Welcome to the Liquid Stunning

I'm off today.  I should be doing homework (So.Much.Reading.) and catching up on housework, because I'm booked solid from tomorrow morning through Sunday afternoon.

So, what am I doing today, you ask?  Well, after volunteering with my young adult group this morning...

I dismantled my beloved 55-gallon fish tank.

It's a sad day indeed, reminding me of my failure as a fish keeper.  All I have left are two very sick goldfish (the new ones I don't even like, the ones that brought the disease in in the first place) and my 3 old golden barbs.   

Do you know how annoying it is to dismantle a big aquarium?  It starts with a garden hose, and then heavy lifting.  It's smelly and disgusting and everything gets wet.  Oh, not to mention the gnats.  I decided yesterday that this dismantling had to be done, once and for all, the moment I turned on the aquarium light and realized the gnat larvae had taken over and the gnats were breeding like rabbits.  No fish to eat them and keep them in check. :(

Thank goodness it's 53 degrees today and sunny.  It was so frigid yesterday, I was dreading this dismantling process.

I've set up my old 15-gallon hexagon tank (with heater) to take in the barbs.  This in itself has been an endeavor as well.  The tank was in storage for a long time, so I had to clean it and set it up.  The filter was leaking from the connection between the motor and the unit (it has to be water-tight) and after freaking out about that, got out another motor I happen to have and used that one.  Will realized the o-ring on the first motor had dry rotted, so at least I know what's up.  Yay for being a fish keeper for years and staying loyal to one brand of filtration devices (AquaClear by Hagen) - so I have all kinds of aquarium crap lying around, such as spare motors.

I'm letting everything settle, and then later I guess I have to throw in the barbs.  It's never good to add fish to a brand new aquarium, but I have no other choice. 

If they survive, I may eventually buy a few more tropical fish.  I love me some tetras, and maybe...just maybe...another pleco.  This is, after all, the tank I first had "Big Al" in, over 8 years ago, when I set up my first tropical tank.

Back to feeling like I work in a pet store...