Moving house?

[Brennos]

I am soon to be moving house, my move will take about 30 mins to drive, and about an hour to set up tank etc. I am going to get 3x 20l containers (new) to save about 60l of water, and my filter is a canister, so I can keep the media in water at least, by closing the valves prior to the move. If I bag my fish (1 bag per gourami, 1 bag for the tetras (4), 1 bag for the bristlenoses (2), and 1 bag for the loaches (if I can catch the little buggers)) When I set up, I will be adding about 40l of new water, and some melafix to help them settle in, and approx 60l of old water. I figure i will transport the bags in poly boxes, will i need heat pads? Any help will be much appreciated, as I don't want to loose any fish, due to stress. I will transport the tank with the gravel in place, and hopefully keep it as moist as possible, as to not disturb the bacteria in the gravel, but not too much so that it could damage the tank.

Should this be fine? Any tips other for me?

WRONG SUBFORUM! can a mod move please.

[Gill]

From my own experience, which is limited!!!! it sounds like you have it sussed, when i bought my latest tank the move took about one and half hours so the filter was kept running right until we emptied out the water and once we got home we moved like lightening and got the tank set up pretty quickly, the result was very cloudy water for the existing BN but he/she survived.I wouldn't have thought you needed to worry about heat pads this time of year. I'm sure you will get some suggestions for far more experienced forum members than me

[Caryl]

If you are able to move the tank with the gravel left in it (don't forget they can be very heavy and stress the glass if you try and do this with a larger tank) then leave just enough water to cover the gravel and leave the loaches in it. Slide it onto a thick board rather than lift up the tank itself.

I cycled a filter on my tank then my son drove with it to Christchurch (a journey of 3.30 - 4hrs) and then set it up on his new tank so your filter will be fine if you keep the media wet.

Rather than bag the fish, why don't you just put them in the 20L containers?

I have no idea what temps you have been experiencing in Auckland but at this time of year for that short period of time I would not bother with heat pads.

[David R]

Heat pads?!? You'll need a polybox to stop the bags from over-heating in this weather!!!!!

[snookie]

good luck

[Brennos]

If you are able to move the tank with the gravel left in it (don't forget they can be very heavy and stress the glass if you try and do this with a larger tank) then leave just enough water to cover the gravel and leave the loaches in it. Slide it onto a thick board rather than lift up the tank itself.

The tank is an aqua one tank, so has plastic bottom under the glass, so the gravel should be fine with some water, but i will use the wood trick thanks.

I cycled a filter on my tank then my son drove with it to Christchurch (a journey of 3.30 - 4hrs) and then set it up on his new tank so your filter will be fine if you keep the media wet.

Thanks for the advice on the filter, I was wondering about that.

Rather than bag the fish, why don't you just put them in the 20L containers?

I have no idea what temps you have been experiencing in Auckland but at this time of year for that short period of time I would not bother with heat pads.

The 20l containers are NEW oil containers, as in they are designed for oil, so not very fish friendly. They haven't had anything in them yet, so they will be fine for water, but a mission to get fish in and out of. I was considering a 20l container from plastic box for the fish, which will be easier. . Ill stay away from heat pads cheers.

Heat pads?!? You'll need a polybox to stop the bags from over-heating in this weather!!!!!

Noted. Cheers

good luck

Yeah, I need it. I have 2 cats, 3 budgies, and a 3 bedroom house worth of furniture, to squeeze into a single bedroom cottage. But it's cheap, and house saving is on the agenda, so it needs to be.

[Caryl]

If the containers are not fish friendly, why would they be OK for water?

[Jennifer]

Sounds like a well organised plan! I too would be worried about the plastic containers and the water though - could you use bin liners? Also, I agree, it would be worthwhile to place the bags of fish in a covered chilly bin to minimise stress and temperature fluctuations. I personally would avoid using Melafix unless you really have to. It is an irritant (hence why it kills bacteria) and as such can actually cause stress (unless only a small quantitiy is used but then why bother?). You could use Stress Coat or salt or something similar if you really must use something - that will help with repairing the slime coat if it was damaged by the netting.

Just my 2c.

[Adrienne]

I've got a couple of 20-25 litre containers you can borrow if you want. I use them for salt water but they have been used to transport tank water before. I'm in Epsom, about 320 metres off the Market Rd offramps on the southern motorway. Can you move the fish in advance? Less stress for you if you can.

[Brennos]

If the containers are not fish friendly, why would they be OK for water?

They have a small opening in the top for the water to go in and out, meaning I would need to pour the fish out. Which seems a little mean They are water and fish friendly, but not so practical I guess. Think jerry can if ya know what I mean.

Sounds like a well organised plan! I too would be worried about the plastic containers and the water though - could you use bin liners? Also, I agree, it would be worthwhile to place the bags of fish in a covered chilly bin to minimise stress and temperature fluctuations. I personally would avoid using Melafix unless you really have to. It is an irritant (hence why it kills bacteria) and as such can actually cause stress (unless only a small quantity is used but then why bother?). You could use Stress Coat or salt or something similar if you really must use something - that will help with repairing the slime coat if it was damaged by the netting.

Just my 2c.

I can't use salt, with the loaches. Stress coat! why didn't I think of that. Cheers.

I've got a couple of 20-25 litre containers you can borrow if you want. I use them for salt water but they have been used to transport tank water before. I'm in Epsom, about 320 metres off the Market Rd offramps on the southern motorway. Can you move the fish in advance? Less stress for you if you can.

Thanks I will let you know if I get stuck.

[Gill]

I have a tank i use as a small hospital tank, not sure how many fish you have but your welcome to put your fish in it whilst you make the move...

[Brennos]

Wow, thanks for the offer, I'll pm you if I get stuck.

[Sophia]

when I swapped out the gravel in my tank and siliconed in the divider I didn't have another tank to put the fish in for the duration.

I wanted to keep as much of the water as possible so I moved most of the water, filter, fish, heater and plants into a big chilly bin (plastic) and they lived in there for a couple of days while the silicone went off.

They didn't like the white bottom of the bin, it took one of the otos a couple of days to get his full colour back but they were otherwise fine. The chilly bin was deep enough for the filter and heater to keep things as normal as possible during the transition.

[Brennos]

That's a good idea. Cheers.

[Chantal]

I just moved my 160L tank on Tuesday. I took only my small fish out (swordtails & tetras), left in there 2 angels, a couple of uncatchable tetras! 1 plec, 1 britlenose plec, 1 flying fox & 2 clown loaches. I took all the stones out, put them in a bucket (then promptly broke the handle, so for future reference... pick buckets of stones up from the bottom! :roll: ), I also left the ornament the big plec & the clown loaches spent most of their time in as I figured I'd never be able to make the clowns come out. I left enough water to cover the fish and ornament on it's side - I then sat with the tank in the back of the van we moved it in so I could hold the ornament to stop it rolling round. I also have a canister filter so left it dirty and full of water for the move. Our move was only about 5 mins, but still very stressful. All I found was that when put the stones back in (I'd about 3/4 filled the tank already to give the fish more water!), the water become a hideous dirty colour (you couldn't see thru the water at all!), but with my normal filter + an extra to help with the dirt initially it was back to clean and lovely within a few hours. All my fish are happy as can be, acting like they never when thru the stress of moving 4 days ago!

Last time I had to move my tank I left the stones in and it was about a million times heavier than the other day without them in it, so personally I'd recommend taking the stones out.

I also found that everyone was fine without any heating for the all up couple of hrs they were without it. It's a good time of year for moving fish as the weather is warm so helps keep water temperature up for longer.

[Brennos]

Good to hear your move went easy. I move on the 20th of Feb. Wish me luck. I'll update thread when I've moved.

[Brennos]

Well I moved, no drama's at all. Both tanks are now setup, and running fine.