Fish Tank Relocation

For my sins I have done quite a bit of work over the last 7 years for a local ‘celebrity’ who owns a large mansion just south of Aberystwyth. However, this source of employment has all but dried up now that he and his family have moved back to Germany. I was of course left with a few tasks to complete following their departure. The largest of which was the rleocation of a large fish tank.
Thankfully a recipient was found and the move began last Friday. The tank itself is 6ft x 2ft x 2ft, housed around 100 fish and weighs a tonne. The first job was to buy some suitable holding tanks (plastic dustbins) to house the fish during the relocation. I then removed all the tank furnishing such as rocks, logs and plants siphoned water from the large tank into the bins and then started the difficult task of catching all the fish and shrimps so that I could clear out the tank.
The fish were carefully placed in the plastic dustbins, heaters were placed in the bins and floating plants added. The dustbins were ideal as the darkness kept the fish relaxed and the idea was to relocate the whole tank with as little stress on the fish as possible. Once all the fish were out, the rest of the water was removed and the gravel taken out and placed in buckets.
Eventually we were in a position to man-handle the tank and stand into a van and take it to its new location in Aberystwyth. Once there the tank was set up again, placed on its stand, gravel put back in, it was half filled with water, treated to remove the chlorine, heated up and the fish put back in.
It has taken a while for the water to clear, and the tank is far from being restored to its former glory yet, but the good news is that there have only been two very small casualties during the whole process. What’s more is that it has eventually inspired me to set up my (more modest) aquarium as well. Of course, I tend to get a little over-involved in such projects and shall be setting up a heavily planted fish tank complete with CO2 injection system to provide an ideal environment for plant growth, which in turn should provide a nice home for the fish I get.

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Alan Cole

Alan is a Freelance Website Designer, Sports & Exercise Science Lab Technician and full time Dad & husband with far too many hobbies: Triathlete, Swimming, Cycling, Running, MTBing, Surfing, Windsurfing, SUPing, Gardening, Photography.... The list goes on.