Unfortunately just before Christmas 2016, we received a letter from our real estate agents which said they didn't want to extend our lease, as the owner wanted to renovate and sell.
I took this as an opportunity to reduce the amount of aquariums I had and just keep the one shrimp rack running. This meant I had to sell or give away a lot of the live stock and plants to ease the burden on moving it all. As I also planned to downsize and get rid of a few tanks this was a necessity.
I already had one 4' aquarium, divided into four sections, to test the concept of having the one chiller cooling 2 different water parameters. This was used to house the remaining plants and shrimp while the rack was set up at the new apartment. Before being decommissioned, cleaned and moved to become the bottom tank for the rack.
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| Aquarium after being moved and cleaned, ready to become the lower tank for my shrimp rack. |
The top tank was already on the rack with the outside chambers just finishing cycling at the old apartment when we received the letter so it was drained and then moved first to give it a few days to settle before becoming the temporary accommodation for the plants and shrimp.
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| Top tank with the outside chambers full of plants and the remaining shrimp |
Once the shrimp and remaining plants were moved, the bottom tank was moved and the shrimp were left alone while I got the rest of the apartment set up.
If I was to do it again, I wouldn't use an aquarium which has been drilled through the bottom for a rack system. It makes it a lot more difficult to plumb things up and also reduces the working space for the rack below. In this case it is the sump, so it isn't a big deal and I have been able to cope.
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| Tightening an aquarium bulkhead when it is plumbed through the bottom of the tank |
