Best way to open a crate box with my tank in it?

[kinetic]

Making the crate so hard to open is not a safety feature, it is a significant risk to the tank. Securely packed and relatively easy to unpack without use of excessive force is the way to do it.

Hmm, that is true. They really seem to be covering their butts for the shipping portion, but once it gets to me, that's all that matters.

Take, for example, Apple's packaging. It's a delight to take things out of the box with all their fancy pull tabs and box presentation. I don't think the tank shipping business needs that extreme of packaging, but you're right, something less than taking a crowbar to a crate would be best.