I spent the morning washing sand Jane put into the tank.

We performed the major transplant…cut off the lines to the 54g and made them go to a 10 g tank under the stand, where a pump (borrowed from the skimmer) brings the water topside again.

We extracted the corals, the live rock, and the wascally wabbitfish, and lowered the water level enough we could budge the 54g, and get it across the room; then we left it while I gathered up the wabbit, half our hammer coral, and took off to the fish store out in the Valley.

I had to pick up the new light for the 54, plus the new pump for the 54, which should have been here yesterday, but we missed them. And I turned in the wabbit and the coral for enough to pay for the 54’s new pump and partially pay for the new lights.

Drove home, and Jane had been finishing up on the 105g, and connecting it to the basement sump and pump, which was ‘off’ for the duration. We’d gotten it into place before I left, and now — time to plug it in, see if the lines leaked, and see if the vertical spraybar I’d concocted for water movement was going to explode or wimp out, or work. This also involved adding all the rock we’re going to have in there—because you use a measured amount of water, and rock volume can affect that measure. [We got all through and found 4 more large rocks, so we’re going to have to do some dipping out of water.

But it is 4pm local, and we have both tanks running marvelously. The metal halide light (like a projector light, to give you a feeling for the intensity) is on and warming up the water asap…that’s the one thing hardest to do in advance.

Now we’ll run the 54g as a salt tank until we’re sure the 105g is bacteriologically active enough to handle a few small fishes. The corals and fish are in the 54 while things warm up (warmth increases the pace of biochemical action) and we see where we are.

It is gorgeous. There will be pix. Jane and I are just about exhausted this evening, having made uncounted trips up and down to the basement, having shoved elephants left and right (tilting a partially filled 54g tank so Jane could get the teflon glides that had stuck to the base was particularly exciting: weighs about what I do..)

And we’re going to love this. Freshwater 54 in one corner of the living room, Saltwater 105 in the other, and it just looks so cool!

Even if it’s only rock and sand in there right now.