Moving need help?!?!?!

A

archerman22

AC Members
Apr 17, 2006
31
0
0
Southwestern Ohio
Hello all, as you may have guessed I am getting ready to move and I want to take my fish with me. First of all, I have 3 angelfish about 3.5" in length, a black ghost knife same size, a dragon/violet goby about 6.5-7" long, and a dwarf puffer, oh and also an algae eater about 3" long.

It is about an hour and a half drive to where I'm moving to. My thoughts were to go to Jack's Aquarium or Wal-Mart and see if they would give me some bags to put the fish in for moving. That is not my main concern, my concern is how I will set up the tanks so that the fish will not die soon after I get them moved. I don't know if I should try to take the fish out and move the tanks ahead of time or what. Or would it be ok to just take everything at once and just put new water in the tanks. I guess I'm just worried about the ammonia levels getting too high.

Any and all advice/experience would be appreciated, Thank You in advance.
 
youre going to want to get a big platic bin to put the water from the tank and the fish in. take as much as you can, because then you can use that water in the tank at your new place. it will also be a good idea to keep the decor, gravel, and biological media wet, also.
it should be ok to take the tanks with you, as long as you keep the biological media and everything else wet, to conserve the bacteria colonies.
i would get either different tubs or some dividers to keep the fish seperate, so they dont hurt one another if they are spooked during the move.
 
i have used Utz's Pretzel jars (plastic), Stauffers Animal Cracker jars(plastic), 5-Gallon buckets, plastic picnic coolers, and Rubbermaid containers of various sizes.

The first thing I do is fill the containers with fresh water. Add AmQuel. Then i net the fish and place them in the appropriate container. I try to keep the number of fish to each container minimized (really try for a single fish per container.

Next I take apart the filter. Removing the motor if possible. I bag the media in tank water. If possible i simply submerge the filter housing (if motor was removable) in a container of tank water (good bacteria colonizes on smooth surfaces).

Then i drain the tank. I try too keep at least 30% of water depending upon tank size. It obviously does not work with big tanks.

I move.

I set-up the tank. I have completely replaced substrate, cleaned existing substrate with a garden hose, or left substrate as it was. I fill the tank with as much of the old water as I can, Then i add the fresh water. Then get the filter running. Then acclimate the fish. Once acclimated net (or gently scoop with a large glass--less damage that way) the fish and place in the tank.

Test the water 2x daily for the next week to make sure everything went well.

It is really very easy. I have followed that process many times over the years and have not lost a fish. And, some of the moves were 2 1/2 to 3 hour drives. On the long drives i use battery operated aerators to keep water agitated--or i periodically paddle the water in the containers if they do not have the aerator going. You probably don't need to worry about that step--but, watch the fish--they will let you know how they are handling the relocation stress.
 
the plastic jar thing sounds pretty good. I really think that my main problem will be keeping the old water in the tanks. I have one 29g, one 10g, and one 5g. I know that 3 angels, 1 black ghost knife, and 1 algae eater is a little much for a 29g, but it is all I can afford at this time. But, what I am really concerned about is my dragon goby since he is a brackish water fish. I guess I'll just have to mark the water containers so that I don't mix them up. the same goes with my dwarf puffer. Even though he is a freshwater fish I don't want to mix his water with my angels. thanks again everyone for your help.
 
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