New Tank.....

[mellyville1985]

Ok, so me and my boyfriend went to a furniture clearance shop where we had seen a tank we wanted to buy..... we paid for it and just as we were about to load it into the car the bloke says to me, 'i dont suppose you fancy taking this instead do you??' he was referring to the massive well established tank with a great big not for sale sign on it! i didnt have time to measure it or anything but he said we can have the tank, heater, 2 filters, gravel, ornaments, plants, bubble wall AND the fish needless to say we jumped at the chance! there is an angel in there, there was a pair originally but both didnt survive the move into the shop some months ago. i also spotted some gouramis possible three spot but not sure but the other fish i didnt recognise!! i'm so excited as once we move the tank home we will hopefully be able to intoduce some of our current fish from our tiny small tank and just leave the cardinals behind with one of our mollies i think....

So, anybody got any advice for moving a big tank with fish?? i would like to cause as little stress as possible to the current residents of the tank but accept we may lose one or two.... we have left the money we were gonna pay for the smaller tank as a deposit but it is an absolute bargain getting a fully established huge tank with all the gear and fish for the price we have probably spent setting up out 2 foot tank!!!!!

i will have to identify the other members of the tank to make sure they are gonna be compatible with anything i want to add, i might need help with that bit so will post photos! any advice will be greatfully welcomed!!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

you'll need to get a load of bags for the fish and a big polybox or two, the fish shop should should be able to give/sell you these.

- switch off all equipment to the tank, drain it to one third full
- remove all decor and bag it up
- start catching fish and bagging them up, if you're not very experienced catching fish then use two nets, hold a large one at one end of the tank and use a smaller one to chase fish into the large net. if in doubt put as few fish in each bag as possible, they don't need that much water but make sure there is plenty of air so oxygen can get into the water for them.
- pack up the bags of fish into the polyboxes, pack them in so that they're snug and won't rattle around everywhere
- drain the rest of the tank
- pack up equipment, make sure you keep the filter media in tank water all the time, an external filter can just be sealed off full but for an internal bag the media up like you would a fish.
- scoop out all the substrate, keep it or sling it, your choice!
- pack everything up into your car and get it home
- put the tank in place and level it off
- hook up all the equipment but don't switch it on
- add substrate (if your using the old stuff and it was mucky then give it a good rinse before putting it back into the tank)
- fill with dechlorinated water, can just dump dechlor into the tank then fill with a hose if this is easier, you may want to add some warm water to help it get up to temp quicker
- when the heater and filter inlet are submerged switch them on
- leave the tank around one third full
- get the decor back in the tank however you want it
- when the tank is up to temp then add fish back into it, acclimitise them as you would when bringing them home from the shop as your pH etc may be different to what they were in before
- when all the fish are in top the last little bit of the tank off (it'll most likely be nearly full now with the water from the bags they were in)
- keep lights switched off and don't feed for 24hrs
- run water tests every day for a week to make sure you haven't got a mini cycle.

 

[mellyville1985]

ooh thanks for the advice i will print that out and take it with me! luckily the bloke in the shop said we can take as long as we want to move it so i have time to plan and make sure i have enough bags boxes etc. it isnt actually a fish store its a house clearance store so he has obviously acquired the tank and the fish but doesnt want to look after it any more. the tank is quite grubby but all the ornaments and rocks etc are gorgeous with lots of plants. i had thought about keeping the filter in tank water for the move..... the filter from what i saw of it is quite big and seemed to be boxed in so i could only see the outlet. should i just leave this where it is when we move the tank or try and dismantle the box (if possible) and bag it?

i am so glad i found this site i feel so much more confident with all the previous advice i have received i probably wouldnt have agreed to it otherwise so thanks everyone!!

 

[mellyville1985]

well moved the tank on saturday... managed to save about a third of the water and havent lost any fish so far! so thanks for the advice miss wiggle! apart from finding out the tank is infested with snails which ive mentioned on another thread there have been no other problems. i noticed one of the fish is very bloated and has been since we've had the tank but not sure if its anything sinister... no scales sticking out and it seems to be behaving normally. its a zebra danio, hope its not dropsy!

 

[indir-emir]

Nah dont get yourself worked up. Danios tend to be pigs lol, they will eat till their skin cant stretch anymore My leopard danios are often fat from stealing algae wafers from the BNs lol.

As far as i know (alot of research on this lol) it is normal thing for them to do.

Goodluck with the tank!!!

Regards,
Indir

 

[Ribcracker]

Is this really ok behaviour for leopard Danios?
I have 2 and they are both bloated, or could this an indication of anything else?
Nothing else in my well stocked tank is bloated, except occasionally the Dwarf Gourami's seem a little fatter across the girth.
It hasn't slowed the Danio's down either, they're still as frenetic as ever?

Nah dont get yourself worked up. Danios tend to be pigs lol, they will eat till their skin cant stretch anymore My leopard danios are often fat from stealing algae wafers from the BNs lol.

As far as i know (alot of research on this lol) it is normal thing for them to do.

Goodluck with the tank!!!

Regards,
Indir

 

[indir-emir]

Yeah im pretty sure its normal, as long as their scales and such are not pine coning (that isnt good) but they seem to be pigs and eat to the point where their skin wont stretch any wider lol. If im wrong im sure someone smarter will correct me, but from my research and what people say it is normal when they get bloated. They steal everyone food

Regards,
Indir

 

[mellyville1985]

i keep checking mine to make sure its not pineconing but it is just RREEEAALLY fat i have cut down my feeding but as i have only had the tank a week and i dont feed much anyway i can only assume the previous owner overfed! they all fight for food at the surface and its gone in under a minute.... i just make sure they all get some and thats it! would danios eat small snails and snail eggs?? thats the only other thing i can think its eating!! im gonna try and get a pic... it is about 2/3 times of my female guppy when shes about to pop its quite un nerving!!

 

[mellyville1985]

just got home and the danio has died! it was fine first thing this morning poor thing hope it was just stress from moving the tank and not something more sinister......