How do I move with fish?

S

sm100378

Registered User
Sep 20, 2007
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Minneapolis, MN
Hello,

There are two possibilities in the upcoming months of moving out of state or just moving to another house within 20 miles. I tried doing a search on moving, but evidently that is a very common word :)


With my signature of fish, how do I make this attempt of transferring them from my 37 Eclipse to either location? Containers? Clear containers? How long do I have for a move?


Thank you!
:)
 
when i moved a couple months ago, the last thing i did when i was leaving was drain the tank and catch the fish. i bagged all the fish by species, or individually for larger fish. i had to use a bucket for my largest fish. most of your fish are small, so bag them by species and the angels will need to be bagged seperately. set your tank up first thing when you get to the new place. make sure your tank is as empty as you can get it before you move. i took my bio filters out and left them in the bottom of the empty tank. acclimate your fish as you would when you first bring them home.
 
definitely not clear containers

I've been thinking about this myself, and my plan is to get a big cooler and run an air pump on an inverter.

I'm going to have to haul my fish about 26 hours. I tested it with some endlers already, and they survived. So, hopefully, considering all my fish are as hardy, they will survive.

Attached is a picture of what I did... I found a jar with a soft plastic top, and poked small holes, smaller than the air line, then cut the airline tubing at a sharp point to pull it through with pliers. That way it wouldn't slip or leak since it was so tight. The only way for anything to get out was by the air out tube which let air out to keep it from over pressurizing.
Heat wasn't a problem since they were in the car with me, and it was 70-80 most of the trip.

Had no deaths, and no leaks for the 26 hour trip first go, I'm only hoping this last move will be as successful.

Edit:
Oh yeah, don't feed for like 48-72hr before, or during the trip, and I didn't do a WC for the 26hr (we stopped so it was technically more like 36+ hours).

I didn't want to risk WC with unknown tap.

travelpack.jpg
 
First of all, remember that fish are shipped across the country every day so what you're proposing isn't a huge deal, but still requires some preparation. I made a shorter move recently across town. I would recommend that the tanks either be the very first thing you move and you take the time to put them together or the very last thing you move. Anyway, I did it this way with 3 tanks.

1. Remove all the decorations and plants and catch the slower fish (like the angels, gouramis and poss the pleco) and bag them. I would put the bags in the buckets you use to do water changes, but that's just my method. Any place that keeps them dark will be fine.
2. Drain the tank about half way. It will make it far, far easier to catch the faster fish. Also, use the biggest net you can physically fit in the tank. I know the LFS uses the small nets, but they're far more experienced than I am. Those things are faster than they look.
3. Bag the fish by species. You may want to separate the neons into separate bags. If you mix the species it's not a huge deal. You may want to double bag the pleco.
4. Drain the rest of the tank and empty it. Remove all the gravel, filter, lights, etc...you want to move a completely empty tank that looks like it came from the store.(well, with a little use anyway.) Keep the filter media in a bucket with some tank water. You don't want to lose your filter or you'll have to cycle all over again.
5. Move the tank and the stand. Be careful with moving the tank. It is made of glass after all.
6. When you get to the new place, set up the tank the same way you would as if it was new. Put your substrate in, plants, decorations etc. Fill it up and add your dechlorinator. Use water about the temperature you want. Then put back in your filter, heater, etc...
7. Slowly re-introduce the fish the same way you would if they were brand new from the store.
8. Keep a very close eye on the tank for the next few weeks. You may experience a mini-cycle so be ready to change water in a hurry if necessary. You shouldn't have problems, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.
 
also, if you're worried about the difference between your old and new tap water, and how that will affect chemistry... you may consider bottling some of your tank water in plastic jugs and bringing that too... that way you don't have to completely fill it with new tap water... should ease the transition on the fish and help the biofilter keep.
 
what if the move takes multiple days?

For example, if you're driving from one coast to another?

You could have a trusted LFS ship the fish to another LFS at the destination, but what about your filtering system? Won't most of the bacteria die during the course of the move?

A
 
a6715s said:
For example, if you're driving from one coast to another?

You could have a trusted LFS ship the fish to another LFS at the destination, but what about your filtering system? Won't most of the bacteria die during the course of the move?

A
Click to expand...

Again, fish are used to being shipped across the country. It's not a huge gigantic deal. I should've added that you should fast fish for a day or two before and after the move. The bacteria in the filter should be fine as long as they're kept moist.
 
Would I be crazy and ask if I should keep the entire 37 gallons of water ?
 
well, if you want to bring 37g of water, it should be new water out of the tap at your old place, not the old tank water. however, how will you bring all this water up to temperature? you'd have to wait for the heater to do all the work. might be better to do half and half.

i have moved with my fish 4 times in the past 2 years, never lost a fish from the process and some of them have moved all four times. however, the longest move had the fish in buchets only about 9 hours. would have been less but the python broke when i started refilling tanks. i use 10g plastic rubbermaid or sterilite tubs, and for the angels i used a regular tall plastic bucket because mine are very tall. for you i would suggest one tub for the neons and danios, one for the gouramis, platies, and cories, then a bucket for the angels and bnose pleco. the tubs are only about 3 bucks each at walmart, and a bucket with a nice padded handle is $6 at a hardware store, and both things are worth every penny. probably worth twice as much for all the use you get out of them.

for decorations and filters i put everything in either garbage bags in boxes, back into the empty tank if it is something that will not crack the glass, or into other tubs. i have 7 tubs now.

Do The Tank Last!!! remove all decor, siphon out some water into each container, drain tank down to where you can catch all the fish, then drain it completely. if you have biowheels, float them in the buckets with the fish. same with live plants. otherwise, put the filter pads in a ziploc bag with a bit of tank water to stay moist. i don't remove the substrate unless i plan on changing it anyway. as long as you have two people to carry the tank you'll be fine. if it's just you. . . . get another tub! load up the tank, snap the lids on the fish, and keep them in the car with you. then follow steps 5-8 in chinnp's post above.
 
I'd use an ice chest if I had a long move and put some gravel in the bottom of that to keep my tank bacteria alive, and fill 3/4 full with water they were used to (I'd do half tank water & half clean water). Then, I'd run in an air pump, attached to an invertor like someone mentioned above. I'd try to run it when I could, even if that wasn't the whole time. I'd be willing to drill a hole in the lid and tape the air tub in place if I had a really long move. If the weather was cold, I'd consider putting in their tank heater too, and swap back and forth with the air pump every so often. Otherwise, take some thermoses of warm water and add a little every so often if it's cold and a super long move.

I'd err on the side of over-protecting the fish, since I wouldn't want to lose any, even though I have "common" fish that could be replaced in nearly every pet store in the country,and half the Wal-marts, too.
 
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