Relocating the fish tank

So I've been obsessing over the state of the fish tank lately for some reason and over the last few days, considered getting a smaller tank, taking the fish back to the store and dismantling the whole thing, or prettifying the one we've got.  I also wanted to move it.  Just because it was bugging me where it was.

Why do I do this to myself?

Yesterday at the fish store, I picked up a 10g for $14 to use to transfer my fishies into while I cleaned out our 29g tank.  So this afternoon, after we got back from gymnastics, that's what I set out to do. 

I had no idea it was going to take me three hours.  Ugh.  My muscles are all owie now and I'm tired and the kidlet is SUPER WHINEY tonight and I'm trying to find my happy place.  La la la laaaaa!!

So first, I siphoned out enough water (without getting near the gooey gravel) to fill the 10g gallon that I set up on the kitchen counter by using our 5g bucket.  (So two trips for those that are as bad at math as I am.)  I moved the heater over to the 10g, then took the biowheel filter and raced across the living room, through the den and to the kitchen to get it going in the 10g as well.  I managed to make it to the kitchen without spilling any of the icky water inside but somehow when I got to the counter, it kinda slipped from my hands and covered a third of the counter in stinky fishy water.  And then I realized that it was too tall to fit on the 10g, so I had to set it on a plastic container to lift it up a bit.  Precarious, but it worked.

I siphoned out another bucket of water, then took out all the algae-covered plants and the bridge (much to our pleco's chagrin), then got the net and started to hunt for the fish.  It wasn't too hard but man, that pleco is fast.  Got them all, plopped them into the 10g, then it was just a matter of getting the rest of the water out of the 29g so that I could clean it out.

Got most of the water then got most of the gravel out and yet it was still FREAKING HEAVY to carry to the bathtub.  Hence the sore muscles.  Gave it a good rinse (nice green icky water - ew ew ew), then relocated the stand to the other side of the living room and placed the now-clean tank on top.  I put the rinsed gravel back in and noticed that now that I had removed the undergravel filter (haven't used it in ages), there was only about an inch of gravel in there (recommended 2-3 inches).  I hunted around the house/shed/garage for extra and we had none.  So I packed the kidlet up and drove to the nearest aquarium store where I picked up another 30lbs of gravel.  Again, rather heavy.

After putting in the new gravel, it was time to fill up the tank.  29g is a lot of water - did you know that?  I don't know why it always amazes me.  Anyways, between putting back the old water (so as not to shock the fish with brand new water throughout) and adding new water, it took a heckuva long time and many trips to and from the kitchen with drippy buckets.  I set up the heater and the filter again, then moved the fish (much easier to catch in a 10g tank with only a few inches of water left in it).  I put in a couple new plants and taped a background on the back (much nicer than looking through to the wall although it's REALLY tough to cut those backgrounds straight, so I have a little overhang on one side that's all choppy and hideous-looking (Dean will have to help me fix it with a razor or something).

Anyways, the tank now looks brand new and pretty and colourful and it's in a much better location in the living room.  But the tank is much too nice for our ugly fish.  Guess we'll see if the move kills any of them, see if the tank adjust itself again and maybe, just maybe, I'll invest in some prettier fish.  And try to maintain the dang thing a little better.

One thing though - the heater's suction cups aren't working and it keeps slanting and it's making me crazy - I've adjusted it a hundred times already.  They were clean, the glass is clean, it sticks and then it doesn't.  Argh... always something, isn't there?

Comments

[Sally]

You know the gravel vacuum thingy you use to take water out of the tank? There's a type you can get that has a really long hose and hooks up to a faucet. The water you suck out of the tank goes directly into the sink and down the drain, and you fill the tank using the same hose. No bucket carrying!

If you can't find one at your local pet store, I can probably mail ours to you. Just e-mail me if you want it. It's very used, but we don't need it anymore now that we only have a salt-water tank. (Saltwater doesn't come from taps you know.)