Tank arrived, tired

Yesterday we broke down the 125g. The lion went into one 33g Brute, the rabbit and tang into another. We took out two 5g buckets of sand, with some left in the tank. The rock is being left out to dry and die. It will be put back in during the cycling process to become 'alive' again and probably add a fair amount of organics to the cycle process. The sand is so filled with algae we decided to kill it - wash it with tap water.

The tank arrived this morning. I had four professional movers first move the 125g out, then move the new stand and tank in. There is no way that I and a couple of friends could have moved that tank in. The movers had a hard time getting it through the door. I set up the stand in such a way that I can walk around the tank without having to turn sideways. That will give me easy access to the back/sump/top off. We put a thick backing on the tank, much like window tint but opaque. We decided to have the sump drilled for the intake for the two pumps - a Snapper for the returns and a Dart for the skimmer. I haven't decided whether or not to put the chiller back inline. It is only a 1/10 HP model, but it is dual mode, and was handy for controlling the heaters in the winter and a nice easy-to-read temp for the tank.

About 2 hours after the movers left, the electricians arrived. They installed a dedicated 20A circuit behind the tank and another in the driveway near our shop. The shop, the family room and the two external outlets were all on the same 15A line.

Presently the tank has about 90 pounds of dead sand in it, some of the plumbing is in place. I have another bucket of sand to wash out, plus what is left in the 125g. I used the calculator here for a 2" sand bed, and the amount needed is 260 pounds. I'm just hoping that the tank cycles fairly quickly. I'm beat.