Moving Soon

[DRLashambe]

Hey folks!

I'll be moving across town soon, and I'm a little worried. I have a 90 gallon tank, with 4 clown loaches (ranging 3 to 6 inches), 5 bala sharks (about the same range), 5 giant Danios, and a Black Ghost Knife. I also have an almost empty 30 gallon tank, and a 10 gallon tank reserved for hospitalization. Here's my concern: how do I move this tank in the middle of the Canadian Winter without hurting any of the fish?

Any thoughts and ideas on how to use all the tanks combined (very friendly fish everywhere, but the BGK can't be with the small fish from the 30 gallon). It's starting to sound like one of those MENSA logical puzzles isn't it?

[Martin Thoene]

What's the logistics here? Are you out of one and in the other on the same day?
And what's the distance and mode of transport?

Martin.

[DRLashambe]

Yes, it likely will need to be the same day.

We'll be going by car or truck (both are available).

When we've moved tanks before, I've borrowed my big friends, emptied half the water, and moved that way. I've never done that in cold weather, and it's always been with a 30 gallon, never bigger.

[Mark in Vancouver]

I would bag the fish and keep them in a styrofoam box or drink cooler so that their temperature is as constant as possible.

I just moved a good 45 minutes by car with two loach tanks. I drained all but an inch of water out of both tanks, leaving plants and gravel intact. Don't clean your filters. When you get to the destination, fill the tanks with water at the right temperature, add your dechlor and chemicals (if any), and run the dirty filters. Then just float your fish bags for a good fifteen or twenty minutes before releasing the fish.

The gravel and filters will be enough to preserve your bio-filter and your fish will have very minimal shock time. And it was hovering around freezing when I moved, too. I didn't lose any fish at all.

[DRLashambe]

Thanks:

by the by, does anyone know how long the filters can maintain bacteria once they're shut down.

I'm very afraid of having to recycle the big tank.

[mikev]

Thanks:
by the by, does anyone know how long the filters can maintain bacteria once they're shut down.

Very long time, if you keep water in and once a day drop a bit of ammonia to feed the bacteria..... probably will need water changes eventually (2 weeks?)