How to transfer fish from dorm to house… help/suggestions?
I think I’m going to take my fish (saltwater) home for my thanksgiving break. its 9 days. The ride is about 2 and a half hours without traffic. Never know how chicago traffic is gunna be so maybe tack on sometime to be safe. The man at the aquatics store i get my fish from said i would need to get some buckets and put the water in there and the fish in there and than bring the tank (with only enough water in it to keep the rocks wet) cuz if I leave the water in the tank he said it would crack. I have a 20 gallon by the way. So i would bring the tank and than a bin or bucket or 2 of the water. and than the stuff i need for them. One of the questions i have is how long can they last without the filtration system running? and another question is, if i bought a decent size one of these
http://www.petco.com/Shop/AlternateImages.aspx?FamilyID=12031&sku=796476
would they be able to live if i put the filter in there? or maybe just for them to travel in. I was just wondering that because it was just an idea so I wouldnt have to bring the whole tank. I dont think it would work but I just wanted to know. Will it put too much stress on the fish to move them?
If you guys had to transfer your fish, how would you do it? Should i do it the way i explained? And finally, will transfering them do anything to the chemical balances of the water? like the ph or anything that the cycle i had to wait for did to the water?
thanks for your help!
Tagged with: amp • aspx • buckets • chemical balances • chicago traffic • cuz • decent size • filtration system • fish • half hours • petco • rocks • sku • stress • tank • thanks for your help • thanksgiving
Filed under: House Water Systems
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Personally, I would get an auto feeder as well as a lettuce clip for sea weed vs. moving a salt tank. (although I have done this many times.
FIrst you don’t need all the water from your tank. You will however need to keep enough water in the tank to cover the substrate. (this will keep your bacteria intact) You can cover the tank with a garbage bag or plastic duct tape tightly to keep water from splashing out.
Your fish should be in 5 gallon buckets with lids. DO NOT fill the buckets to the top. you need an air pocket to Create dissolved oxygen in the water. Depending on how many fish and or live rock you have will determine how many buckets.
Rock should all be placed in one bucket. You really do not need a filter or air by doing this. You can also ask your LFS if he can give you a few tranq pills to help with the venture. this will relax your fish to keep them from stressing. you can also take a few 1 gallon jugs with your tank water and every hour pour the water into the bucket to help with the DO2. If you do not keep the substrait wet yes it will kill of beneficial bacteria.
When you arrive, you will need to get new water mixed rocks replaced and your fish floated.
Honestly for 9 days, get an auto feeder for 9.00 at walmart, and a lettuce clip for a buck and seaweed. This would be much less work since now you would have to retransport them back to school.
You could probably equip the water with chemicals and the right amount of salt in the bucket. I bet you could probably find this ratio on the internet.
I think the bucket idea would work.
i would switch the whole system to a rubbermaid tote with lid, it won’t crack and will not leak, if you can manage have the tank with a few inches of water and you sediment base, the LR can go with the rubbermaid tote, just lay it as flat as possible. only forseeable isue is bumpiness, don’t know what you could do about that.
i have found clean rubbermaids perfect for bulk fish transport, and so long as your fish are with LR they will have more than adequate bio filtatration to make the trip home.
i do caution that any long trip will stress the fish, dont expect to have every fish make both trips.
I’ve done it before, but I’m not an expert, when I emptied my tank I poured the fish tank water into the bucket, then put the fish in the bucket, emptied the rest of the tank, left the rocks and I was good to go.