Advice On Moving A Large Tank

[jimll]

Hi

I have a well established 200 litre Aquaone windsor 66 tank which im moving to my new flat next week and have been advised by my local shop that i should throw away all my sand and put new sand in when i move.

Their basis for this is 'that stirring up the sand could release a lot of ammonia into the water' I was in another shop yesterday with the view of possibly buying new sand and they told me it was unnecessary and that throwing away my sand would cause me to lose a lot of the filtration (nitrifying bacteria i assume?) contained within the sand and that i should remove the fish, save half the water, give the sand a clean (releasing any ammonia into the water)then drain the rest of the water to waste.

Id appreciate anyones thoughts on comments on the best way forward with this and any other hints or suggestion which could make my tank move go a bit smoother.

Cheers

jim

 

[youngfisher]

Second one sounds better. But someone will let you know

 

[tom_os]

the sand wont realease any noticable ammonia, nor does it contain practically any bacteria. but whilst your moving it, it wont harm to give it a good clean

 

[youngfisher]

Just a little advise, make sure you keep the filter sponge in some of your original tank water till the other tank is set up with water in it.

You dont want all the bacteria to die, although I think it can last a couple of hours out of water. But just get a food bag and put it in some water, simple as that.

Im sure you already know this, just thought i would let you know.

 

[tom_os]

just make sure you know where you want the tank to go in the new place.

if you have fish in there, package them into bags and keep then in a box with heat pads

then move the tank, set it up and re intrduce the fish again, just make sure you plan everything

 

[Davo86]

i should remove the fish, save half the water, give the sand a clean... then drain the rest of the water to waste.

I'd follow that tbh,
but if you wanted to you could drain all of the water (except some for the fish and filters to travel in)
and then fill it up 100% at the new place, matching the ph and temp of the water, before the fish are replaced

 

[minxfishy]

OK, you dont need to remove the sand, just all the water because of the weight obviously. The sand itself will contain no (or fairly undetectable amounts) of good bacteria, so keeping it for that reason is pointless. So if you want new sand, then by all means get some, but a good clean will suffice.

What you want to do is bag the fish in tank water as this is the safest way to move them, however if you dont have bags or want to use a large bucket, then remove enough water to the bucket for them, then net them into the bucket. Throw the rest of the water away as it contains no bacteria anyway.

Keep the filter/media in tank water.

Once the other end of the move, set up the tank with clean fresh dechlorinated water, get the filters/heater etc running, then acclimatise the fish as you would usually to allow for any change in ph. If they are bagged this is easier but still easy enough on the bucket, just remove cups of water from the bucket and place new water from the tank into the bucket over a reasonable length of time.

 

[degsod]

I use a picnick coolbox for transporting fish now (Works in reverse) I put the little blue ice packs into the sink with hot water for 15mins then put these into the cool/warm box and put the fish into bags.

You can get them for £7 from Asda

 

[jimll]

Guys,

thanks for all your help, it sounds like both of the shops i spoke to were not exactly sure what they were talking about! I already have a couple of large polystyrene boxes (which im going to line) for transportation purposes and my filter is external so i'll just close off the inlets and keep the water in it, not too worried about it.

Im also going to get a hold of a few water cooler bottles to transport water in and I really like degsod's idea with the coolbox and the icepacks so I'll maybe incorporate that into my plan as well..

anyone got any advice for the best way to catch a 9' plec, the pet shop told me if i dont mind handling it the least stressful way was to "grab it by the head" which seems a bit harsh, im sure she meant gently though..

Again thanks for all your help guys, much appreciated.

Cheers

jim

pS didnt mention that some of my fish (plec, silver sharks and severum) are prob now too big for bags so I presume best way is just to put them in the lined polystyrene box with some heat packs?

 

[Davo86]

anyone got any advice for the best way to catch a 9' plec, the pet shop told me if i dont mind handling it the least stressful way was to "grab it by the head" which seems a bit harsh, im sure she meant gently though..

from experience, yes that is the easiest way, although 9" is a little smaller than the 18-24" monsters i've had to catch,
place your thumb and first and second fingers just infront of the pectroal fins and hold the fish down for a few seconds, the fish will try to break free but will soon stop and stay still, then just pick it up out of the water.

Don't put your fingers behind the pectoral fins as if the plec clamps its fins together it will hurt!

 

[jimll]

anyone got any advice for the best way to catch a 9' plec, the pet shop told me if i dont mind handling it the least stressful way was to "grab it by the head" which seems a bit harsh, im sure she meant gently though..

from experience, yes that is the easiest way, although 9" is a little smaller than the 18-24" monsters i've had to catch,
place your thumb and first and second fingers just infront of the pectroal fins and hold the fish down for a few seconds, the fish will try to break free but will soon stop and stay still, then just pick it up out of the water.

Don't put your fingers behind the pectoral fins as if the plec clamps its fins together it will hurt!

Im sh1tting myself now!

...was already not looking forward to it!

although 9" is a little smaller than the 18-24" monsters i've had to catch,

sorry did you think it was just a 9" plec, its actually 9' if you see my original post... I may just use a harpoon, lol


thats a jk btw (it is just 9")