealed and look like they came with hair colorant. The stretch to fit ones that look like surgical gloves sort of thing. It's worth buying the nitrile ones even over the latex. And if you get that goo on your clothes, they're hosed. So if you have car clothes or other really nasty job clothes, wear those. Deb Rebel's Rodent Ranch
