View Full Version : Moving the fish...
fishcowboy
03-13-2003, 1:45 AM
Howdy!! New guy here. Or should I say, an old lurker? Anyways...
I got engaged 3 months ago and now I've got to move my fish. Oh joy! (Sarcasm for the move, not the engagement.)
Figured I'd ask you folks to see if my plans are right.
Here's what I got:
2 - swordtails
3 - mollies
4 - blackskirt tetra's
2 - 3 spot gourami's
4 - buenos aires tetra's
1 - plec
4 - guppies
4 - cory's
55 gal with 2 penguin 330 bio's
This is what I'm looking at doing to move them:
D-day minus 1
* Remove all decorations and place in black trashbag(s), sealed.
D-day -
* Disengage filters and air stones and seal them in black trashbags (Also turn off the heaters beforehand so they will cool down before I remove/transport them.)
* Siphon off water into a 32 gal trashcan (in which I've already quadrupled bagged with thick, black trash bags. I've also lined the trashcan with styrofoam from a LFS shipping container) until I've got approximately 18" of water left in tank
* Net the fish and put them into the siphoned water
* Scoop out the gravel into 5 gallon buckets, and cover it with more water from the tank
* Tranport it all to the new house and replace it in reverse
One thing I've already got planned to do is to drop airstones and a heater into the can once I get it moved so that they've got O2 and heat, just in case I run longer than expected reassembling the tank. I have a 2x4 that I fashioned to hold a heater and the airstone hoses in place, without it falling in.
And I guess I'm luck in some respects. It's only 1 and a half miles from house to house.
How does that sound to ya'll?
Also, what type of paint do ya'll recommend for the glass? Just regular glass paint? The kind i can get at hobby shops?
Thanks!!
Bantam
03-13-2003, 4:40 AM
sounds good to me. i'll have to move my 2 65g tanks in a couple of months - i'm dreading it.
as for the paint any glass paint will do so long as you paint the outside of the tank :rolleyes:
good luck
beviking
03-13-2003, 7:56 AM
Sounds like a good plan. You may consider NOT feeding the fish the day (or two) prior to the move.
Heady
03-13-2003, 10:13 AM
How big is the plec?
I had to move mine when he was 12" long. That was a serious chore. Tried to net him with an extra large net... all that succeeded in doing was totally freak him out. He was SO strong while he was trying to swim away from me he was rocking the entire 55 gallon aquarium side to side, I was afraid he was going to actually tip it over!
I ended up waiting until he calmed down and putting a big tupperware container in there, and SLOWLY coaxing him into it with a net. Then I slowly lifted up the tupperware, put a lid on it, and moved him into a really big sodapop type cooler (36"x15" or so). Then just closed the lid and did the reverse to put him in the tank at the new house. Not looking forward to doing this again. :(
Big plecs like mine can actually injure you if you're not careful. He has these huge spines in all his fins, with serrated edges. :eek:
fishcowboy
03-13-2003, 10:55 AM
Heady:
He's about 8". I know exactly what you're talking about. I've got a 30 tall that I put a 5" plec into and he scared the jeebers outta me when I had to net him. The guy actually started "climbing" outta the net! My 8" will be the last one I go for. He's got a jar he stays in, so I was considering transporting him alone in the jar.
beviking:
Good tip! I wasn't gonna feed them for about 2 days, to keep down on the "trash". Also planning on leaving the lights off for 24 hours as well, just to relax them a lil bit more. Probably turn them off after I collect the decorations.
Bantam:
Thanks! Just what I wanted to hear! My fiancee said she saw some kinda mirror paint, but I'm just too leery of that. And I'll be painting the outside of the tank, lol. I guess you gotta say that for the folks that would paint the INSIDE, huh? :D
tricksterpup
03-13-2003, 1:57 PM
I am also planning a move at the end of the month. But I am planning on moving 5 tanks to my future place but I think what will be best is to take my fish to the local petstore and start from scratch again. Hence, thread i started about the florida tank. I just dont want to worry about how to carry them all to the place and keep them alive. When I have 1 salt and 4 fresh water tanks. (this isnt counting my garden pool that is frozen on my patio.)
:)
jim
VoodooChild
03-13-2003, 2:02 PM
This is a dumb question with a probably obvious answer I overlooked, but what do you mean by leaving only 18" of water in the tank? A 55 is only 18" high. Just curious, cause that garbage can is going to SUCK to move. I dread the day when I'll have to move my tanks.
kefler
03-13-2003, 2:33 PM
I know this is the wrong forum but this is sort of on the subject. I have a 55 gallon with stand & hood, Fluval 404, 2 powerheads, UGF, 7 black neons, 1 bristle nose pleco, 3 cory's, 4 otto's, and 2 6-7" silver dollars. I have to move at the beginning of next month also, and I will be extremely busy during the time after that. Although I've had some of these fish 4+ years I think it might be best if I give them away and take a break from fishkeeping.
Any recommendations on finding someone to take them? I could dump them at a fish store but I don't know how I feel about that. I'd rather that I could give them to someone else who already keeps fish and knows how to care for them, instead of letting them be sold to whoever would buy them at a fishstore. Since I bought the whole setup a long time ago for an extremely good price, I don't feel like I have much of an investment money-wise into the whole thing. So I was thinking I could give away the entire setup, which would allow me to hopefully find someone who already keeps fish and would be willing to take another tank (and not just dump the fish at a petstore themselves). I don't need the fish to 'stay together', but knowing that they would move into someone elses collection would be nice.
As with most people, I would be willing to take some but not all.
Whereabouts do you live?
kefler
03-13-2003, 8:07 PM
Arizona, phoenix area. Since I'd be getting rid of the setup I'd have to find a place for all the fish as well. But I can see how most people would want part of the setup (equipment or fish) but not the whole thing. I guess I also have a 20 gallon tank that was unused except for moving some fish a while ago.
I suppose I could also try talking to the staff at the local petstore to see if they know anyone.
thanks for the response :)
Heady
03-13-2003, 10:07 PM
Many times lfs's have bulletin boards where you can post free to a good home kind of ads. If they don't, they might know of something else to try.
fishcowboy
03-13-2003, 11:15 PM
Sorry about that VoodooChild, meant about 8" of water to be left. I posted the message way too late (early?) last night and my brain wasn't quite all there. As for trying to move the trashcan, I agree. But I enlisted the help of my brother who delivers beer kegs for a living. Those thing weigh around 160 to 180 lbs full. I figure between me and him, we should be able to load it into the back of my truck for the 1.5 miles I have to go. And it's all back roads so I can drive really slow!
VoodooChild
03-13-2003, 11:47 PM
Lol. Alright man, be careful. Last thing an aquarist needs is a hernia. Knowing my luck, I'd have stopped the truck, and the thing would tip over from the impact of me slamming the door. Keep us posted. I'll probably be digging this post up in awhile.
blitzen25bm
03-14-2003, 1:17 AM
you should also vacumn and change a bit of the water a little at a time for a few days before hand so when you go to move you dont get a bunch of crud floating from under the gravel and stuff. john
55 gallon is a really big tank to be moving around with a lot of water in it. I would drain it completely if I were you. I have heard stories of the bottom glass falling out. :eek:
Here's a link to one such story right on this forum:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4397&highlight=aquarium+glass+bottom
I drained my 55 gallon completely before moving, and put the gravel in buckets. The only thing that remained was the UGF plates which were really light.
fishcowboy
03-14-2003, 2:12 PM
Oh, I'm draining it completely. And transporting the gravel in buckets as well. My main concern is transportig the full trashcan of water, but I should be able to secure it in the bed of the truck with no problems with tie downs and such. Leaving 8" of water in the tank is just to make it easier to net the guys.
I'd already started small water changes every other day. Thinking tomorrow I'll go get the decorations and get started. I still dread doing this!! :)
Macromatt
03-18-2003, 4:54 PM
How are you planning on carrying the full 32 gallon garbage can? With water weighting about 8.3 lbs/gal that comes out to over 250 lbs of water. I don't think the can would be able to be picked up without falling apart, or at least denting and being impossible to pick up, unless you were using a forklift or something.
I'd keep just a few gallons of water, and all the filters and such wet with that water, and add the new water at the location you are at. Just make sure the water parameters are as close as possible at the new location as the old.
I recently moved from L.A to Detroit, ~2500 miles, and moved all my fish, out of the 40 I started with only 7 died. And 4 of those were to stupidity on my part before I even left my old apartment, I had a kink in the filter hose when I went out to dinner so the ammonia built up so much it killed them. The other that died were because they escaped from their cordoned off areas of my modified roughttote- and got eaten. If anyone has any questions about my big move with my fish, I'd be happy to post how I did it.
I started with 3 tanks, a 60, a 20 and a 10, and due to the ones that are no longer with us, I now just have a 60 and a 20, but will soon set the 10 back up again.
Matt
P.S. Good luck with the move.