Moving fish to new house................

[BLONDIE]

Hi everyone,

I was hoping you could help me. I'm moving house soon, and obviously i want to take all of my fish with me. I have marine and freshwater fish. I've heard that there is some kind of fish transporter? Does anyone know where i can get one from and how much they are?:confused:

Thanks for your help.
Claire

[OrionGirl]

Never heard of a fish transporter. However, easy way to pack up and move: Lots of buckets. Take everything out of the tanks, and put in buckets with water from the respective tank. Split up agressives--you can use bags, then put the bags in buckets or coolers. Empty tanks bigger than about 15 gallons completely before moving them. Get the tanks in place at the new house, add substrate and rock, fill with clean conditioned water, and add all occupants back in.

Run a search, and you'll find multiple threads with good advice on moving tanks.

[BLONDIE]

Thanx for your help. Probably a dumb question, but what about the water temp? Wouldn't it kill my fish once the temp drops?

[steeltown]

Not sure about the temp, i'm sure someone else here does though.

Justanother thing to watch out for, make sure you use sturdy bags, I moved a fish once and he poked tiney holes in the bag, lost some water but he was ok, glad it was a short trip though, could have been really sad. He was in a box on the back seat and I couldn't see him.

good luck:)

[BLONDIE]

Thankyou for your help. I'm moving about 4 hours away, but it'll take a while to set my tanks up once i get there. I heard you could put the fish in bags inside polystyrine, and that would keep the water warm???? Hopefully somebody will know!:D

[OrionGirl]

Using coolers will help maintain the temp within the bags. A slow, gradual change as long as it is not huge (ie, dropping 20 degrees), won't hurt the fish. They will slow their metabolism and become sluggish. You should make sure to bring them up to the temp of the newly setup tank (floating is fine) before adding them back to the tank. Buckets are fine for substrate, decorations and plants. Corals, fish and inverts should be in the coolers. If the setup takes longer than expected, you can transfer the fish from bags to a clean plastic tub/trash can and add a heater.

[nolemite]

Are all these fish coming from the same tank? Maybe you should do this without the bags. Just throw them in the cooler and be done with it. And not too much water either. Just enough to cover the fish.

Don't know how long this move is going to take you, but if it is long there are battery operated pumps you could use for supplying air. I wouldn't bother unless it is a long trip.

Finally, try to save as much of your current aquarium water as you can. Rubbermaid containers are perfect for this sort of thing. Ones with lids, that is.

Anyway, shouldn't questions like this be in newbietown? This kind of thing must have been asked at least a billion times already.

[BLONDIE]

Exactly what questions am i allowed to ask on here, in your personal opinion nolemite? If you find it difficult to give advice without moaning, don't bother.

Thankyou for your help everyone.

[nolemite]

Originally posted by BLONDIE
Exactly what questions am i allowed to ask on here, in your personal opinion nolemite? If you find it difficult to give advice without moaning, don't bother.

Thankyou for your help everyone.

A button I find helpful is the one at the top called "search". If you click on it and enter the word "moving" in the search field, you would have found about 30 different threads that discuss the same thing, with just about the same answers.

Your welcome for the advice by the way.

[OrionGirl]

If a thread should be moved to another forum, a mod will do so.

Be nice.

[Decz]

check out the section of "starting over"

www.skepticalaquarist.com

[KateA.]

Well, you should try your best to make the tank the last thing you break down and move out, and the first thing you set up in the new place. I would worry more about the marine fish making the trip. I know there are certain chemical products that sort of make your fish sleepy (?) while they are being shipped, but the name escapes me right now. I would probably bag each marine fish separately, unless it's a school of fish like perculas. I would only bag percs and damsels 2-3 per bag, though. I would not feed them that day of or after the move. And if I had something expensive or easily stressed, I would use a newspaper or something so that they can't see each other. Live rock can be shipped in a cooler with wet newspaper and plastic wrap over it loosely. I would guess live corals and such should be bagged if possible, to avoid being crunched, but don't try to pry them off anything.

[O-man21]

nolemite,
It's not always newbies moving so it doesn't have to be in the newbie section.

[BLONDIE]

Thanx alot for all your advice. It's appreciated.

Claire