looong move

[cruzfish]

hi all, i'm new at this and i just want to be prepared for getting my tank home from college which is 8 hours away. i still have a few months before the move, but better ask sooner than later.
i have a 5 galloon tank, with live plants, 2 corys, 4 danios, 1 powder blue gourami, and 1 otto. i wanted to know the best way to move them without stress, i read a posting about short distances, but this is a very long drive, and was wondering if any extra precautions should be made. thanks! cruzfish.

 

[DeFeKt]

5 gal you could probly empty a bit of water out and pick it up like a bucket.
thats if your driving back of course. just have some fresh water in a clean bottle and drop some from a distance to create surface agitation and aerate the water once every couple hours.

 

[tmcgee]

For a very long move like yours there are a few extra things that you are going to want to consider. First off is that the darker it is for them the less stress. I like a cooler or a styrofoam bucket. These serve two purposes.. first they are quite dark inside and also they are insulators so they keep the temps a little more in check. Also, you might want to consider a battery operated aerator. This will keep them oxygenated for longer. Lastly, don't feed them the day of forsure but I wouldn't the day before the move either. They will produce less waste and reduce the amount of ammonia in the water. Oh and one more thing.. Talk to mom and dad and have your spot scoped out for where you are going to situate the tank when you get there and the #1 first thing you do when you get home is set the tank back up.

If i forgot anything big i'm sure someone else can hit on it.. HTH

 

[CGGorman]

I like coolers, too.

What kind of fish?

If they can tolerate it (and most can), I would slowly drop the temperature in the tank to around 74 degrees during the week or two prior to the move. Good advice on the fasting. Mine go a week without food from time to time and suffer no ill consequences (all my fish are over 5 years old).

Resist the urge to rinse the gravel and decorations. It will get really cloudy on you, unless you vacuum often, but better cloudy water than killing all your bacteria.

I've done some long moves (in the 8 hour range) and never had a problem with ammonia or oxygen. I've also never worried about aeration.

With a dark container and cooler temps, the fish will respire much slower than if they were in a lit and heated tank.

You'll do fine.

 

[hashbaz]

I would also suggest a power inverter - a device that turns the 12V DC from your car cigarette lighter to 120V AC (like your house). Then you can plug in all of your equipment for the entire trip.

Even if you don't need it for the move, I find it very useful for other things too. They seem to be cheapest on ebay.