under da sea

I recently shared an overview of my adventures in aquariums, but left it unfinished.

I would like to take this moment to apologize to all my readers (Hi, Katie & Tara!) for leaving you hanging.  I wish I could say this will be the last time I do such horrible & unspeakable acts. But that would be a fib.  And fibs are "wrong."

But look!  An update!  And so soon, too!!!


BEFORE:

AFTER:

Really, just more rocks and plants.  A lot of freakin' plants.  But this is completely up-to-date.  Current.  Now.  Fresh, even!

After getting the 6 danios, I got 2 Kissing Gouramis and 2 Bala Sharks.  Unfortunately, the Gouramis came with ich/ick, which is a parasite that lives in the skin of the fish.... Yeah, parasites.  They nasty!  So, ended up returning the Gouramis, and treating my tank to kill the parasites.  Now, everyone is healthy & happy & harmonious!!*

Current residents: 5 Zebra Danios, 9 Tiger Barbs (3 albino, 3 regular, 3 green), 3 Bala Sharks, and 1 Spotted Sailfin Pleco.


*Three cheers for alliterations!

here little fish, little fish, little fish!

Watching fish in your home aquarium is supposed to be relaxing...

...setting up your home aquarium is decidedly NOT relaxing!

The photo above was taken mid-staining project, (I was staining it darker.)  The aquarium & stand is a hand-me-down from my mom.  The only problem being the wood tone was wrong.  All wrong!  So, once the floor & molding were installed and the aquarium was moved into place,* I got to staining.  

As you can see, the tank was once used to house candles and ping pong balls.  And, for a night, my cell phone.  Because my friends are "hilarious."

*The "correct" way to stain something is to take it outside or into a garage/basement/work area, put on top of a drop cloth or newspaper, and stain all surfaces.  To hell with "correct," this sucker is HEAVY!  It was moved once, and that will be all!

Post-staining transformation!  With water!!!  The edges of the actual tank, (still oak-finished,) are a plastic material that I fear cannot be painted.  But, I plan on looking into this to see if there's any products that would stick... anyone have any suggestions or experience?  

So, over the course of months, we started filling with plants and rocks and things.  Funny story: it takes A LOT of freakin "plants and things" to fill a 125gal tank!  Another story: photographing a fish tank can be challenging, what with the reflection & glare & all.

I used field stones from... um... out in a field.  Scrubbed & soaked in boiling water many times over before putting in the (empty) tank.  I started feeding the tank for a few weeks, which gets things groovy & the nitrate cycle going.  By "feeding," I mean throwing in a few flakes every day, (but not too much!  Don't want to overload the tank.)

This is how it looked when we put in 6 Zebra Danios, to kinda test the waters & keep things going.  Since I am a horrible person & a failure at blogging, there's been tons of changes to the set up & stocking of the tank.  More plants & rocks; more fish.  Will update soon....*

*Yeah right.  

  

we are entering the age of aquariums!

...age of aquariUUUMMSSS!!!

As I posted before, there is a bit of a transformation going on with the fish tank. The tank is from my mom, who has had it for almost as long as I can remember. We've used it, first, for fish and later for a lizard. This is what it first looked like:

[BEFORE]

As you can see (or maybe you can't?) it's a basic & very flat oak stain with not much pizazz. And I, I am a girl of PIZAZZ!!

So I started staining:

[DURING]

I believe I used an Antique Pine stain, but who can be sure? The rest of the can is all the way downstairs and my feet are cold, so a guess is all you will get. But here we are, 1/2 done. 1/2 Pizazz, 1/2 Un-Pizazz.

Now, a wise woman would have done this with all the windows open. But it was cold outside!! Well, actually, I guess a "wise woman" would have taken the entire stand outside to stand in the spring or summer.... details, details.

After filling up the tank gradually (to check for leaks) and then adding the gravel.....

[AFTER]


TA DA!! I love it. Nope, no fishies yet. I need to get filters and silly stuff like that. But that is neither here nor there- LOOK AT THE AQUARIUM! The dark color matches my house much better and is more of a statement in this stand-out stain. Sadly, the "wood" surrounding the actual tank is a plastic-faux-wood, and wouldn't take the stain. Whatevs, it's better this way. Two-toned, and all.


I would also like to say that this has been done for quite some time (over a month, I think!) But I just... I... I didn't have a picture of it. Sorry and sad excuse, I know. Many apologies.