The damned thing turned up yesterday at 9.30 am. I couldn't move it and had to wait for hubby to come back from work at 4.30 pm.

Got the beast in place - it looked smaller on the webpage oddly enough. I wiped round the new tank to remove any dust and we then added a 3cm covering of pre-rinsed gravel. Had help at this point from one crawling baby and one african grey parrot. Took ages getting new filter ready - it was fiddly. Parrot then tries to eat new filter.

Realise we have no plants and make mad dash for 'Pets at Home' - buy plants and some rocks. The lady serving didn't know the plant varieties from my carefully prepared list, so we just got a selection.

Back home and everyone is now moaning for tea. So inbetween rinsing rocks I make tea while poor hubby adds water and more water and yet more water to this new tank. Fish just sort of looking out from old tank bemused at this point. Have heated 'debate' then about plant and pebble placement. By now one baby very hungry and one african grey trying to eat plants and bath in tank water. Tank now filled, scrunched up old filter sponges in the water.

Have to then go have tea about 8.30 pm - funnily enough baby is ravenous at this point and eats up all of his dinner and guzzles bottle of milk. He is then over tired and it takes ages to settle him to sleep - poor fish still in old tank. Decide to leave them until the morning as we were both knackered.

Baby decides to wake at 5am, followed shortly by grey parrot. After milking and feeding, everyone is dragged upstairs to transfer fish. Old tank looks pitifully small next to new one. Carefully scoop fish up in a jug and add to new tank. They seem a little shocked and swim about for a bit and then sculk at the bottom hiding behind plants. Think it is quite a shock to them. Parrot makes last ditch attempt to bath in tank water and is banished downstairs.

Letting the fish settle now and just observing them. Trying to add pictures and think my files are way too big. Will try to compress and add them later. Sorry that was so long - please advise on next steps to happy fish.

- the joys of fishkeeping in a nutshell!

The thing to do now is to monitor ammonia/nitrite daily and use our guide to emergency fish-in cycling to keep them safe while the tank cycles. This may involve daily water changes for a while (sorry - more work), but you're on track to very happy fish

LOL
Trainee fishkeepers can be a bit of a challenge! Parrot sounds potentially as helpful as my Gordon used to be ...

Very interesting and funny day you got there! Best thing after setting up a new tank is the feeling of accomplishing something

I used to have a parrot but a wild cat came from nowhere scared him to dead....

Tank readings 24th May, 8.45am:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20
PH - 7
KH - 180 - 240
GH - 180

Water looks slightly cloudy.
Fish still look bemused - hiding in plants a lot.

Don't much like the ammonia testing kit - has small picture on side of one of bottles showing a hand desolving to the bone. So I'm stood there over sink, yellow plastic gloves on and hands shaking trying to get 8 drops from each bottle into the worlds smallest test tube. Feel like I'm back in chemistry class .

Aside from that - readings are good, right? Do I have to start worrying about the KH and GH yet?

Sorry so many questions.

Cloudy water - that's a bacterial bloom and will settle on its own in few days.

gH - fine for Goldfish, no worries there.

kH is at a decent level. That will keep pH stable and is not likely to drop too low between water changes.

All looking good

Thank-you fish lady - you are fab . Glad I didn't have to do a water change today - it is so hot!

Water clear this morning and fish are swimming - repeat - swimming!!! I have given them a small breakfast and I can almost say they seem to be frolicing in the water. Never realised how much they couldn't have a good swim in the old tank.

Old tank being cleaned - one baby managed to splash about in a bucket of the old tank water and now bathroom smells of fish-pooh.

Not going to be complacent though - when should I test the water again, and when do I do a partial water change? Should I start cleaning the new gravel at this stage as well? Have to go - baby now destroying printer paper.

Glad to hear they're making the most of their new home

Keep tesing daily for ammonia/nitrite at the moment. At this point these may begin to accumulate before enough beneficial bacteria have grown to clear them. With just 3 small fish in the tank though, you may be lucky and find the tank cycles with little to no evidence of toxicity. Just depends on how fast the bacteria get going

Normal water change routine is 25% weekly and yes, do vac the gravel as the accumultion of poo and uneaten food will add extra ammonia which you don't want. If you do see any spike in ammonia and/or nitrite then more frequent changes will be needed to dilute them while the tank cycles.

Just to check, did you move the existing filter media from the 35L into the new filter on the bigger new tank?

If so this should speed up the seeding of the new sponges/media of course.