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Seeing someone else's moving post reminding me of my own. My issue is, leaving my fish with somebody isn't a possibility. We move a lot, but only recently have I gotten into fish, so we havent done this before...and there's a few fish that I just can't let go of! Live plants, too, will need to be moved...hmmmm.

I live in PA currently, and when we move, we'll probably drive, and drive West. CO and AZ areas.

What can I do to make sure my fish and plants survive? I have high-light plants-- none of my fish are particularly delicate. The ones I MUST take with me are some african cichlids, a senegal bichir, some apistos, two angels, and some killies.

They'll be in the car for several days... what should I do? I don't want my cichlids to fight when spcae is tight (like in a cooler), but I want to run the filter on the cooler so I can't put them in bags (we have an electric adapter in our car-- runs down the battery, but it'll work fo rhtis situation).

I've heard not to feed them while we're moving them and to change water very frequently (I'm thinking daily)-- is this good? Also, for my bichir, how will I run a filter if he needs a top on his container? He's veeery jumpy :%) I've seen him out of his tank many a time, lucky me...

Having spent 20 years in the Air Force and having moved fish & tanks around the country several times I can relate with your problem. For the bichir how large is he? Would he be able to make it in a 5 gallon bucket with a top on tight and just an airstone? I think that changing the water a lot may not be the answer as there is going to be a lot of variations in the water makeup from local to local. As far as the fish I think if you can keep them in a darkened container of some sort and provide oxygenation they should survive and the darkness will keep them from too much activity and/or aggressive behavior amongst themselves. You will need someway to not leave them in the car overnight unless you have heat/cooling available so something portable is a must. I'm not an expert on plants so I really can't comment.

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Damn Old Timer...You know your stuff!

Walmart sells rubbermaid containers with lids. They are very cheap, under 10 bucks for a 30+ gallon one. Use that for your fish.

When do you have to move? If you have enough time you can get some large sponge filters for about 10 bucks from Dr Foster and Smith.com. Run them in your tanks to cycle them. Then hook them up to a powerful air pump via a splicer. Use these for filtration.

You should be able to run an extension cord with a 3 way splitter from the AC adapter thing. Run all this of off this. Use heaters and such in the containers.

Just be careful to not overload the AC adapter..You might need one that is more powerful. I would give it a test first to see if this one will do.

Wow, thanks guys! My bichir is young, about 7 inches now. He'd fit just fine in a bucket that big. I'll look into the sponge filter thing, because I'm moving probably in the summer (it's that annoying pending time where we arent sure where we're going, but we know we are some time soon. It happens every 3-5 years, it seems). So Old Timer, you're saying I shouldn't change the water at all?

If you can get the filters cycled, no you should not change the water. Old Timer is right, there will be to big of a variation in the chemistry's as you move across country.

If they have a cycled filter they can very easily take being in a smaller water body with proper filtration for a few days.

I would keep some amo lock on hand in the event that the ammonia spikes. Test the water for ammonia every day or so.

I agree with shannen. The sponge filter idea is super. When I was making my moves, the best we could hope for was to find a small battery operated air pump, otherwise we literally had to just blow through the air line to get some surface activity.... isn't technology a wonderful thing!!!/:'

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Indeed it is OT!

*welcomes you to the 21st century*

]

I told you we can get a bit crazy

*respects wisdom*

Last edited by Shannen at 09-Feb-2005 19:33