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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your Download Center 4 Mac BBS Software & Christian Files. We Use Hermes II


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