Friday, March 23, 2007

Tanked

You may recall the Birthday Party idea for Isabella's birthday involving the fish tank. The party was great fun, but we were unable to put fish in for that day. Everyone brought her money for fish or fish supplies and then other toys or clothes. Since there were no fish in the tank we ended up opening presents with cake which is what I didn't want to do, but c'est la vie. After the party we realized that the weight of the tank, (250 lbs), was causing stress on the shelf and therefore it was no longer level. Nick had to drain part of the tank with our friend Jeff, lift it off the shelf, tear off the shelf, tear the drywall down to the 2 by 4, re-level the shelf, get some styrofoam to help with the equal distribution of weight, put the tank back on and then refill it. We did this on his only available night this week, Monday.

Tuesday morning we came down to find out the tank is leaking. It's most likely going to have to be drained, re-sealed, tested, made sure the seal has stuck, then start again with water, wait the two weeks to get it cultured, then test it and possibly wait longer. Yikes.

It's not leaking drastically and since we are actually happy with how the set up inside looks we've kept it set up for now. Thanks mom for the castle and other props. They're all in there.

6 comments:

the Haazens :) said...

Oh my goodness, that sounds like quite the ordeal! The idea is so cool and Belle will love it so much...can't wait to see it will all those pretty fish swimming around=)

Anonymous said...

Too bad you can't drain the tank into some receptacle to save the already cultured water!

You're welcome for the castle, etc. I'm glad they fit into your scheme for the tank ;) - isn't that hippo just too cute!

I can't wait to see the fishies too and I bet you can't wait for this drama to come to its joyous conclusion! Is Belle nagging about the missing fishies or do you have them out searching for Nemo?

Jen said...

Wow! This turned into quite the process. Here's to hoping you have fish swimming in there SOON.

Anonymous said...

Hey guys,

The tank looks awesome :D. As one who has come to know the joy of watching a fish swim around ( its oddly relaxing ) I'm positive Belle will really enjoy her fish and their home when all is up and running. The small set backs will all be worth it the first time you see her with an ear to ear grin watching the fish.

Anonymous said...

Wow is right! Hope it all turns out :)

Jill said...

I can't believe how much work fish can be! That's crazy! You two are really dedicated parents. Hope it all works out so Belle can have some fishy friends.