choochiegirl

Was sitting here all nice & doing my homework when I heard a drip-drip, went to may tank and noticed water on the floor!!! since it's late, no where to go for a replacement, I remembered what I had read on here before about using a Rubber maid container as a temporary option. So i have all my fish, the tank water, filter, bubbler, decos & plants and heater set up in a huge container until I can get a replacement.

What can I expect as I transfer it all back? I have my gravel soaking in tank water in a bucket for overnight, fish are in tank water with all their accessories (hopefully won't lose any fish). When I move my water back I know to treat the new water added before adding my fish back. I'm hoping keeping my filter & gravel wet will keep the bacteria ok.

What order should i repopulate my new tank? Gravel, some tank water, decos, more tank water & New treated water, accessories, then my fish? Will i have a mini cycle?

Any advice would be lovely!!

armadillo

Hi Choochiegirl. You've had all the right reflexes. That must have been a stressful night. I shudder to think about it.

I would say it would be surprising if you did not have a mini cycle, but all the precautions you took may prevent you from having a full-blown 6-week one.

So you're going to replace the tank altogether? Is it beyond repair? They sell aquarium silicon in most aquarium shops.

I'd say it doesn't really matter what order you put the fish back in. I'd put the objects/set-up/gravel back in first, to minimize stress once the fish is moved back. You could also use that opportunity to change dominance order, or even it out a little, by adding the most subservient ones first, but then you'd need to space the re-introduction of the more dominant ones by a few hours for this to have any effect.

One thing also, if your problem (and temporary accommodation) is going to last more than a day, then I'd pollute the gravel in the bucket regularly (every 12 hour or so), to make sure it stays cycled. Although the move and disturbance of the whole gravel will have lost you a fair bit of the bacterial, that's all the more reason to keep the surviving ones running.

If I were you, I would not have the patience to put fish back in 3 by 3, leaving a week between each batch, as is recommended for introduction in a new tank (to do with the cycle), but that's just me.

choochiegirl

i'm going to all out replace it, the leak is at a seam right on the bottom, we got the tank used & it held up for 6 months, but now I want new, Also noticed the hood is getting a lot of algae in the light fixture, so probably it was a a good thing to happen, just didn't want it to happen THIS way.

I want to get everyone transferred back tonight into the new tank, i don't have a lot of room with a container in the middle of my floor now and don't have the equipment or the money to have 2 running. I'll just have to test daily my levels & See how that goes. I hope it's ok leaving them with no hood light, the hood is on the container is there just so they don't jump, i don't want the light on next to the rubber when I'm not home

choochiegirl

Well got a new tank, slightly larger 38 G which is ok as I am overstocked, all glass and the cover fits better too,no dribbles. came with spare heater, and bio wheel filter so if I'm ever stuck i have those to use.

Only lost 1 fish, a cardinal, looks like it jumped out last night. The move went well, gonna have to monitor my water daily tho to make sure no mini cycle occurs. But i think I did ok keeping the gravel & filter wet with tank water and putting half the tank water back in. Kinda like a water change in there

COBettaCouple

sounds like you did it right and i'm sorry you lost the one , but you did avert disaster. When we moved from Florida to Colorado, the substrata was barely kept wet for 5 days, but our tanks still got back to cycled within 2 weeks. I'd expect your new tank to do even better at getting back to cycled.