THE GOLDFISH AND ITS CULTURE. 43 
do so. I frequently notice on aquarium tanks that the in- 
side corners, where the glass meets, are plastered up pretty 
heavily with cement; this, too, is waste of material. 
After two or more days, according to the season or the 
weather, the cement has sufficiently hardened and the tank 
may be filled with water. 
For the small tanks above mentioned, I find fifteen by seven 
and one-half inches (15x74) by eleven (11) inches high (all in- 
side measure), the most desirable size. The frame can in 
this case be made by a tinner out of galvanized sheet iron, 
bent into right angles (similar to angle iron) and soldered at 
the corners. The bottom in this size is made of double 
thick Pittsburg glass, set, as well as all the other glass, which 
should be double thick French, on the same principle as in 
the larger tank described above. 
Do not attempt to make an aquarium tank out of wood; 
in nine cases out of ten they are failures. Neither take out- 
side advice regarding the size of the tanks. Someone will 
tell you that “If you make it such and such a size the glass 
will cut to better advantage, etc.’ But an inch or two out of 
the way, one way or the other, makes a very big difference 
in the appearance and also in the welfare of a collection. 
These are the details to be observed in the construction 
of the inner hull or the tank proper; the outside hull, or 
ornamental part, is easily put on afterward. This can be a 
simple coat of paint and varnish, or it may consist of a rustic 
decoration of tree-bark or tuff-stone, or a stylish mantel of 
woodwork. No rules are set for this part, and one may ex- 
ercise his individual taste. However, it should be kept in 
mind that such a mantel takes the place of a frame around 
your animate picture, and we all know how an inappropriate 
