OLD TANKS FOR NEW

A few weeks ago my partner discovered to his horror that the glass on his 5' tank was bowing.  Holding it together with sash clamps worked till the next day when he bolted it together with some 8mm studding. A new tank was ordered, the thought of fish dying on a ruined carpet didn't bare thinking about.

 There was quite a bit of preparation to do, like mixing the soil, testing spare heaters and getting the old tanks ready for the fish and plants. The plants were removed first.

 
There were a couple of pieces of bog wood with JAVA FERNS and ANUBIAS on, which were far to big for any of the containers, so we had to work fast to get them back into the tank on the same day.  The rest of the plants and the fish were safe overnight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a jug of fish and shrimp being transferred to their temporary home.      

The last of the water being emptied into buckets so we can use it to refill the new tank. Checking for any fish that were left.

The new tank from MAIDENHEAD AQUATICS http://fishkeeper.co.uk/
was put into place and the old tank was moved into the garden so it could be broken up. a two separate soil mixtures were layered into the bottom of the tank and then a layer of fine black gravel.

Some of the plants had grown so much that they were no longer attached to the wood so we tied them back on with fishing line. 

Transferring the plants and planting them took some time. 



The black gravel shows the plants up very nicely. Then it was time to return the fish to their home.

waiting for the water to settle