My downstairs neighbour has been asking me for a while if I wanted to take a tank off his hands...all equipment, filter, heater, hood and light, gravel, stand and a bunch of Convicts that had been breeding in it.
Tank turned out to be 30x12x18 (approx 20UKgallons) - just what I was looking for to rehouse some of my bigger fish later this year.
Went to see it last Friday. It's been in a flat he's been renting out, but now he's renovating to sell, he wants rid of the tank.
Tank was filthy. The guy that was living there had kinda neglected it. Ammonia was at 8ppm, PH down at 6.4 and Nitrites at 1.6mg/litre...! If it hadn't been Cons in there, I think anythin else would have died! Took immediate action - cleaned the tank glass of algae, gravel vacuumed like hell - must have been half a tub of uneaten food in there! Think I must have done a 2/3 water change and cleaned the filter (which didn't seem to be flowing properly either..). Pooped a nice clean flowerpot in there too as the tank was virtually bare with no cover.
Went back on Monday to start the move. Tank was clearer and fish looked much happier. Started bagging up as much tank water as I could - must have got about 6-8gallons worth. Shifted fish and more water into a 6 gallon holding tub and stuck the heater and filter in there with them.
Got the tank emptied and washed the gravel. Shifted the tank and stand into my car plus any other fish stuff lying about. Back up to the flat and started bagging fish. 2 breeding adult Cons and 22 juveniles (all between 3/4 and 1 1/2")!
Popped them all into a big polystyrene box and got the hell outta there and headed home.
On arriving at my house and unloading, I noticed a little piece of glass in the car.... one of the bottom corners had crumbled!!! NIGHTMARE!!!
Inspected the tank and it didn't look good - would it hold water? Can I repair it??
WHAT THE HELL AM I GONNA DO WITH 24 FISH AND A POTENTIALLY LEAKING TANK??
Put them back into my holding tub along with the heater and filter and an airstone and pump I'd bought that day - £8.99 & £0.95 (and a bunch of Amazon swords I'd bought for the "new" tank...4 @ £1.25 and 1@ £2.50).
Stuck the tank out the back door and filled it with water to leak test it.
Next morning, it's still holding water, but could I take the risk? 20 gallons flooding my kitchen and MY NEIGHBOURS kitchen..??!! Phoned lfs...they had a tank the same size for £26. So guess what happened next..? Yup - a trip to the lfs, bought the new all glass tank as well as a new heater as I didn't like the look of the old one that came with the "free" tank. Electrocution is never fun. So another £14.80. Plus a new thermometer to stick on the new tank....£1.80...
So the "free tank" has turned out to cost me around £60...!
On the up side, my new set up looks fantastic and the fish are lovin it.....probably going to do a repair on the "free" tank and build it into a new garden design out the back and use it for coldwaters. Not so disastrous if it leaks then...
But still...free tank...? I don't think so!
Tank turned out to be 30x12x18 (approx 20UKgallons) - just what I was looking for to rehouse some of my bigger fish later this year.
Went to see it last Friday. It's been in a flat he's been renting out, but now he's renovating to sell, he wants rid of the tank.
Tank was filthy. The guy that was living there had kinda neglected it. Ammonia was at 8ppm, PH down at 6.4 and Nitrites at 1.6mg/litre...! If it hadn't been Cons in there, I think anythin else would have died! Took immediate action - cleaned the tank glass of algae, gravel vacuumed like hell - must have been half a tub of uneaten food in there! Think I must have done a 2/3 water change and cleaned the filter (which didn't seem to be flowing properly either..). Pooped a nice clean flowerpot in there too as the tank was virtually bare with no cover.
Went back on Monday to start the move. Tank was clearer and fish looked much happier. Started bagging up as much tank water as I could - must have got about 6-8gallons worth. Shifted fish and more water into a 6 gallon holding tub and stuck the heater and filter in there with them.
Got the tank emptied and washed the gravel. Shifted the tank and stand into my car plus any other fish stuff lying about. Back up to the flat and started bagging fish. 2 breeding adult Cons and 22 juveniles (all between 3/4 and 1 1/2")!
Popped them all into a big polystyrene box and got the hell outta there and headed home.
On arriving at my house and unloading, I noticed a little piece of glass in the car.... one of the bottom corners had crumbled!!! NIGHTMARE!!!
Inspected the tank and it didn't look good - would it hold water? Can I repair it??
WHAT THE HELL AM I GONNA DO WITH 24 FISH AND A POTENTIALLY LEAKING TANK??
Put them back into my holding tub along with the heater and filter and an airstone and pump I'd bought that day - £8.99 & £0.95 (and a bunch of Amazon swords I'd bought for the "new" tank...4 @ £1.25 and 1@ £2.50).
Stuck the tank out the back door and filled it with water to leak test it.
Next morning, it's still holding water, but could I take the risk? 20 gallons flooding my kitchen and MY NEIGHBOURS kitchen..??!! Phoned lfs...they had a tank the same size for £26. So guess what happened next..? Yup - a trip to the lfs, bought the new all glass tank as well as a new heater as I didn't like the look of the old one that came with the "free" tank. Electrocution is never fun. So another £14.80. Plus a new thermometer to stick on the new tank....£1.80...
So the "free tank" has turned out to cost me around £60...!
On the up side, my new set up looks fantastic and the fish are lovin it.....probably going to do a repair on the "free" tank and build it into a new garden design out the back and use it for coldwaters. Not so disastrous if it leaks then...
But still...free tank...? I don't think so!