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i may be moving soon, just wondering about what to do with my tanks. the trip may be anywhere from 18-30 hours. i have plants *and* fish, and some of the plants are attached to rocks and driftwood. what is the best way to move all these fish? i was thinking of putting the fish in coolers without bags, but i don't know what to do with the big driftwood that has java fern and anubias attached to it. i don't have a bucket it will fit in, and i know the plants will dry out if i don't keep them wet. so what should i do and is there anything i can do for the wood with plants?

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

Wood with plants: you just need a garbage bag and some newspaper. Wet the newspaper and wrap the driftwood in it, then put it in the garbage bag and wrap it up. Tape it a bit, you're going for minimal air movement so the inside stays nice and wet (and dark, so the plants aren't trying to photosynthesize.

My worry about the cooler would be that you don't know if the plastic is safe for fish - but you could line it with something, perhaps pond lining?

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

I transport my fish AND plants in the one big bucket. I run a battery air pump through a hole in the lid for long trips (and have an outlet on the opposite side of the lid which is just a drilled hole with some tubing through it to cut back on spillage.

The more you can deconstruct pre-moving day, the better. It is physically taxing and mentally draining.

Get chinese containers for storing delicate plants in water and just stack them inside a cooler bag, along with any aggressive smaller tropical fish or critters.

I transported a lot of fish in 3L(1G) juice bottles.

Something that might be worth considering if you are stuck for space and want to do it in one trip is shipping items to yourself via courier.


For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

i've thought about shipping the fish and plants but my dad only has a 55g at his house, which may or may not be cycled and i know my fish won't be able to survive all being dumped into a 55g at once, although that might be the best option i have right now

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

Can you ship them on the same day as you drive up there? or the day before?

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I moved 1200 miles from Georgia to Nebraska.

I used a power inverter in the truck and had one cooler than had an airpump and a heater in tank water with fish that were large oxygen consumers, or that could not be placed in breather bags.

I had another cooler full of nothing but breather bags full of fish wrapped in towels to keep it warm.

It took two days to make the trip and when I got there I spent the next 7 hours setting up four tanks that very first night. I had help from my sister. Used tap water treated with conditioners and plugged heaters in. That was the absolute worst part, the hour waiting for the water to warm up enough to begin to acc;limate the fish in. Nope none of the tanks were cycled, yes I had ricks and filters and everything kept underwater in a garbage bag the whole trip, but at best those seeded the tank with bacteria, there were massive bacterial die offs in the move.

Every single fish that made it to Nebraska alive lived. Even through cycling. I just made it a real long cycle with plenty of water changes to help keep the nitrites and ammonia down. It was a full load of fish immediately, what else can you do?

On the way there I lost over 30 clown loaches, 3 adult bala sharks, and a few others. But a heck of a lot of the fish made it.

Goodluck

Koi

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

. That was the absolute worst part, the hour waiting for the water to warm up enough

I set it up and boil the kettle Non-exposed element though

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

thinking about these things, there is only one of my 3 tanks that i want to save the fish from, so i may just take the other fish to the lfs and see if i can't get something for them if i end up leaving here. my 50g has my plecos and angel fish that are pretty much the only fish i am truly attached to. the big pleco because it was the first fish i ever owned, the rest have their own history as much as i'd like to keep *all* my fish, i'm thinking i would just move this one tank and make it easier on myself. the only problem is getting the plants to survive the journey, but it seems like i can try the newspaper thing and hope for the best

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

Moondog, my first piece of advice is Don't Move!

Ok that said, go with the ice chest method, if it takes more than one go with more than one. This will keep the fish in the dark to help them not stress out, and keep the temperature better balanced...Next don't feed them the day before or of the trip, this will help prevent the amount of waste they will produce. Carry as much water from the tanks as you feesably can, this will help with resetting up the tanks, and aclimating them to the new water in the new area...

For airpumps, I've been preaching now about getting to walmart or other store with a sports section and getting the battery powered airpumps for awhile now...I choose walmart, because it is the closest to me...also I know from first hand experience that they have one called "The Bubble Box" that costs $4.95 or $5.95, it's been awhile I forget It runs off of 2D batteries. On the packaging it says that it will run for up to 24 hrs I believe, but my average time is about 60 hrs And I've ran them as long as 72 easily...so that in itself saves on the price of batteries...the bubble box is all you need to get it comes with the airstone and airhose, but ,you will need to get some batteries...

Other than that, i think everything has been said...and I'm sure you know the last thing to be packed before the actual move is the fish, and the first thing to be unpacked and set up is the fish...

Oh one last thing, keep the lights off when you get them there for the day or two...i've been known to throw a blanket over the tanks to help keep the fish from being stressed, and kts has done the same at a couple of pointsit's scary when the kiddos are actually paying attention isn't it?

Best of luck, and better you than me, I hate moving]:| heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

airpump without a heater is a really bad idea, you will be cooling down the tank water pretty rapidly. That is why you get one that plugs into a regular wall and a power invertor.

koi

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

well, if i end up moving it will be in the next few weeks or so, so i don't think a heater will be an issue

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

Here is an excellent article I read just last night. Also read some of the comments by readers at the end - some give other ideas explaining what they did in a move.

http://www.aquariumfish.net/information/moving_your_fish.htm#top2

Good luck with your move and good luck to your fish in your move.

Carol