The first step was to get our old aquarium out of storage, but then I had to figure out what to do with it.

I spent some time checking different websites trying to determine how to set up the aquarium.  Of course, there's lots of different advice.  But they all agree on one thing, no tap water for tadpoles.  The chemicals in fresh tap water could kill the tadpoles.  

There are some choices.  First, you could buy water conditioner at the pet store.  Or you could collect rain water.  Or you could let tap water sit for a few days so that the harmful chemicals evaporate. 

I tried to collect rainwater, but there was all kinds of stuff in the rainwater.  Most of it was probably pollen, but I wasn't sure how much would be OK for the tadpoles.  I finally gave up on the rainwater.  Someone later pointed out that ponds with tadpoles would have lots of pollen landing on them.  Maybe it would have been OK.

We had some distilled water left from growing crystals.  So we used that water, then I started boiling water.  Some instructions were recommending letting the tap water sit for 5-7 days, but others said you could reduce that time to 24 hours by first boiling the water.  That idea was helpful since we needed water to rinse and soak the sand which was suppose to sit in water for a couple of days, .  We needed more water for cleaning the aquarium, soaking large rocks, washing the plants, and finally filling the aquarium.  At one point, it seemed like we'd never be ready in time!

I've been at it for a few days now.  It seems like an endless sequence of boiling water, letting it cool, and then pouring it into containers  (without lids) to let all the chemicals evaporate.  When you finally get water you can use, it's amazing how quickly it's all used up and you have to start all over again! 

Things are finally coming together.  Last night we put in the sand and the rocks.  Tadpoles can live in a plain glass bowl, but we wanted to create a more natural habitat.  After the sand and rocks, came the plants and water.  By that point, the whole thing looked like a murky mess!

Fortunately, it had all settled out by this morning and it looks much better.  I've got more boiled water 'aging' so that we can add it to the aquarium later today.  A few more days and then we can put in the tadpoles.