Moving Shrimp Tank to College

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Winged

Winged

Likes being a biology major.
Jan 11, 2009
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Louisville, KY
In a week, I'm leaving for school. The school I'm going to is about an hour and a half away. We are allowed a ten gallon aquarium, and I'm not going without something. Since my only tank that size or smaller is my shrimp tank, I'm taking my ten gallon shrimp tank. I have a few questions.

I don't know what the water in the dormitories is like. A friend brought me back a sample, but accidentally poured it out. The residence hall I'll be staying in is an older building, so I suspect it has copper pipes. For the first water change, I'll be taking water with me from home. I'll either find a Cu test kit before I go, find a good LFS in Lexington that can test the water, or bring water when I come home the next weekend and get it tested by the LFS here. But, assuming the water does have Cu in it, what are my options? I could bring water from home every week, but I don't like not having access to good water in case of an emergency. I'm also not completely happy with my water at home as it has ammonia in it. What about using RO water or spring water?

What's the best way to move this tank and its inhabitants? It's really cold out right now, but my car has a plug that I could plug a heater in for the shrimp. Should I do that? I might not take my tank next week, but get it when I come home the next weekend.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
 
S

SBPyro

Registered Member
Jun 17, 2009
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I have copper pipes and haven't run into issue with it yet (knock on wood) however I do run the water (cold) then fill up my buckets (I let them age). But one of the things at my work we have is a DI water system, check if you the chemistry dept has that that way you can fill up several 5 gallon buckets.
 
joel.uejio

joel.uejio

AC Members
Jun 1, 2009
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Real Name
Joel
Don't know about copper, but here's what I would do regarding the move:

Get a 10g cooler
Put substrate, plants, decor, shrimp, filter media and tank water in cooler
Pack empty tank and cooler in back seat of car (i.e. not in the trunk, if possible, where the temp will be colder and where the tank might get bumped)
Drive to school with heat cranked up (make sure you're not driving late at night -- Hot car + Sleepy Driver == Bad)
Set up tank at school

If temp wasn't an issue, I would suggest just using a 5g bucket, but I think the more water you have the better it will retain the heat. Probably a good idea to have a heater with you that you can plug in, but I think you may not need it if you get a good quality cooler. If you get the cooler now, you could even test its heat-retaining capacity: fill with water same temp as your tank, then check the temp at hour intervals and see how long it keeps the water acceptably hot w/o a heater.

Good luck!
 
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