moving in 3 weeks

[aquariumlover10]

I have 2 10 gallon freshwater tank in one i have 8 baby mosquitofish in the other i have 2 zebra danios, 1 up side down cat, and 2 otocinclus and I'm moving in 3 weeks i need help on how to move with fish!! HELP!

 

[Skifflexie]

Just breath. It will be ok, I was in your shoes just last week. I actually had to move twice. I had to move to a hotel and wait for my house to be done, then now into my house... I combined all my fish into my 15g and just over filtered it, while I secretly kept it in a hotel.... Everyone survived the stressed, cramped, over-crowded situation.

I went out and bought a plastic tote from Walmart and that's what I transported my plants, filter media, and fish in. I used my gravel vac and drained a carriable amount of water into the tote, about 5 inches of water, then I netted everyone into the tote. And dumped out the rest of the water in my tank, except maybe an inch at the bottom....

Depending on how long of a move your doing your fish will be fine in just the tote, if it is going to be a considerable length of time then you may consider putting your tank heater and filter in the tote.


*make sure to keep your filter media moist in fish water, so the BB survive the move too.


Just keep calm and plan for the worst, hope for the best.

I figured is lose 1 or 2 weak fish that wouldn't be able to handle the 1st move, and to my surprise they all made it.

On the second move (3 weeks later) I really figured I'd lose some fish from the combined stress of them all being in one tank and a 2nd move. And to my surprise again they all made it!

 

[Skifflexie]

**also make sure everything else is all packed and loaded before you start unplugging and loading your fish.

When I say everything I mean everything, the fish are the very very last thing that should be loaded.

Make sure your fridge and pantry are already loaded, your clothes, bathroom items, everything. Is already loaded.

You want your fish to be very last for a couple reasons:

The less time they spend in the tote and the more time they are in an actual tank environment will increase their survival rate

You want to be able to set the tank up first thing when you get to your new place, so it will need to be easiest to get unpacked. If you pack it last, it should be the easiest thing to access in your vehicle.

 

[aquariumlover10]

I have a tall styrofoam cooler that is about 3 gallons and a smaler one that is for bait fish

 

[Oohitsae]

Best way to move fish is as if you were shipping them. Putting them in shipping bags with 1/2 water 1/2 air double bagged, wrapped in newspaper, and inside a cooler is what I'd suggest. Using prime is the biggest thing you can do to make the trip successful. Since it detoxifies ammonia their waste won't be too much for them if you can't change water or anything for a couple days. Make sure the amount of water you put in is atleast enough to cover the fish's back while on it's side. You'll want to lay them on their sides inside the cooler to give them more horizontal swimming space during the trip.
That'd give them all their own water source and, make the journey less hazardous than inside a cooler or tank sloshing around and banging into things.
Bring plenty of extra bags with you along with water conditioner so that if you need to stop for a night you can give them all fresh water.

Make sure you pack them and their tanks last so when you get to your new home you can put them into the tanks right away.
You should also bag up the filter media so that it doesn't dry out and hopefully if it's a long trip you'll only have to go through a mini cycle.

You can buy shipping bags for a great price on aquabid from MVP, I'd suggest 4x18 or 6x12/18 2mil or you can go with Kordon Breather bags With no air but they are more costly.
You can also buy some methalyne blue for the trip that would help oxygenate the water more.

I'd suggest only putting 1 fish per bag, but with the fry you may be able to get away with all of them in the same bag.

Also don't feed for at least a day before and not at all during the trip. It'll help keep the ammonia from building up.

When I ship using this method my fish are okay for at least 2-3 days even up to 5 days when the post office screws up so I'm sure it'd be okay for a move.

 

[Bettaorr]

Best way to move fish is as if you were shipping them. Putting them in shipping bags with 1/2 water 1/2 air double bagged, wrapped in newspaper, and inside a cooler is what I'd suggest. Using prime is the biggest thing you can do to make the trip successful. Since it detoxifies ammonia their waste won't be too much for them if you can't change water or anything for a couple days. Make sure the amount of water you put in is atleast enough to cover the fish's back while on it's side. You'll want to lay them on their sides inside the cooler to give them more horizontal swimming space during the trip.
That'd give them all their own water source and, make the journey less hazardous than inside a cooler or tank sloshing around and banging into things.
Bring plenty of extra bags with you along with water conditioner so that if you need to stop for a night you can give them all fresh water.

Make sure you pack them and their tanks last so when you get to your new home you can put them into the tanks right away.
You should also bag up the filter media so that it doesn't dry out and hopefully if it's a long trip you'll only have to go through a mini cycle.

You can buy shipping bags for a great price on aquabid from MVP, I'd suggest 4x18 or 6x12/18 2mil or you can go with Kordon Breather bags With no air but they are more costly.
You can also buy some methalyne blue for the trip that would help oxygenate the water more.

I'd suggest only putting 1 fish per bag, but with the fry you may be able to get away with all of them in the same bag.

Also don't feed for at least a day before and not at all during the trip. It'll help keep the ammonia from building up.

When I ship using this method my fish are okay for at least 2-3 days even up to 5 days when the post office screws up so I'm sure it'd be okay for a move.

This is really good information for the fish. How would you go about it with live plants and all your decorations?

 

[Oohitsae]

This is really good information for the fish. How would you go about it with live plants and all your decorations?

For plants (if live) wrap them in wet paper towels so atleast the roots are wet and stick in more shipping bags with air. If you don't want to waste shipping bags you can put them in zip lock and just tape the opening to prevent water leakage.
With decorations I'd just wrap in damp paper towels if you're trying to preserve benificial BB and put in plastic grocery bags, or wrapped in dry newspaper if you don't care. There may be some, but not much BB on them so it's not as detrimental to lose the good stuff on those as it is letting your filter media dry out.
For substrate, you can just leave it in the tank OR what I do is stick it in Tupperware containers to keep the moisture in (if gravel) in hopes of saving what little BB lives on that. Sand I wouldnt bother with and either toss or leave in the tank.

 

[aquariumlover10]

Im not shiping im only moving about 3.5 hours away and i have a mobile air pump and i was wondering if i should put it on the babies or the others?

 

[Oohitsae]

Im not shiping im only moving about 3.5 hours away and i have a mobile air pump and i was wondering if i should put it on the babies or the others?

If that's it then just putting everyone in a bucket with a lid that will close and stay on would be fine. An air pump isn't necessary as the movement of the water during the drive will give them plenty of oxygen. Bagging in a cooler would still be a good idea but isn't necessary for such a short distance.

 

[aquariumlover10]

Today i found a 5-8 gallon styrofoam cooler and i did a test to see if the danios would eat the babies and they don't so im going to put them in the bigger cooler but i also remembered that i have a marimo ball (i was in brandon florida t with my famly to look at houses ) so what do i need to do with it?

 

[Oohitsae]

With the Marimo? Just put it in with the fish and you'll be okay.

 

[aquariumlover10]

Ok thanks