The Money Saving Continues

As our conversation continues on way to eliminate the fat in our spending, Jordan and I took on our Fishtank. We have been maintaining a 90 gallon tank (pictured) for the last three or four years. Prior, both Jordan and I had smaller tanks growing up.

I expressed to Jordan that I felt like the fish tank had become my hobby rather than our hobby. I knew he was on board when it came to buying plants and fish – and I’ve always known he’s wanted to move from freshwater to saltwater – but lately when it comes to the muck work (cleaning the tank) – it felt like a chore rather than a part of a hobby we enjoy together.

Jordan expressed that he wasn’t enjoying it as much either – the placement in the house (our office) isn’t ideal and we don’t have the money to invest in making it amazing (the tank pictured is not what it currently looks like – it’s what it looked like a few years ago).

So, we decided to decommission the tank.

We sold some fish as part of our the project to fund the new couch, and donated the last few to a pet store in the city. On Monday night we drained all the water, cleaned the tank, and cleaned the filtration system. It’s a lot of work – but the hardest part will actually be moving the tank into the basement as an empty tank weighs about 160 lbs. Jordan and I have moved it by ourselves before but I’m just not as strong as I used to be – so hopefully we can get a friend or two to help out.

We’re not going to sell the tank/stand because when we develop the basement in a few years, we’re going to set up a salt water environment instead. We will however for the time being save on electricity from the heat/light/filtration system as well as water (evaporation, regular cleaning-water changes). I’m not sure exactly how much – but it will be interesting to compare our bills from last year to this year.