Moving A Tank... Complication

[Channti]

Within the next couple months, my family will be moving, which will mean that our 46 gallon tank will also need to be moved.

This tank is home to 7 (well.. 5-9) yoyo loaches (We're not positive on the number these days), and 3 large pieces of very holey driftwood. This means that my loaches often disappear for weeks on end into tunnels in the wood where I can't simply pull them out.

Example: I did a large water change the other day (almost 80%) which left one of the tunnel openings above water. Instead of the loach taking the second exit from that tunnel in the wood into the tank, it flopped around above water until I shifted the wood to be underwater.

What's the best way for getting these extreme-hider fish out of the wood and safely into buckets or bags to be moved?.

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Issue 2: This tank is also home to a school of 12-15 (again, cant get an accurate count) of serpae tetra. These guys move like lightning and evade my nets like a pro. What's the most efficient, least stressful, way to get this fish out of the tank so that I can move them?

 

[Fish Guy]

When I moved my tanks in the past I used four 5 gallon buckets to put the cycled tank water in so I didn't start from scratch. I put the fish in those buckets aswell. Interms of catching the serpae tetras I would take everything out and drain 80% of the water out and then use one small net to guide the tetras into a larger net. The loaches could be tricky by the sounds of it. How big are the pieces of driftwood? If they were small enough you could just take them out and put them for into the transporting bucket/container.

 

[Channti]

They're fairly large chunks of drift wood... I know that I've soaked them all in 5 gallon buckets, and they BARELY fit in the buckets (one piece stuck out a few inches out of the bucket.

 

[Joanne_]

What I do, to ensure there are no fish in tunnels is to very slowly lift the wood out of the water pointing in the opposite direction to how it normally sits (and I lightly sway it) so if the fish were in the tunnel they would swim out. This has worked for me.

Example, if your driftwood sits like this:

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I would pull it out like this:

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[FishFanatic04]

Large Rubbermaid! If that's a weird word, then Large plastic storage bin. If your driftwood fit into a 5 gallon bucket at all, then a $5 Rubbermaid would hold it easily.

I soaked my wood for my 46g in a plastic bin that only cost $5, and the wood is more then 16 inches long.

 

[Roanne]

Hi, I am also moving in a few weeks.Thank you for info on 5 gallon buckets, will the temperature be alright as the fish will be in buckets for about 2 hours?

 

[DrRob]

That'd depend on how cold it was when you move, and how much you can wrap them up in blankets and things.

 

[Channti]

Its averaging 25C here. That's about 77 F. so temperature shouldn't be much of an issue, as I keep the tank around 76-78.

My biggest concern about using a really large container for the wood is that the loaches would leave the wood while in the transport container and possibly be crushed by the driftwood pieces if they shifted. Unfortunately, I've had this happen before when rearranging the tank, and I've grown exceptionally attached to these loaches (I've had them almost 2 years now).

 

[Roanne]

That'd depend on how cold it was when you move, and how much you can wrap them up in blankets and things.

Not moving until end of May, we are in Sussex, on the coast so temps usually a bit warmer down here. I have blankets and bubble wrap so will wrap them up. usually keep tank at 24 degrees.
Thank you for the info.