Something fishy

I’ve been working hard restoring a couple of old doors to replace the plain ones in my flat. Half way through the job, between the doors so to speak and on a whim but fulfilling a long held dream, I bought a second hand aquarium. So, over the last few weeks I’ve been modifying and strengthening some bookshelves to receive the tank and of course, the extra weight. There were only three shelves in the unit with nearly eighteen inches between them so after working out exactly where I wanted the aquarium I rearranged the original three and added one to make it more practical for all my maps. The wall had been previously painted in a dreary magnolia so first job was to get some bright white emulsion slapped on. I was particularly concerned about the weight of over 60 kgs. I strengthened the shelf mounting at both ends but also used some large brackets I had that I was originally going to use to make a folding seat. By fixing them to the wall at the correct height and making holes in the shelf backboard I’ve given myself a belt and braces approach. It’s also enabled me to hammer in wedges and shims to get the whole thing absolutely level. After a trial placement I realised it still had a one inch overlap and I couldn’t afford to risk any unevenness so had to add extra depth to the shelf. I also had to make a hefty foundation with a couple of scaffold boards so the feet didn’t go through the floor. Then the whole thing was painted a nice white silk finish and bracketed to the wall so hopefully, for the sake of the man living in the flat below, no accidents. I’ve now sorted all the wiring and made it discreet. Yesterday was heart in the mouth time as I gradually filled it up. Luckily nothing dramatic happened so I put the gravel and plants in and started up the filter and heater. Today, it has all cleared it’s looking good. I have to wait at least five days after treating the tap water before it’s suitable for tropical fish meaning next week I’ll be out fishing...at the pet shop.