The final day with the digger

The guys finished the digger work today, and the second fry pond is now finished. Plus, there's a small settlement pond to take the waste water from the recirculation ponds that are destined for the polytunnel.

Here are a few pictures from the day;

Three men and a baby (well, the soil pipe). Waste water from the ponds in the polytunnel will flow through this waste pipe into a settlements pond.

Lee Burroughs and John working on the polytunnel doors
Carving out the second fry pond

The second fry pond is taking shape

Man and machine, working in unison
Mark Davis manning the digger, compresses the pond sides to leave a smooth finish

There are around 80 fence posts to knock in; one every 2 meters

It's quick work with the digger, and the guys worked into the night to get all the posts in
With the polytunnel frame now complete, I can spend the weekend setting up the first tank and start moving fish back in. Water parameters in the temporary vat are improving, and ammonia continues to decline. My plan is to move the males into the first tank I set up in the tunnel, and leave the females in the temporary tank; I'll add mechanical filtration and start cranking the temperature up to start conditioning the females for breeding. It's likely to take until early June to build up the 1000 degree days they require for breeding condition. I'll get into that in more detail in another post.