Post by Sach-Crabministrator on Dec 8, 2010 3:39:14 GMT -5
So, YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!! I get to finally start setting up the 55 gallon tank that I bought over the summer.
I will do my best to document the whole process as best as I can.
First, I had to get the tank out from behind my two file cabinets-turned desk area. I just moved into this place in late September and wanted the tank nearby, but not in the way. It was easier getting it in than out, lemme tell ya! HH
This was after I took off the wooden shelf piece that was serving as a top and cleaned the blankets (they were padding during moving) and random accumulated crap out of it and started to try and get it out of that spot but before I cleaned it.
Okay, so with some maneuvering, I got it out of that space and moved the file cabinets back against the wall where the tank had been.
Then I cleaned the tank.
Then I moved the little tank to a nearby table and hung a thick blanket over the windows and draped it across the seat where the tank will sit. It isn't down, but trust me when I say it feels like it is when you sleep under it.
I then set about the task of insulating the tank itself for the winter since we have overnight wind chills in the low teens already. I mounted the new heater and I taped cardboard around the back and sides and half of the front. If I find I don't need the front (fingers crossed), I will take them off later. When I went to take photos my camera had an error message, so I had to use the "good" camera that blurs in my shaky hand, hh.
As I was sliding the tank across the rug, to get it closer to it's destination, I realized I'd need to tip the tank to get it where I wanted. I tipped the tank up and......water started running out from the end seam! I didn't even see any water in there before! Maybe it was trapped in the molding strips while level and ran down when I tipped it? Well, of course, I see the water creeping up the glass between it and the cardboard I just put on there; let's hope that doesn't become an issue.
Now, the location my tank was gonna go into (one of the first things I spotted when looking at the house, hh) is a built-in window seat of sorts. This put me at a HUGE advantage when it came time to get the tank up on it. See, hubby went to bed just before I did the cardboard and I didn't wanna have to wait until he got home after 3pm tomorrow to get started on the substrate because he had to lift the tank up for me. I am just too impatient for that, hh. Let me interrupt myself here and give a disclaimer before the next part.
The reason my tank spot was advantageous was because I was able to climb up and stand on it. By getting above the tank, I only had to lift one end up just enough to clear the lip,and slide it back a little. Now, being 5 months pregnant, you'd think I shouldn't be doing such things; thus the disclaimer, hh. But it was actually really easy. I just had to lift one end of the tank to get it on the edge;about 18 inches off the ground at most. I then got back up on the seat and pulled the tank on to it a little more. Then I got back down and tipped the tank up until it was on it's left end on the window seat. The blanket is a sort of silky cotton on the outside, so it actually allowed the tank to slide WAY better than I was expecting it to and with no bunching at all!. I moved the end of the tank to the left, about where I wanted it to sit. Then I gently lowered the tank down, adjusted for where I wanted it to be, and voila! The tank was in position! So, I made myself quit there until tomorrow.
So this was phase one, the moving, cleaning and placing the tank.
I will do my best to document the whole process as best as I can.
First, I had to get the tank out from behind my two file cabinets-turned desk area. I just moved into this place in late September and wanted the tank nearby, but not in the way. It was easier getting it in than out, lemme tell ya! HH
This was after I took off the wooden shelf piece that was serving as a top and cleaned the blankets (they were padding during moving) and random accumulated crap out of it and started to try and get it out of that spot but before I cleaned it.
Tight squeeze, huh? HH
Okay, so with some maneuvering, I got it out of that space and moved the file cabinets back against the wall where the tank had been.
Then I cleaned the tank.
Ta-da! Shiny clean tank!
Then I moved the little tank to a nearby table and hung a thick blanket over the windows and draped it across the seat where the tank will sit. It isn't down, but trust me when I say it feels like it is when you sleep under it.
I then set about the task of insulating the tank itself for the winter since we have overnight wind chills in the low teens already. I mounted the new heater and I taped cardboard around the back and sides and half of the front. If I find I don't need the front (fingers crossed), I will take them off later. When I went to take photos my camera had an error message, so I had to use the "good" camera that blurs in my shaky hand, hh.
As I was sliding the tank across the rug, to get it closer to it's destination, I realized I'd need to tip the tank to get it where I wanted. I tipped the tank up and......water started running out from the end seam! I didn't even see any water in there before! Maybe it was trapped in the molding strips while level and ran down when I tipped it? Well, of course, I see the water creeping up the glass between it and the cardboard I just put on there; let's hope that doesn't become an issue.
Now, the location my tank was gonna go into (one of the first things I spotted when looking at the house, hh) is a built-in window seat of sorts. This put me at a HUGE advantage when it came time to get the tank up on it. See, hubby went to bed just before I did the cardboard and I didn't wanna have to wait until he got home after 3pm tomorrow to get started on the substrate because he had to lift the tank up for me. I am just too impatient for that, hh. Let me interrupt myself here and give a disclaimer before the next part.
I do not recommend this to anyone else! I know what my body is capable of and if I had felt I was biting off more than I could chew at any time, I would have stopped.
[/b][/i]The reason my tank spot was advantageous was because I was able to climb up and stand on it. By getting above the tank, I only had to lift one end up just enough to clear the lip,and slide it back a little. Now, being 5 months pregnant, you'd think I shouldn't be doing such things; thus the disclaimer, hh. But it was actually really easy. I just had to lift one end of the tank to get it on the edge;about 18 inches off the ground at most. I then got back up on the seat and pulled the tank on to it a little more. Then I got back down and tipped the tank up until it was on it's left end on the window seat. The blanket is a sort of silky cotton on the outside, so it actually allowed the tank to slide WAY better than I was expecting it to and with no bunching at all!. I moved the end of the tank to the left, about where I wanted it to sit. Then I gently lowered the tank down, adjusted for where I wanted it to be, and voila! The tank was in position! So, I made myself quit there until tomorrow.
So this was phase one, the moving, cleaning and placing the tank.