This is the dawning of the age of aquarium.....

Sunday morning I hit the ground running. I had a lot to get done in only 2 days. My first priority was to get the fish tank set up so we could move the fish into their new home. Last time you saw the tank it was sitting in the back yard holding some poop water and rocks.



After we scooped out all the rocks (those small plastic nursery pots work really well for this), separated them, and rinsed them off it was time to scrub the calcium deposits off the tank. I used a little water and vinegar mixture to help loosen things a bit and a razor scraper thing to scrape off what I could. Some of it would just not come off, but it was on the back side and you really wouldn't see it, so whatev's.




After we cleaned it up it I had to prep the aquarium for it's spray paint makeover. Yep, I convinced Matt that I wasn't crazy and that painting it would be a good idea. So we carried it into the garage and set it on top of some cardboard with some scrap pieces of wood underneath it. I used some painters tape and whatever ads were sitting on the kitchen counter and covered all the glass. To protect the inside I just held a piece of cardboard underneath the lip of the plastic while I was spraying it. Originally I thought a glossy white would look good, but while we were at Ace (the helpful place....) I insisted that Matt have some input. Usually he just says "whatever you think honey", and then I feel like a pushy jerk that makes all the decisions (I'm trying to get better at that). Anyway, back to the spray paint aisle, I may or may not have stomped my foot a little and put my little fists on my hips, I'm not really sure, but finally after looking at a few lighter colors we agreed that we liked Krylon Fusion in River Rock. It's a really pale grey color and, this wasn't planed, but it ended up matching those white-ish rocks that we reused.




I sprayed the bottom band first while the aquarium was upside down. I didn't want to risk messing up my paint job in the top by resting it on those pieces of wood. Then waited 1 hour per the instructions for it to be dry enough to handle, flipped it over and painted the top band. Just enough time for some lunch in between!




After the top band was painted it was time to watch the Bronco game. We made our way over to Mike and Ail's to endure the second half. Terrible game, but they had green chili, burritos, and KITTEN INTERMISSION! "What's that?", you say. Kitten Intermission is Ali's and my new favorite thing, basically we look up cat videos on YouTube and watch them one after another, much to Mike and Matt's displeasure (we even have a pin board devoted to this). Our most recent discovery is Maru the cat. Anyways, we also needed to purchase a stand for the aquarium, so Matt and I made a quick trip to Petco and purchased this stand for just under 80 doll hairs (that is how my friend Taylor says it and I love it!). Once our fun with the Ladafoged's came to an end we spent the evening feverishly filling up this bad boy with water. One. Gallon. At a time.




We filled the tank about half way with new water, then added some chemicals to neutralize the chlorine and maybe so we wouldn't kill the fish. Then we filled some gallon ziplock bags with water from the smaller tank and put the fish in the bags. I may or may not have screamed really loudly when the big plecostomus was laying on top of the bag, refusing to go inside it. It was so scary, it splashed gross fish water in my face, and I knew if I dropped the bag Matt would have to chase it around in the fish tank again and be none to pleased. Ugh those things are so creepy. After getting all the fish bagged up we topped off the new tank with gross fish water from the old tank.

About 30 minutes later we released all the fishes into the wild new larger aquarium. I would imagine the whole experience was pretty traumatic on their little fishy emotions. The shark that created this project is just hanging out in the back corner to the left. He comes out to eat, but then goes right back. What an asshole! Anyway, we still have to replace the top parts. The old lid is still functional, but has a melted dent from the tank heater. Since the light that fits doesn't really work we just have the one from the smaller tank on there for now. That's why the sides are all dark and shadowy. Once we buy the lid and light I'll give them a coat of River Rock so its all the same color (I'll be sure to share how that turns out).




We would also like to add a little hidden storage underneath the tank. The stand had 2 horizontal bars that connect the sides together that could work off of. A nice piece of chunky wood and maybe some baskets would hide the air pump and the various accessories that are inside the old cat litter bucket. Classy, right? Oh and ignore the fact that I need to vacuum and mop the floors please, I've been busy.




Well, what do you think? Do you have a less than attractive fish tank in need of a makeover? Would you ever consider painting the plastic like we did? Do you have a favorite cat video from YouTube? Share yours either here in the comments section or on my new Facebook page!