my new forty-five!

And I mean brand-spanking new. I got it at the petsmart in the next town- where the lfs is. I usually stop in there just to look at things- and this time found a 45g on sale. It will fit perfectly in a niche in our basement hallway, and I am finally doing a setup for angels! Not quite as big as I had imagined, but I think this size will still be easy for me to manage. Here is it outside for a leak test.

At first I just put ten gallons in-

Filled all the way! I left it like this for half a day. No sign of any leaks or weakness so far. It's returnable to the store for sixty days, and has a manufacturer guarantee for five years (I called them to check on that, as it doesn't come with any paperwork).

I did do a few slight improvements to the stand already. It had a few nicks, the finish was rubbed off on corners- exposing the wood. I covered those with black wood stain. Also some edges on the back the composite wood is just bare, no finish. I gave those several coats of polyurethane for peace of mind. I don't want any moisture weakening the stand. Although, after finding a hobby forum where someone answered questions who actually worked at Aqueon, the quality control testing they do with these stands for weight and stability have eased my mind. It feels like a very large tank to me, so I'm still a bit nervous to fill it up in the house.

You can see how perfectly it fits into this gap in the hallway (which was originally meant for shelving that we never installed...) I filled it halfway then leveled under the stand- it was only a bit off front-to-back.

So many pictures of an empty tank, ha. I am very excited about it.

It's full to just under the trim, now. I'm going to leave it sit empty for a few days while I wait for my new protected power strip to arrive, then install the heater and a temporary filter, to start cycling. My long-nostalgic dream of keeping angels again is going to be reality. Wahoo!