spooky Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 In January my house is undergoing major renovations. Fortunately the tank is away from the construction area. Unfortunately all the wiring in the house needs to be replaced, so serious power outages are going to occur. I am not yet sure of the timetable for this devastation, but I am starting to lay plans already in the event that I can't get any power to the tank as it stands (which may yet be a possibility). I have one 100L tank that will be affected by this. My plan is to get hold of my old tank and gear (old = ten years in storage) and set that up at a relatives house. The tank is apparently OK and the filtration should also be OK or easily repairable (undergravel filters and an internal filter, the later having had very little use). Lighting will not be good (essentially two incandescant bulbs). I have some questions: I intend leaving the plants behind. I know from experience they will survive a few days without light, but is the additional knock of a few days without heat going to be a problem ? Assume a broad range of plants, all healthy and growing well. Will the fish be OK with the poor lighting ? I don't trust the old lighting hood at all and would prefer not to use it, will they be happy enough with only daylight from the windows ? Obviously I'm going to start off the temporary tank with some of the water from the main tank and transfer some of the hardier ones across to get it cycling. However, I can't afford to spend weeks slowly building the population up the way I would when populating a tank normally. Any suggestions ? (There are about twenty fish.) When going back the other way, I assume that the main tank will effectively need to be cycled again, but I assume that it shouldn't take as long because there should still be a decent population of bacteria. Is it reasonable to assume that it can be done quicker the other way ? I'll be testing the water, but I'd like to be able to reassure the rellies about how long this tank is going to be hanging around there place. On top of this I'll be going on my honeymoon in the middle of it all. Can I make life more difficult for myself ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Interesting deilema you have spooky. Ok what I would do is to move the old tank to your relatives. get that set up and then move your fish over with plenty of water from your existing tank and also move your filter across if you are using a canister filter, that way you will keep the bacteria in your filter. unplug the thermo from existing tank and move that over to old tank. When it comes to moving back do the same. again. That way you don't have to cycle 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky Posted November 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Two problems with those suggestions: Firstly the filter on the current setup isn't removable (one of those integrated into the hood kind, convenient, but not flexible). Although the filter wool, carbon, and the ceramic noodles can easily be removed, I suppose I could rig something up as an additional "temporary filter". Secondly the temporary tank is bigger (by nearly a factor of two I think, I haven't seen the tank in eight years) than the main one, so I can't fill it with old water, but I suppose nearly 50% would be better than nothing, but still thats 100L of water to shift. Tricky, but I can see a way to do it ... Of course removing all the water makes keeping the plants in position difficult, but I can just refill, they won't care. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Remove the most water you can 50% should be sufficient. Treat it as a water change, you are only after the bacteria. temporary filter should be sufficient one of those wool and charcoal ones and use your existing media. you could only half fill the old tank. fish should consider it as moving from a lifestyle block to that of an Apartment block. have to make sacrifices :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Why not just set up the existing tank elsewhere? Saves hauling out the other tank. The plants will be fine for a few days without added light or heat since it will be January. I assume it gets reasonably warm then even in Dunedin The fish don't care about light so it will not affect them at all. Do you belong to the Dunedin Aquarium Society? I am sure they could help you - even if you decide to dismantle the tank and farm out the fish temporarily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky Posted November 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Well Caryl, I was going to ressurect the other tank after the renovations anyway. You are right though, if I'm going to ship most of the water anyway why not ship the whole tank (although obviously not as one piece), the only extra weight at that point is the gravel. I think people will be far happier baby-sitting a "complete" tank than an ugly bare-bones one. I do (sort-of) belong to the Dunedin Aquarium and Pond Society (two months now). But between their summer break and me missing their next meeting I won't be in contact with anyone for a while. I think I know how to do this now. I would prefer not to move it, but unless the electrician has a really bright idea I don't see being able to keep it where it is for the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_from_nz Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 when they are doing the work if they turn the power off at the mains they will still have acess to power (like a builder does building a house) they just tapp in further down the line, see if they can run an additional extension cord for you then you don't have to do any moving at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky Posted November 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 The builder is aware of the problem. One worry is that I may not be there when it happens. They are due to start while we're on holiday to avoid hassles like "not having a functioning toilet". Do you trust your fish to the local tradesman ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 I'd hate to see a Target episode on it myself Like Wok has said, the bacteria is in the filters, don't worry about moving all the water, fish prefer clean water to used water, just make sure the new water has the same parameters (pH, kH, dH), to get this you might just have to let it filter/agitate for 24 hours first to stabalise it. Do some large water changes leading up to the shift so the fish get use to fresh water. If you go for setting up the old tank, I recommend having it ready at least 24 hours before you start as there's always last minute things to do. The good news is you have plenty of time to get new filters established. It only takes two weeks running a filter in an established tank (with established filter) to make the new filter with beneficial bacteria and thus also become established. I'd just buy a couple of large sponge filters with strong air pumps. Then all you have to do is move the fish and filters and fill up the new (old) tank, and do the same when you return them back to your tank again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Hope you can make the next Dunedin meeting as I will be there too! :lol: I am visiting, along with the FNZAS president Warren Stilwell. Their meeting date has changed this month to Thursday Novmeber 18. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 How about buying a generator and some extension cords? The weather that time of year shouldn't be too bad so you wouldn't have the drain from the heaters much. A 400ish watt generator is only a few hundred dollars and could easily run the filters on the tanks and maybe a small heater at a time and keep the tanks pretty happy and healthy. Would be nice for the future too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky Posted November 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Sorry Caryl, I won't be making that meeting, I've got work commitments that evening. Fortunately work commitments with good food and company, but work commitments none-the-less. Ira: Yeah, I've thought of a generator. I'm just planning for the strong possibility I won't be there, but I'll know closer to the date what the story is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistymu05 Posted November 10, 2004 Report Share Posted November 10, 2004 good luck and let us know how things go......sounds like alot of work but if i think about it i would hate for that to happen at my home with three tanks: a tropical with a divided area for my male betta(182l) a baby tank full of baby bettas (50l approx) and my 2nd boy betta in his own tank (20l) so definitely can understand the predicament of loss of power in regards to lighting - as extra light for my tanks i use my bedside lamp for my boy in the 20L - we share it (also has sunlight - bright room but not direct light) and the babies also have a lamp next to their tank for during the afternoon when the sun is on the other side of the house so yours should be fine if u do that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rona207 Posted November 10, 2004 Report Share Posted November 10, 2004 Hi Spooky.... Perhaps you could do what I did when moving house and had a 3 week intervention between Houses. I took 50% of the tank water and put into 20 litre containers Put the fish in one to transport and then drained the whole tank... moved the whole lot. You can put heater in the water container as well. Good opportunity to give tank major clean as well. It seemed like a major before we did it but went smoothly and was quite easy. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted November 11, 2004 Report Share Posted November 11, 2004 Hi Rona (excuse me while I hijack this thread a minute spooky). I see you are from Blenheim. Our next meeting is Tuesday 16th, 7.30pm, 8 Purkiss St. You would be most welcome to come along. We will be looking at Murray's 6ft Malawi tank and having a visit from the FNZAS president. Spooky - any chance of running an extension cord from the neighbours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky Posted November 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2004 An extension cord was my first choice. Both flats are student flats so there is a good possibility that no one will be around in January (I'm almost certain that this is the case on the downhill side) and so there is a good chance the power will be off between tenants. All the simple plans have a strong possibility of problems. If it turns out OK, I'll take the easy route, but I'd like to be prepared for the worst case option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky Posted April 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 Just a final comment to say how this has all been sorted out. Firstly the builder postponed the work until the end of this month so we are going to be around to deal with it. Secondly we purchased the house next door, so we're going to run an extension cord. I'm not entirely sure that purchasing another house for this purpose is entirely practical, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Unfortunately we are going to rent the new house eventually, so it can't be an extra-large fish room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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