What to do with fish

[lawlessr]

I am buying a 75 gallon tank off a friend of mine i allready have a 30 gallon the fish that are in my friends 75 g tank are way too good to give away i want to keep them but i have to drain the 75 g tank too transport it what do i do with the fish while i am setting it up do i put all them in my perfectly ballanced 30 g it would only be for a night or two i dont want to disrupt my 30 g . Will it be ok to leave them in the 30 g.

 

[joy13]

It depends on the fish that is in the tank. For smaller ones buckets with airstones and small heaters would be ok for a day or two. Keeping the cycle is the most important thing. Putting to many fish in your 30 is a bad idea it will add to much ammonia and your tank will crash.

 

[lawlessr]

Even if it is just over night would a water change the next not help

 

[missileman]

Alot more stress for the fish if you do. That means you would have to chase them down with a net each time you move them.
You can get a fair sized plastic tub w/lid for next to nothing at any large convenience store. That would be perfect for carrying them home in and when you get home add a bit more water, a heater and an airstone and you are set until your tank is ready, in fact you can even leave them in a quiet semi dark corner to help keep the stress down.
Aside from the stress to your fish just from netting them you would also be stressing not only your new fish but your old fish as well from overcrowding and the inevitable territory squabbles that will occur.

 

[lawlessr]

That sounds like a good idea i think ill buy a large tub and set them up like that cheers .

 

[kangster]

i remember reading an article about moving an aquarium using a big cooler box and preserving as much tank water as you can in the cooler box along with fish
buckets to keep gravel and filters wet during the transportation
whatever you do plan ahead and act accordingly

 

[lawlessr]

Thanks for all the info i took your advice and made the move over the weekend now all the fish are liveing in there new home and i think it looks great they are all swimming around very healthy like they had never moved CHEERS

 

[kangster]

please share what and how you did the move so it can be a future reference to someone who might be trying to do something similar

 

[lawlessr]

I did what i was advised to do , i got a large deep plastic container 2x2x1 and poored out enough water to fill half of the container out of the tank that i was in the process of buying .I put all the fish in the container and sealed the container while i was traveling (20 mins).When i got home i put an air stone and a heater in the container ,topped up the water and also put a few fake plants in just to let the fish calm down and hide behind. I transported the filters in a bucket of tank water ,i left the container with the fish in a dark quiet corner of my house while i set up the tank (24 hrs) Then when the tank was ready i slowly put the fish in the tank given each one a couple of hours to settle in there new home,They all look happy enough now no problems there is proberly alot of you out there with better ideas but this process seamed to work fine for me Thanks for all the info everybody.