Long-distance moving

[bassbonediva]

Hi all! Haven't been on in a while because of school and such, but thought I'd ask a question while I'm on here before diving back into classes (25 credits this semester!).

Next year (hopefully toward the beginning of the year) I'm going to be moving from Arizona to Washington state and taking my tanks with me. Currently I have all the tanks listed in my signature, plus a 46gal bowfront that isn't set up at the moment. I want to keep all my fish with me and live during this move. The bettas will be relatively easy, as I've moved with bettas before and since they're surface breathers, I usually just stick them back in the cups they came in (I save them because they're useful for other things too) and make sure they don't tip over. The problem will be moving the upside down catfish, tiger barbs, platies, gourami, otos, kuhlis, and cory. Any ideas? My one idea so far was to save some of those big plastic ice cream buckets (I think they're 2 gallons or something like that), cut a couple of small holes in the top, run airline tubing from a battery-operated air pump into the ice cream bucket and call it good.

 

[jrs@50]

a few days on the road

Hi, I'm jim and am new to the forum, but have been keeping our little aquatic friends for quite a while. I think your container idea is a good one because of the aeration and if you were to insulate the containers say wrapped in a couple layers of blanket or a quilt so that the temperature change was gradual and stable you might have a chance, just don't feed the fish a few days before your trip and that should help keep the water clean for the ride.Shock is the biggest factor in this endeavor cause once that sets in we start losing fish. I would only try this in your car, like on the floor in the back or maybe the trunk cause I dont think they'd make it as far as california bouncing around in the back of a u-haul, and lastly I would try and take as much of your biological filter as possible. You have about 110 gallons of water collectively and each tank has an established colony of bacteria working for you , I would want like two or three buckets of your current aquarium water with the substrate and all the mulm that goes with it in the u-haul with it's own battery pump to keep the bacteria alive for when you get to where you are going.squeeze out your filter pads and sponges into the water as well.You want to have as much of their old home ready for them when the trip is over cause if you put them into new uncycled water in the new location it will just insure that any stress they are going through at the time is followed by shock and death.Kordon makes a couple of additives that would go along way towards success also, it's the stuff they squirt in with the fish when you buy from petsmart, stresszyme or something like that.The best thing you have done so far is planning this in advance cause as you talk to more people and get other info on the forums Im sure you will find most people are going to say it prolly wont work.About the best way possible would be to leave the fish with friends in a temporary set up with some of their current water and then when you get to washington and set up the tank have the fish shipped to you just as if you were to order from fosters and smith's live aquaria and when you get them they have been in the air for 45 minutes and just need to be acclimated in their own water. good luck with this, jim.