Dorm Aquarium? - Aquarium Advice

Paty · 04-26-2008, 09:11 PM

So, I still haven't found an aquarium yet, but as I was thinking about this I came across another problem. I'm a college student and will be living in an on- campus college apartment, so we still have to move out for the entire month of December. My question is, would it be feasible to get an aquarium for the apartment that would have to go without maintenance for a month, and that would have to be moved out after 9 months?

neilanh · 04-26-2008, 10:16 PM

A month is a long time to not tend to your aquarium. A week or so is doable, but I don't know about a month. It is feasible to move it home with you for a month though.

fish 'n' fries · 04-27-2008, 11:17 AM

I did it in college. 10 gallon, low light live plants, low bioload of hardy fish--all the things that lead to a stable tank that doesn't need such constant maintanence. I set it up at the beginning of the school year so it was quite stable by December. Left it over the holidays. Moved it to my apartment the next summer. Didn't lose any fish. It's one of those things that could work fine or could fail miserably. Also probably depends on your tank experience (I had kept fish for years at that point).

Karegg · 04-27-2008, 04:10 PM

I'm looking at doing the same thing. What would be the procedure for moving a 29-gal freshwater aquarium home for break?

fishcrack · 04-27-2008, 04:22 PM

We are moving our oldest and his nano home next week. He's a college student too. (Pat8You on this site) If you can wait a few days, we'll let you know if our plan works. We are going to use battery backups, airstones, ammolock (as needed) and 5 gallon buckets to move fish and corals from FL to IL by car. My son has a detailed plan which I'm sure he'll share. I believe he's emptying most of the water (keeping just enough for live rock and sand), then transferring fish/corals and appropriate water with above equipment to buckets. He can carry buckets in when/if they stop for the night. We'll post after he's home to let you all know the success/failure rate. We also have a power inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter to run pumps if need be. The trick will be to reset up without the sand nasties.

fishcrack · 04-27-2008, 04:25 PM

Forgot to mention that this is a 12 gallon SW nano. Not freshwater.

warped1 · 04-27-2008, 06:46 PM

I feel a month is too long to leave them on their own, even with the best automatic feeder around. Water changes have to be considered as well as any unexpected temperature fluctuations just to name a few. Besides who is to say that these unchaperoned fish won't steal your credit card and max it out. If it is any help, my first tank was a 10gal starter set - I was a kid of no more than 11 and every summer I would have to take this tank on the road for a 3 hour road trip to where some poor family member (who drew the short straw) lived. The fish (2 pink kissers, 1 algae eater, and 3 mollies) always made the trip up and back fine. And with all the new filtration available now I think it will be a breeze.

Paty · 04-28-2008, 09:29 AM

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. I figured a month was a little too long, but I'm going to try and find a way to make it work. I'm not even sure if the apartments work like the dorms do, I might not even have to completely move out of them like I would in the dorms, and then I could keep up with the tank.

Paty · 04-28-2008, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishcrack

We are moving our oldest and his nano home next week. He's a college student too. (Pat8You on this site) If you can wait a few days, we'll let you know if our plan works. We are going to use battery backups, airstones, ammolock (as needed) and 5 gallon buckets to move fish and corals from FL to IL by car. My son has a detailed plan which I'm sure he'll share. I believe he's emptying most of the water (keeping just enough for live rock and sand), then transferring fish/corals and appropriate water with above equipment to buckets. He can carry buckets in when/if they stop for the night. We'll post after he's home to let you all know the success/failure rate. We also have a power inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter to run pumps if need be. The trick will be to reset up without the sand nasties.

Please let me know how that works out! : )

pitt420dude · 04-28-2008, 10:26 AM

I wouldnt leave your tank for a month straight, but it is definitely possible to keep a tank and move it home with you during the holidays/summer. I did it in college. I wouldn't go bigger than a 10 gal though.

04-26-2008, 09:11 PM	#1 (permalink)
Paty Aquarium Advice Regular Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Illinois Posts: 78	Dorm Aquarium? So, I still haven't found an aquarium yet, but as I was thinking about this I came across another problem. I'm a college student and will be living in an on- campus college apartment, so we still have to move out for the entire month of December. My question is, would it be feasible to get an aquarium for the apartment that would have to go without maintenance for a month, and that would have to be moved out after 9 months?

04-26-2008, 10:16 PM	#2 (permalink)
neilanh MTS Advocate Community Mentor Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 2,557 Images: 15	A month is a long time to not tend to your aquarium. A week or so is doable, but I don't know about a month. It is feasible to move it home with you for a month though. __________________ ~Neilan In the DC Metro Area? Check out GWAPA Look, I have a My Info Page! Where's yours? Useful Links: Vote for AA, Nitrogen Cycle, Fishless Cycling, Articles, Acronym List

04-27-2008, 04:10 PM	#4 (permalink)
Karegg Aquarium Advice Activist Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: St. Louis Posts: 160	I'm looking at doing the same thing. What would be the procedure for moving a 29-gal freshwater aquarium home for break? __________________ "It's a bouncing baby boy! Yet another soldier in the fight against Communism." Vote for AA on AquaRank!

04-28-2008, 10:26 AM	#10 (permalink)
pitt420dude Aquarium Advice FINatic Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Pittsburgh! Home of the 5 Time Superbowl Champs! Posts: 949 Images: 11	I wouldnt leave your tank for a month straight, but it is definitely possible to keep a tank and move it home with you during the holidays/summer. I did it in college. I wouldn't go bigger than a 10 gal though. __________________ Thank you so much for all your help. I'm now going green. LOOK! A NEW LEAF!!!!!

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04-27-2008, 11:17 AM	#3 (permalink)
fish 'n' fries Aquarium Advice Freak Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 292	I did it in college. 10 gallon, low light live plants, low bioload of hardy fish--all the things that lead to a stable tank that doesn't need such constant maintanence. I set it up at the beginning of the school year so it was quite stable by December. Left it over the holidays. Moved it to my apartment the next summer. Didn't lose any fish. It's one of those things that could work fine or could fail miserably. Also probably depends on your tank experience (I had kept fish for years at that point).

04-27-2008, 04:22 PM	#5 (permalink)
fishcrack Aquarium Advice Regular Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Illinois Posts: 53	We are moving our oldest and his nano home next week. He's a college student too. (Pat8You on this site) If you can wait a few days, we'll let you know if our plan works. We are going to use battery backups, airstones, ammolock (as needed) and 5 gallon buckets to move fish and corals from FL to IL by car. My son has a detailed plan which I'm sure he'll share. I believe he's emptying most of the water (keeping just enough for live rock and sand), then transferring fish/corals and appropriate water with above equipment to buckets. He can carry buckets in when/if they stop for the night. We'll post after he's home to let you all know the success/failure rate. We also have a power inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter to run pumps if need be. The trick will be to reset up without the sand nasties.

04-27-2008, 04:25 PM	#6 (permalink)
fishcrack Aquarium Advice Regular Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Illinois Posts: 53	Forgot to mention that this is a 12 gallon SW nano. Not freshwater.

04-27-2008, 06:46 PM	#7 (permalink)
warped1 Aquarium Advice Freak Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: South Philly, Pa. Posts: 306	I feel a month is too long to leave them on their own, even with the best automatic feeder around. Water changes have to be considered as well as any unexpected temperature fluctuations just to name a few. Besides who is to say that these unchaperoned fish won't steal your credit card and max it out. If it is any help, my first tank was a 10gal starter set - I was a kid of no more than 11 and every summer I would have to take this tank on the road for a 3 hour road trip to where some poor family member (who drew the short straw) lived. The fish (2 pink kissers, 1 algae eater, and 3 mollies) always made the trip up and back fine. And with all the new filtration available now I think it will be a breeze.

04-28-2008, 09:29 AM	#8 (permalink)
Paty Aquarium Advice Regular Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Illinois Posts: 78	Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. I figured a month was a little too long, but I'm going to try and find a way to make it work. I'm not even sure if the apartments work like the dorms do, I might not even have to completely move out of them like I would in the dorms, and then I could keep up with the tank.