Transfer Tank

HI Everyone,

That horrible time of the year is here again, moving apartments. I'm moving 3 of my tanks this evening after I get home from work. (75 gallon community tank, 14 gallon pea puffer tank, and 8 gallon betta tank. I moved my 20 gallon feeder snail growing tank last night.

I only set the 75G up a year ago, so I've never moved it. I'm dreading it and am hoping for some opinions from you all on some questions I have.

I'm planning to move the 14 gallon puffer and 8 gallon betta tank together first. That will be easy.

When it comes to the 75G tank... Here are my thoughts. Let me know what you think.

1. Before any of the fish a suspect their evening will include a net chasing them around, bag my two favorite fish, my gourami and spotted congo puffer. I'll move the puffer to the betta's tank and put him in a breeder box incase the betta tries to nip at her. I'll put the gourami in the 20 gallon snail breeder tank. I'll drip acclimate them both of course.

2. Start siphoning and remove the plants and décor. Catch the danios/tetras/cories and bag them. There's about 25 total. I'll keep them in bags until the operation is over.

3. Finish siphoning the tank down and removing rocks/wood. Just until there's substrate left. Then move everything.

My questions are:
1. Do you think it's a good idea to transfer my favorite fish (gourm and puffer) to those tanks temporarily so I don't stress them out in bags? It would involve bagging them twice instead of once, but I think sitting in a holding tank for 2 hours would be less stressful than sitting in a dark bag.
2. Should I remove the substrate out of the 75G tank? I normally never removed the substrate when moving tanks, but the 75G tank is big..... Maybe I buy a piece of plywood and move the tank onto that before carrying it? I'm only moving it to the truck and then driving it a quarter mile to my new apartment unit.

The reason I ask is, I have a ton of shrimp living and breeding in there. I can't catch them, so I was hoping to leave the substrate and a little bit of water in so they can survive for 45 minutes until I can fill it back up.

3. I probably only need to drip acclimate the puffer and gourami once, right? I'll be using the same de-chlorinated tap water for all tanks. I'll temperature acclimate them when putting them back into the 75G.

4. Any other tips?

 

Puffers can't be netted and lifted out of the water - they see the net as a predator, and tend to inflate when engulfed in the net. In water, inflating is fine. Mine actually just do it for giggles sometimes, although I'm sure it wouldn't be good for them to do a ton. Out of the water, it can be deadly, as they can't expel air nearly as easily as they can expel water. You might already know this, but just to make sure, y'know?

Honestly, I move my puffers in containers. When I had my GSP, I moved him in a tupperware container with a lid. It was 4 liters, I filled it halfway, sealed it off, and he was fine for hours. He was a little guy, though. That said, I always find it to be easier to capture them into containers than bags.

As for the gourami, a bag would be fine, but if you wanted to do the tank, that's fine too. I'd actually almost argue that the stress of being netted twice might be more than sitting in a bag. I could be wrong, though.

I've moved tanks with substrate in them before, but it's always been under 20 gallons and I've always had people to help keep it steady. With a 75... I'd go ahead and remove the substrate, or do the plywood idea and be incredibly careful. That's up to you, but honestly, I wouldn't chance it. The shrimp should be easily caught once there's not much water in there. Get yourself a large net, and I find that shrimp tend to dart into nets more often than they dart away, at least in shallow water.

Honestly, you probably don't even need to drip. If you can take the time to drip them, it's a good idea. But I doubt the water is going to be that different less than a mile away, unless one of the buildings actively changes their tap water.

 

when I upgrade my tanks I drain the water low, makes it much easier to net.

you could put them in an ice chest and move them just once.

a 75 gallon is 80 lbs plus substrate could be another 80-120 lbs. plywood and 2 long pieces of 2x4 as handles would make it easier to move around.

 

Puffers can't be netted and lifted out of the water - they see the net as a predator, and tend to inflate when engulfed in the net. In water, inflating is fine. Mine actually just do it for giggles sometimes, although I'm sure it wouldn't be good for them to do a ton. Out of the water, it can be deadly, as they can't expel air nearly as easily as they can expel water. You might already know this, but just to make sure, y'know?

Honestly, I move my puffers in containers. When I had my GSP, I moved him in a tupperware container with a lid. It was 4 liters, I filled it halfway, sealed it off, and he was fine for hours. He was a little guy, though. That said, I always find it to be easier to capture them into containers than bags.

As for the gourami, a bag would be fine, but if you wanted to do the tank, that's fine too. I'd actually almost argue that the stress of being netted twice might be more than sitting in a bag. I could be wrong, though.

I've moved tanks with substrate in them before, but it's always been under 20 gallons and I've always had people to help keep it steady. With a 75... I'd go ahead and remove the substrate, or do the plywood idea and be incredibly careful. That's up to you, but honestly, I wouldn't chance it. The shrimp should be easily caught once there's not much water in there. Get yourself a large net, and I find that shrimp tend to dart into nets more often than they dart away, at least in shallow water.

Honestly, you probably don't even need to drip. If you can take the time to drip them, it's a good idea. But I doubt the water is going to be that different less than a mile away, unless one of the buildings actively changes their tap water.

Ya I know that about puffers. I do the netting/bagging underwater so they don't inflate with air. All of my puffers are such sweethearts though and have never minded getting netted in the past. The only time I've ever had one puff up is when my fiancé accidently sucked a pea puffer up during a partial water change a year ago. Lol. Poor guy was shook for a day.

You make a good point about bagging them twice. I was worried about that. It's probably best to just get bag them then do the move as fast as possible.

I'm moving to a unit in the same complex, so it's all the same tap water. The reason I was considering drip acclimating is because I haven't done a water change 2 weeks. Since I'm doing essentially a 100% water change today, I didn't care if the nitrates got a little high (which for me is like 15 to 20 ppm lol). But I know the PH drops from about 7.9 out of the tap to about 7.6 after a week from nitrification and all my drift wood. Does this change your opinion on the drip acclimation?

when I upgrade my tanks I drain the water low, makes it much easier to net.

you could put them in an ice chest and move them just once.

a 75 gallon is 80 lbs plus substrate could be another 80-120 lbs. plywood and 2 long pieces of 2x4 as handles would make it easier to move around.

Good idea. I'll stop at home depot and check make a little contraption like this.

 

Even with the PH differences, I still think they'd be okay with a plop and drop. That said, a drip isn't a bad idea, so if you have the time, go for it!

 

Even with the PH differences, I still think they'd be okay with a plop and drop. That said, a drip isn't a bad idea, so if you have the time, go for it!

Thanks!

 

The move is done! Everyone got safely transferred, even my plants appear to be fine!

Here's what I did in case you were wondering. Lol

1. Remove 25% of water and remove puffer and gourami.
2. Take out all the plants, wood, and rocks. Then siphon out to 40% capacity.
3. Catch easy fish, then siphon more and catch other fish. Siphon water to around 5% full.
4. Remove the sand which occupies about 60% of the tank. I left my SeaChem Flourite and a tiny bit of water in the tank since I have so many shrimp in there.
5. Use suction cups to lift tank about of stand and slide plywood under it to transfer.
6. Setup tank at new place, filled with water, and temp acclimated fish. I didn't worry about drip acclimating them.

This morning, everyone seemed fine. Danios and tetras were still stressed, but that's normal for them after things like this. The gourm and puffer were out swimming around.