New tank and New hood

[Chunandler]

I just got through putting togther the stand for my new aquarium. It all looks pretty sharp. However, the hood I bought is extremely hard to pop out those little sections in the back. My other hood had kinda of a preferated edge but this just has a little line that goes through about 1/2 way. It's still extremely hard to get them to come off and I dont want to ruin the hood or mess up the plastic, any suggestions? I've tried plyers and an exacto knife so far.
Got some cool pics so far, I'll post some when I get more done.

 

[Pufferpack]

A good sharp pair of scissors work well for cutting through the thinner lines, but with the thinner lines they have will also snap straight with pressure, kinda like lids on take out coffee cups.

 

[Chunandler]

Ok I managed to get those off, heh used scissors too, was too thick. I tried a different pair of plyers and right before it seemed the hood would break, the piece snapped off. Whooh!
Except now the darn florescant light won't come on, it just flickers at the the two ends. I dropped the hood into the aquarium by accident but the only one side fell. It that what did it or is my light bulb or hood messed up?

Woah....after aboud 20min of some not so cool flickering, its on, is this normal?
When I turn it off, It does the same, only it hasn't fully come on yet, it's still in that damned flickering stage.

 

[Pufferpack]

As long as the hood is completely dried out it shouldn't cause any problems with shorting out, that occurs when there is still moisture around the electrical parts causing it to arc out (electricity takes the path of least resistance which would be the short arc through the water rather than the longer path through the bulb).
When you turn the light on try holding the switch in (assuming it is a plunger switch) for a count of 20 before releasing it. I have to do this with one of mine or it will flicker on and off all day (I suspect a defective switch but am too lazy to change it out )

 

[Chunandler]

Thanks, It's getting faster already too.

 

[Nik]

If the light is like most it will have a starter unit with a white cylinder that kicks off the light ignition. Sometimes these need tweeking. If the problem pursists take out the white cylinder thing and replace it properly to make sure it is place correctly.

Bring on the pics!

 

[Pondlady]

I just bought a new bulb for my hood and there was a slip that said that type of light could take up to 20 min to light completely the first time. It actually took 10-15 min, then about a min the next time, and now it's instant.