Jalil30 Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 I am moving and I have 100s of fish to move... I have no idea of how to do it... I planned on getting bags from my lfs. the move is about 2 hours. So far that is all i know... lol PLEASE HELP... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 By two hours, is that the travelling time between your old house and new house? Wow, that will be a mission. Probably less fiddly if you can get big buckets with lids. Bags are ok but annoying to open/close etc. Really all you can do it strip everything out of the tanks, move it all, reassemble at the other end. Only you know what you have, so make a list of everything that needs to be done and figure out the best order to do it in. This REALLY helps on the day. If you have filters, the period of time they are unplugged for will probably kill off a lot of the good bacteria, so I suggest you treat the tanks as if they are brand new (ie LOTS of water changes, little feeding). Anyone you can get to babysit some fish? I moved recently, 2x 4ft tanks and 1x 3ft tank. I moved all my furniture and stuff on one day, and the next day for the tanks, and the next day for the final cleaning. It was only 1.6km up the road, but still a mission. I did each tank separately, which I think made it easier. More sleep would also have helped!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 What size are the tanks and fish? Small tanks (2ft or less) can be emptied to an inch or two of water above the substrate and the gravel and plants left in. Small fish may also be left in. Bigger fish require bags or other containers. I have 30L barrels with water tight lids. I can empty the tank water into the barrels (it is good to save as much original water as possible) then drop the fish in too. Two hours isn't too long. Get polystyrene boxes to transport them to keep them warm (or cold). You will have the heater going in the vehicle to the temperature shouldn't be a major problem. A plastic fizz bottle filled with hot water then wrapped in a towel will work as a heat pack if you think it necessary. If you end up bagging the fish, do not put too many per bag. Neon sized you can put 4 - 6 per bag. Platy size I would have 2 - 4 per bag. Gourami size I would put 1 or 2 per bag and anything bigger should be solo. Make sure you have 1/4 water to 3/4 air in the bags. If you have several bags in a box, pack scrunched up newspaper or towels between them and make sure they saty upright. You do not want them to fall over in transit as some fish might end up squashed in a corner. Larger tanks need to be totally emptied so you do not stress the glass as you lift and carry them. Putting them onto a board is a good idea as that keeps them even. If you are able to set up some tanks in the new place ahead of time it will be so much easier. Keep the filter media wet at all times and they should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Small tanks (2ft or less) can be emptied to an inch or two of water above the substrate and the gravel and plants left in. Really? I would never do that.... except to move a tank from one side of the desk to the other.....! OK, apart from tanks smaller than two-foot that have no gravel in them. I guess it is what level of risk you are willing to take. A 2ft tank is VERY EASY to dismantle and move. A broken 2ft tank is very difficult to set up again... Also water is more violently sloshy in a longer container. And if the water is low it is more likely to damage the fish. I moved a 25lt tank with only 5lt water in it (with no gravel and one 1.5cm fish). It sloshed really badly, no matter how carefully I walked! If it was a full 25 lt bucket with lid it would have been much less violent for the poor wee fishy. Next time I would just catch the fish, put it in a jar, drain the water and move it empty. I wonder if a canister filter would be better moved drained of water... not dry, but with lots of air around. The bacteria need the water movement or they will starve of oxygen. If they are wet but not submerged, they are surely able to get more oxygen and not die as soon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 i moved my 4 ft with all the gravel (40-50kg) in it... the new house was about 2k away.. it went smoothly.. i just shifted the gravel to each end of the tank, so the load in the center was minimised.... least i think it was lol... the glass at the base is 8mm - 10mm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 i moved two weeks ago. i put all my fish from the main tank into a half full 80L chilly bin & emptied my tank of water & rocks but left the canister filter full & didn't remove the substrate. moved it & simply set it up like a big water change. went very smoothly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver21 Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 i moved 6 tanks from auckland to blenheim and all i did was bag them and bring them down including a night in turangi. just set up like normal and just kept an eye on the ammonia for the first week, didnt have many hassels except a pair of angels died a few weeks later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k1w1y2k Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 I have a 5hr drive coming up soon, and have 7 tanks to move. The advice you all are giving has possibly safed me from making some mistakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 eeeee.... I still wouldn't risk it myself! An empty four-foot tank is heavy enough without the gravel et al. (that said, how much gravel are you talking about? My rocks and gravel at at least 20% of the volume.) I still maintain better safe than sorry. Better taking your time than having to fork out potnetially hundreds for a new tank, and risking fish lives in the meantime. But, we all have our own ways Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k1w1y2k Posted March 29, 2009 Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 I have just moved about 50 fish, and 4 tanks from Whangarei to Katikati BOP, and thanks to the advise on here I only lost 1 tetra :bounce: :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted March 29, 2009 Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 I have just moved about 50 fish, and 4 tanks from Whangarei to Katikati BOP, and thanks to the advise on here I only lost 1 tetra :bounce: :bounce: & that most likely had nothing to do with the moving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k1w1y2k Posted March 29, 2009 Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 Thats what I thought because it wasn't looking the best before the move. It wasn't as active as the others. I must admit it was a worrying time packing them up and moving so far. I know people send them by courier all round the country with no problem, but doing the whole thing myself and not having tanks setup for them to go straight into had me really worried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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