Fish Moving

[Heather]

Um....

I am a very bad pet owner. :sob:

The snails got the best of me, and I neglected to clean my fish tank for, well, since the last time I moved. If you've been paying attention you'll know how pathetically long ago that was.

So, now I am moving again, and I have a new fleet of fish who are used to the unclean tank. How do I go about moving them without stressing the you-know-what out of them? I'd really like to use the opportunity to get all the snail poo out of there...blech.

I feel as though I am such a bad mother. Thank heavens I don't have more than fish and a cat and some plants. At least I didn't feed the fish to the cat.

 

[gonewild]

Um....

I am a very bad pet owner. :sob:

The snails got the best of me, and I neglected to clean my fish tank for, well, since the last time I moved. If you've been paying attention you'll know how pathetically long ago that was.

So, now I am moving again, and I have a new fleet of fish who are used to the unclean tank. How do I go about moving them without stressing the you-know-what out of them? I'd really like to use the opportunity to get all the snail poo out of there...blech.

I feel as though I am such a bad mother. Thank heavens I don't have more than fish and a cat and some plants. At least I didn't feed the fish to the cat.

What kind of fish?

 

[Heather]

Endler's Livebearers.

 

[gonewild]

Endler's Livebearers.

How many do you have to move?
How long do they need to be out of the aquarium?

 

[Heather]

8 or so. They can stay in the aquarium, I just have to remove most of the water. But I also need to clean out the poo and I worry that it will muddy the water so much I cannot see the fish.

 

[Jon in SW Ohio]

Fill a few jars/buckets/whatever with water and let it sit overnight, and viola, instant tank water lol.

I do 100% water changes on my fish all the time, with no problems. Just make sure the water sits overnight so all the chlorine evaporates. If you are worried your water is too hard, mix in half or so with RO water.

If you need any specifics or whatever, I should be on AIM.

Jon

 

[Heather]

okay, so the drastic switch from dirty to clean water won't upset them, Jon?
I'm not doing it for a week or two....

 

[dave b]

Im guessing that the tank isint too big, since you are moving it with some of the water still in?

Do use a gravel siphon?

 

[Heather]

Yes, Dave, I have a siphon and it is just a 6 gallon tank.
I'm looking forward to culling the snail herd too. :evil:

 

[dave b]

okay, so the drastic switch from dirty to clean water won't upset them, Jon?
I'm not doing it for a week or two....

The main concern would be if you moved them into water that had a much different Ph, or temperature, in addition to Jon's mention of chlorine. Differences of those can easily shock fish into death. If you are not currently altering you tank waters Ph, you probably dont have to worry about that. For my smaller tanks, ive used 5 gallon buckets to pre prep water a day or 2 in advance if needed.

 

[Jon in SW Ohio]

Dirty to clean shouldn't bother them. The other good thing about "overnighting" water is that the temps should be the same too so that doesn't shock the fish...unless you are using a heater. If you are, there are a few ways to acclimate them. The easiest is to turn off the heater and let the tank cool off to room temperature like the bucket of water will be.

I personally would put them in a holding tank/bucket/whatever and clean out the old tank completely if you want to be rid of the snails. They should be fine in the bucket for a day or two, guppies are surprisingly resilient usually.

Jon

 

[Heather]

Guppies!?!?! These are the original strain of Endlers! Give them some credit, dude....:rollhappy:

Okay, point taken. With only 8 maybe I will try to capture them and clean the tank WELL. That would not be a bad thing for sure. Damn snails.

They sure do keep the algae down tho! And my plants are rocking the Casbah, as Blake would say.

 

[dave b]

Guppies!?!?! These are the original strain of Endlers! Give them some credit, dude....:rollhappy:

Okay, point taken. With only 8 maybe I will try to capture them and clean the tank WELL. That would not be a bad thing for sure. Damn snails.

They sure do keep the algae down tho! And my plants are rocking the Casbah, as Blake would say.

Endler's are what guppies aspire to someday be.

Those snails are a pain.

 

[Heather]

Endler's are what guppies aspire to someday be.

That's RIGHT! GO Endler's!!!!

 

[gonewild]

Do you want to take the opportunity to completely get rid of the snails?

 

[Heather]

I wouldn't mind....

 

[gonewild]

I wouldn't mind....

Do you need to keep the gravel or can you replace it?
Are your plants replaceable or are they dear to you?

 

[Heather]

I can replace the gravel but the plants are really thriving so I'd like to keep them if possible.

 

[Ray]

Sounds to me like you need to remove the fish from the tank and give it a good scouring!

I moved 4 large tanks of fish from Kentucky to South Carolina once, taking three days to get there.

I put plastic bags in styrofoam coolers, transferred the tank water and fish, pumped up the bags with oxygen instead of just air, tied up the bags, and taped the tops on.

Didn't lose a single fish.

 

[NYEric]

Hi, my recommedation would be to take the fish out right before you move. Carry them in a plastic bag [w/ a little stress coat] from the pet store. Clean out the tank removing excess snails (80% water change), move it and fill to remainder w/ the new water supply. Let this new mix sit for a day while the existing bacteria act on the new water. Add fish back.