how to swap tanks?

[helen nightingale]

i bought myself a new tank for my loaches, a nice 500l tank. its in the sitting room, and the old one is in the kitchen. i am now trying to work out the best way to move all the fish, filters, sand and wood from the old one to the new one. i am not looking forward to it at all. 5 foot is quite a lot of space to swim away from nets, especially as the top of the tank is at my eye level. i am dreading moving all the sand too.

people here are bound to have had to have transferred fish tank contents, how did you do yours?

lurking under the wood, i have a striata i hardly ever see. i bought it ages ago, and it promptly dissapeared. somehow it damaged an eye, so i think it lurks because it cant see properly on one side and is out-competed for food or feels threatened by the yoyos. i feed granules that get all over the tank, so it can still eat, and sometimes i can watch it. it hasnt grown much though. catching it has been impossible so far. now it has to be caught, what do you think is the best thing to do with it?

it might be OK in with my dwarf cories and rasboras as the water is similar, but its only a 2 foot tank, and there are 6 cories. or i could get a q tank going for it (would take more persuasion - last time i had a q tank running, it was running for a lot longer than i had promised). i have a couple of decrepid rasboras it could live with till they snuff it from old age. or something else?

please dont tell me any disaster stories until after i have got everything moved! any tips are much appreciated though

[theonetruepath]

Once you've moved all the 'furniture' simply lower the water level to a few inches. This reduces the 3D problem to a 2D one and it should be easy to catch them.

If you have any insanely fast fish like skunk botias then you might even have to drop it to almost empty and tilt it toward on side to reduce the problem to 1D.

Catching fish is always easy if you are prepared to completely dismantle your tank, it's catching them in a fully furnished/planted tank that's hard.

Your striata will probably come out and flourish if you add more of them, I don't think a missing eye will hold it back at all.

If you really want to take it out of the new tank later it's possible to catch them in a plastic coke bottle trap.

[Emma Turner]

I would definitely move most of the water across to the new tank before catching the fish out of a couple of inches of water with big nets. Makes it so much easier and is less stressful on them and you.

You know, if you'd like a hand, give us a shout and I will attempt to make Steve take a day off work (he needs one). We've moved a lot of tanks before and have been meaning to take you up on that offer of a cuppa anyway!

Emma

P.S. Don't worry if not, we won't be offended!

[chefkeith]

I use a big rubbermaid container to put driftwood in and cover that with tank water. That way if there are any hitchhikers on the wood they won't be out of the water for much time.

Chasing bottom dwellers like loaches is never easy. This is the part that takes me the longest. The more nets the better.

For sand I usually scoop most of it up with a dough cutter/scrapper and put it in a 5 gallon bucket.
I'll also use a clean wet/dry vac to get the remaining sand out, but getting the sand out of the vac can be difficult.

[Diana]

I have done this quite often, sometimes including moving the tank and setting it up in another room, then refilling with substrate, plants, fish etc.
I would move stuff in this order:
1) Remove from tank and put into buckets enough water for the fish.
2) Larger ornaments, set them roughly where they will go in the new tank. As noted above, if there is ANY possibility of a fish hiding in the wood work, then put this item in a bucket or plastic box big enough that the fish is in water.
3) Equipment. Move it to the new tank but do not plug it in yet. (no water in there, yet.)
4) Plants to buckets. Removing the rooted plants will cloud the water in the tank. Allow it to settle.
5) Drain as much water as you need to to catch the fish. There is very little nitrifying bacteria in the water, but if the water chemistry is different you may want to partially fill the new tank with some, but continue reading before you go ahead with this. Saving some water in buckets is another option, if you must save water. I have done transfers that include 100% water changes and have no problems.
6) Catch fish. Keep them in buckets with lids.
7) Clean the sand as you remove it from the tank. You could add more water to help rinse it if you need to. Move the sand to the new tank, and arrange the decorations.
Plant with the sand damp, or BARELY covered in water. Or not even covered in water. This way when you fill the tank it is as clear as possible.
9) Fill the tank with new water, saved water or whatever, by pouring it in on top of a plate or plastic bag. This will reduce the clouding by minimizing the disturbance in the sand.
10) Turn on equipment and make sure it all works.
11) Add fish.
12) keep the lights off the rest of the day, and maybe minimize feeding if the fish are still hiding the next day or so.


More fish catching hints: If you have a piece of glass or plastic that fits in the tank you can use this to reduce the space that the fish are in, making it easier to catch them. Burrowing fish may completely hide under the sand, so be careful moving the sand. (I could not find 2 Cories in a tank when I moved it, and gave them up for lost, only to find the sand wiggling when the water was below the top of the sand) (They are alive and kicking today!)

[helen nightingale]

thank you all for your advise i think i have been worrying rather than thinking straight

Diana how do you stay sane, doing this often? you are a brave lady

[Diana]

Who ever said I was sane?

[helen nightingale]

thats probably why you fit in well here

[Glostik]

I suggest using a Python to remove all the sand, if you remove the large part aka the sifter, it will syphon up all your sand with no problems, just put it all in a bucket.