It may not be the most historic acquisition made by the city of Glasgow but it will certainly be one of the most loved.

Around 30 goldfish from the ponds at the Royal Museum in Edinburgh, who faced an uncertain future given the redevelopment of the landmark, have been given a fine new residence at the recently restored Kibble Palace in Glasgow's Botanic Gardens.

National Museums Scotland caused a little controversy when it announced that the £46m overhaul of the Chambers Street museum would have one major casualty - the interior fish ponds that have delighted visitors for decades would have to be moved.

It was apt, in fact, that the collective noun for goldfish is "a troubling", as many visitors to the museum expressed their disappointment at the loss of the creatures - denizens of the ponds since 1974 - and the life they brought to the large interior space of the museum.

But thanks to a relocation deal struck between National Museums and Glasgow City Council, the fish are now in their new glasshouse home. And the catfish from the Edinburgh ponds have been moved to the Aquarium of the Lakes on the shores of Lake Windermere.

A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council, which owns and runs the Botanic Gardens, said: "They are all doing well and have settled in with the other fish just fine. It is hard to tell which fish is which because they are all goldfish, but there don't seem to be any problems at all since they arrived.

"A member of staff from the National Museums of Scotland was at an event at the Kibble in April and mentioned they were looking for a new home for the fish, and we agreed, and the fish were delivered this summer."

A spokeswoman for the NMS said: "The goldfish were largely outgrown household pets that had been donated to the museums, but with the redevelopment in hand we needed to find them new homes. We had to find something appropriate, a good home, because they were used to an indoor environment and one with no predators."

The fish lived in ponds in the centre of the grade A-listed Victorian building, which is being revamped in a scheme that will see a new street-level entrance, more exhibition space and updated displays.

However, the filtration plant needed to service the pools, hidden beneath them in the basement of the building, is being removed as part of a three-year programme to open up the basement, and the pools were deemed expendable.

Dr Gordon Rintoul, director of National Museums Scotland, said last year that the two pools will go in the main hall, which is to be renamed the Grand Gallery. He said the fish were popular partly because they were the only animated objects in the room.

When the museum reopens in 2011, the Grand Gallery will be used as it was originally intended, as a gallery to display large objects.

In total the museum's new displays will have 16 galleries, 800 sq metres of special exhibition space, a new learning centre and double the present amount of objects on display, including a new T-Rex skeleton.

The architect is Glasgow's Gareth Hoskins.