Subj : At Long Last - But Oh The Sacrifices!
To : All
From : Jeff Snyder
Date : Sat Apr 04 2009 12:58 am
Well, folks, I finally did it! After procrastinating for a number of years, I
put my hands, legs and back to the task, and did something I had been wanting
to do since a number of years ago -- I moved my four-foot aquarium from the
living room, to a custom-made, wooden aquarium stand that sits right next to
this computer in my bedroom. In fact, as I type, my left elbow is just about
three inches away from the front panel of glass. And the aquarium is situated
at the right level, so that if I swivel my chair, I can see everything nicely.
But making this change certainly came at a price. This aquarium, along with
two twenty gallon tanks, one sitting on each side of the four-foot aquarium,
have been sitting empty in my living room for at least several years now, ever
since all of my cichlids succumbed to our tropical heat.
Well, they weren't exactly empty; they were just void of fish. Since several
years ago, I have kept all of the decor, filtration systems, lighting systems
and water intact. I've followed a weekly ritual of topping off the tanks with
water, just waiting for the day when I knew I would finally put some fish in
them again. And believe me; I've missed having fish. That's why yesterday
morning, I got the urge and finally put my hands to the task.
Today, and probably for the next week, I am going to be feeling rather crappy
-- but at least I got the job done! I've got broken fingernails, sore fingers,
burned and peeled skin, an aching back, and aching legs, so that I am barely
able to walk -- literally! Doing these kinds of things takes a toll on aging
old flesh like mine! :)
You see, I had no one to help me, so I had to remove everything from the tank,
and then carefully drag that thing off the coffee table in the living room,
slide it across the living room and into my bedroom, and then slide it across
my bedroom floor over to the aquarium cabinet, where I lifted one end up
diagonally against the stand, and then lifted up the other end. Trying to
prevent the blue towel -- which I draped over the stand -- from moving as I
positioned the aquarium, was not easy.
But my woes actually began before that. Being as I was breeding Malawi
cichlids from Africa, this aquarium had lots of heavy rocks, plus about three
inches of black gravel, covered by about two inches of white sand. Cichlids
like to burrow into the sand in order to make their nests. Lifting out those
heavy rocks, and then scooping out all of that gravel and sand with my fingers
did a job on my fingernails and skin -- and I had to sift the gravel through a
spaghetti strainer as I removed it from the tank, in order to separate the
white sand from it. I ended up with one five-gallon bucket full of gravel, and
another five-gallon bucket full of sand. That must be at least forty pounds
per bucket that I had to lug across the floor into my bedroom. Heavy aquarium,
heavy rocks, heavy sand and one aging guy to move it all -- are you getting
the picture? Woe is me!
And then there was all of the thick carbonate deposits that had formed on the
aquarium glass, on the glass lids, and on the Penguin bio-wheel filters over
the years. Scraping that stuff off was a job -- and that is when I got the
brilliant idea to use some Lime Away on the glass tops -- without the
protection of rubber gloves. I just used one of those dish sponges with the
rough side, and worked the Lime Away into the lime deposits, after letting it
sit on the glass for a while. Man, when that stuff hit the raw skin on my
abused fingertips, boy did that sting! I rushed to the sink and started
flushing my fingers with cold water.
Between taking the aquarium apart, and then putting it back together again,
filling it up with water, and then cleaning up my messes all over the house,
this turned into an all-day, non-stop affair. Not only that, but it wasn't
until late at night, that I suddenly realized that I hadn't eaten a single
thing all day long. I got so into my work, that all I did was drink a few
glasses of pear juice during at least a twelve-hour period.
But as I said, I may be aching and in pain for the next week, but I got it
done, and I am happy! Oh the things that we do for our hobby! Once the
aquarium settles and ages for a bit, I will be adding some cichlids to it. I
am thinking of getting some Zebra Convicts this time. It will be fun to watch
them make nests and breed. Or I may go with Malawi cichlids again, possibly a
bright-colored male Red Kadango with a harem of three to six females.
We'll see.
Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
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