dave601m
Non-member
Hi - questions about moving a fish only with some live rock tank
i'm headin to wisconsin in august, and trying to plan the tank move (in all, a 6 gal and a 29 gal freshwater and a 46 bow saltwater fowlr will be making the move with me), though i may consolidate the few fish in the 6 into the 29 before the move)
I will be driving out there in a Uhaul. If i can convince some poor sucker to to drive with me (Any Takers from BRS?) I will be driving straight through and my girlfriend will be flying (she doesn't drive). so i'm looking at about 24 hours or so in the uhaul for me, and maybe 5 hours total for my girlfriend (travel to air port, in air, airport to new house, etc.)
so my three options so far are:
1. fly the fish with my girlfriend, with limited water and supplies. her family lives out there and can buy us replacement tanks, filters, etc. before she arrives, but they prob wouldn't be able to do it soon enough for a full cycle to happen. My thoughts would be to keep my bio-wheels up and running in all my tanks until the move, and send those with her and the fish so there is some ammonia processing in the new tank. the downside is it'll be all new water (would water chemistry matter if it is RO water vs. tap water? i use all tap right now, but could make the change if it would help here). the benefit is that the fish have the shortest commute.
2. bring the fish in the uhaul with me. i would put them in three 5 gal buckets (1 for each tank). i could keep those three buckets up in the A/C'd cab with me so they don't cook in the back, and keep the rest of the tank's water in the back of the uhaul so that when we arrive in WI, they have their old water still. i would use battery operated air pumps, and float the bio-wheels in the buckets for the duration of the trip. downside here is if there are any problems with the uhaul, and it breaks down in the middle of nowhere in august, i'm SOL, and from what i've heard, those vehicles aren't the most reliable.
3. give all my fish to another hobbyist to hold onto (possibly with current tanks). move, set up all my tanks (or buy new ones if i give them up here), wait for a cycle, and have that hobbiest overnight them. downside here is that they have to be well pakaged w/ oxygen, etc to make the trip. alternatively, i could find a hobbiest out there, and overnight them myself for holding out there until I arrive and can re-cycle my tanks.
i'm quite attached to these little guys, so simply giving them away and starting from scratch in WI isn't an option i would like to consider unless i absolutely have to.
anyone have good luck with a long distance tank move before who could give me some ideas or suggestions? Thanks for advice and for reading this gianormous post!
i'm headin to wisconsin in august, and trying to plan the tank move (in all, a 6 gal and a 29 gal freshwater and a 46 bow saltwater fowlr will be making the move with me), though i may consolidate the few fish in the 6 into the 29 before the move)
I will be driving out there in a Uhaul. If i can convince some poor sucker to to drive with me (Any Takers from BRS?) I will be driving straight through and my girlfriend will be flying (she doesn't drive). so i'm looking at about 24 hours or so in the uhaul for me, and maybe 5 hours total for my girlfriend (travel to air port, in air, airport to new house, etc.)
so my three options so far are:
1. fly the fish with my girlfriend, with limited water and supplies. her family lives out there and can buy us replacement tanks, filters, etc. before she arrives, but they prob wouldn't be able to do it soon enough for a full cycle to happen. My thoughts would be to keep my bio-wheels up and running in all my tanks until the move, and send those with her and the fish so there is some ammonia processing in the new tank. the downside is it'll be all new water (would water chemistry matter if it is RO water vs. tap water? i use all tap right now, but could make the change if it would help here). the benefit is that the fish have the shortest commute.
2. bring the fish in the uhaul with me. i would put them in three 5 gal buckets (1 for each tank). i could keep those three buckets up in the A/C'd cab with me so they don't cook in the back, and keep the rest of the tank's water in the back of the uhaul so that when we arrive in WI, they have their old water still. i would use battery operated air pumps, and float the bio-wheels in the buckets for the duration of the trip. downside here is if there are any problems with the uhaul, and it breaks down in the middle of nowhere in august, i'm SOL, and from what i've heard, those vehicles aren't the most reliable.
3. give all my fish to another hobbyist to hold onto (possibly with current tanks). move, set up all my tanks (or buy new ones if i give them up here), wait for a cycle, and have that hobbiest overnight them. downside here is that they have to be well pakaged w/ oxygen, etc to make the trip. alternatively, i could find a hobbiest out there, and overnight them myself for holding out there until I arrive and can re-cycle my tanks.
i'm quite attached to these little guys, so simply giving them away and starting from scratch in WI isn't an option i would like to consider unless i absolutely have to.
anyone have good luck with a long distance tank move before who could give me some ideas or suggestions? Thanks for advice and for reading this gianormous post!
