Fish tank part 2:
Previously, on fishtankscape: We removed the fish and water from the tank and put them in the coolers we procured from HOGS.
We didn't actually remove *all* of the water from the tanks. There was still about an inch in the bottom of the tank, but we felt that it was light enough to be moved without the bottom falling out.
The bathrooms on our floor are not exactly coed (like on HOGS), or maybe the are--no one really seems to know. My room next to the women's bathroom and at the opposite end of the hall from the men's room. We (everyone except Mel) decided to have Mel check the women's room for persons of the female persuasion. After she declared it clear, we carried the tank there and dumped the remaining water down the shower drain. One of women from somewhere in Europe, here as part of an exchange program, watched us, open-mouthed, as we carried the tank out.
Thus, having made the tank ready for transport, Mel left.
Next, we carried the tank and the coolers to the elevators. From there, we sloshed the fish to RB's yacht (sometimes mistakenly known as "station wagon"). Did I mention that Rob was volunteered to take the fish for the three weeks? No? Well, he was. Housing Operations are a bunch of not-so-nice-names that receive kick-backs from all of the local movers, storage companies, and rental-truck companies. Rob tried to orally give us an abbreviated list of instruction for driving to his house. It didn't work. As a physics major, I know this sort of thing (verbally relating driving directions) doesn't work, but I still do it too. Eventually he said, "Just follow me."
As we pulled out of the parking lot, the problems started. A station wagon isn't really designed specifically for the purpose of moving a cooler full of water and fish without sloshing the fish violently against the sides and top of the cooler. Neither is the cooler designed for being moved in a bouncing station wagon without leaking copious amounts of water, even when the top is duct taped shut.
Our cooler wasn't duct taped shut. We used packing tape, due to a chronic shortage of duct tape, which was due to my having packed it the day before so that I could move out. I should really know to never pack tape, but I don't. This is to say that the reason we didn't have duct tape was that we were too cheap to buy more, not because somebody in the federal government thought that it would be funny for everybody in Rochester to slashdot all the local stores for tape because they had been told that it could stop terrorists. Duct tape is pretty amazing stuff, but it isn't that good.
As we drove to Rob's house (at about 70% of the speed limit) the fish sloshed so much that we were sure that they would all be dead by the time we got to our destination. Fortunately, when we opened the cooler are Rob's all of the fish were still swimming, although we did loose some water. Rob's mother was waiting for us in the driveway when we got there. She showed us where to put the tanks and all of the fish accessories, like rocks and chemicals. We set up the cooler with the fish on a large tarp in the family room. The final configuration had the plant, fish, and some water in one of the coolers with the heater in the water. We didn't set up the filter, mainly because it didn't seem to be doing anything useful when it was in my room. The algae eater should keep the tank fairly clean for a few weeks. After the setup we chatted with Rob's mom for a couple of minutes before we left.
So, in conclusion moving the tank was a pain in the ass . It took about 6 hours. We went to Wendy's afterward for dinner. I think that a good freshman project this year will be to move the tank back from Rob's to HOGS.