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Todays fry count is 34 and that's *after* I took the mop out and sucked up a heap of mulm so maybe they were there yesterday, just too small to see. Unfortunately also today one of my loaches dropped dead. I didn't see any problems with her prior and even earlier this afternoon didn't notice anything wrong, then this evening she was tucked into the corner of the tank, stiff and shedding slime. The only oddity about her was her belly was a bit big, I have three that vary in size from month to month and I've always just assumed that was eggs developing and being reabsorbed (or laid). But now since she died and was pretty big in the belly I wonder if she was full of tapeworms or something like that, her skin condition and everything else looked perfectly fine, appetite fine, this really came out of nowhere so my mind goes straight away to internal problems especially since all the other fish in the tank are behaving fine. I do worm all my fish when I get them but I think I have been a bit slack about worming them again over time so as well as a water change (which was scheduled tonight anyway) I'm going to try worming the remaining fish to see what happens. Do loaches get bloat? I was also thinking maybe she was just the greediest fish in the tank who ate too much. On the upside one huge loach has to be the same bioload as 3 rainbowfish I think so it'll help make room in that tank for a few more once they're big enough. I can't just keep throwing fish I've bred into that tank though, with the sterbai, barbs, rasboras and loaches its about at capacity so I'm going to have to take some of the barbs out before I put the rainbows back in I think. further update: I found a recipe for dosing wormer in food which made treating the 450lt/125g tank a lot easier, the medicated food got into all the bottom dwelling fish and maybe half of the rasboras, they tasted the food then spat it out but I have another dose of it left so maybe tomorrow they'll be hungry enough to try it. Stoca Zola fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Dec 27, 2020 |
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Dec 27, 2020 14:22
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Good luck with the wee fishies! Sorry to hear about the loaches. I love kuhlis. AKA: Noods, Noodles, etc So far no sign of nymphs. Is it probably still in the egg form? Or maybe I scared off the dragonfly when I threw a shoe at it after it went up to my wall? Gonna jiggle a few plants at their tops since nymphs breathe out of their butts.
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Dec 28, 2020 03:26
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I bet they'd still be eggs, just thinking about the dragonfly lifecycle and they come and go with the seasons so I think it's a yearly thing; I bet the nymphs don't grow fast because they don't want to turn into dragonflies when there's no food around outside the water. So in keeping with that I think the eggs wouldn't hatch fast either, if there were any. This is just a guess based on observation but a quick google says that nymphs can take years to finish growing so I think even if you had any you'd have plenty of time to spot them before they got big enough to be dangeous. I think I am going to get more kuhlies when the rainbowfish breeding craziness is over! The rainbows are slow growing so it will be a while before I have more free time to set up tanks, but I think kuhlies on the bottom, rainbows in the midwater would be a good combo. I've got to stop breeding fish, I'm running out of room! That or hurry up and reseal the big cube tank and dig a hole for my pond, my rosy barbs are definitely big enough to go into a pond now and then I could consolidate my guppies together and free up a 3 foot tank. That 3 foot tank might be a good option for use when I need to rehome everyone in my bow front tank where the silicone looks bad. It's one of the earlier tanks I have had and it's very mature with plants and dual filtration. Ah it's just a matter of directing my motivation and energy into these things that need to be done!
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Dec 28, 2020 04:34
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Is this the right thread to bounce ideas off for planning a 5 gal planted tank? I'm interested in keeping plants first, then adding some cherry shrimp, then if things become stable enough that they start breeding, I thought it might be nice to add some nano fish. I'm not sure what exact plants I want just yet, and not sure what fish I might want. That's what I would need some help with. Also, considering a snail. Perhaps with the fish, perhaps instead of the fish. Perhaps it might be too much of a calcium thief, and I shouldn't keep one with shrimp. Toying with the idea of some fish that might prey on baby shrimp to keep a damper on the population somewhat. Not too sure how viable any of this is. I've been watching piles of youtube videos about all this stuff, and have quite a few ideas. But, as with most hobby / diy / pet / cooking things, I consistently find good advice when I ask on the SA forums. vvv oh yeah, I've seen that one, and about a gorillion hours more from aquarium co-op and other related channels. Wondering if a really heavily planted tank with some of those celestial pearl danios would be alright with cherry shrimp? And are there snails like nerites that need more salinity to breed, but won't escape on me? I should also add, I'm just musing over ideas for planning at this point, and trying to learn more before I make any decisions. I was just curious if this is the proper place to ask, when I'm getting serious about planning? B33rChiller fucked around with this message at 06:02 on Dec 28, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 05:47
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You might see some of these: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN80dX_RktA (it's a top 10 nanofish list). Edit: Also I am super in awe of the chili rasboras. Aerofallosov fucked around with this message at 06:01 on Dec 28, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 05:57
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B33rChiller posted:Is this the right thread to bounce ideas off for planning a 5 gal planted tank? If you’re not particularly experienced, you can get a sampler pack of plants from a lot of places online, or even Petco these days has a pretty decent selection of beginner-friendly basic plants in tubes and in tanks. I’ve had good experiences with Petco plants recently, all things considered. A basic variety pack or 3-5 Petco plants (always remember to price match!) will run you $15-30. Don’t spend more than that on plants for your first tank(s). Otherwise, my best advice is to get your rock/wood elements dialed in and on-point first. Plants grow on their landscape, not the other way around. A lot of beginners start with a big plant or two and then try to shove in a log or centerpiece rock. Now, obviously you can pull a rock or log out in order to plant a large plant that goes behind the feature or whatever, but what I mean is that you always want to design with an eye for narrative. Why does your landscape look the way it does? Do the rocks/plants/debris make sense together? I like to make up small stories when laying out my rockscape: ”this piece broke off from this bigger piece” “These two rocks were pushed up together”, etc. But also don’t take it too seriously, and good tanks are sums that are much better than their individual parts. I’ve often found myself less than thrilled with a rockscape only to feel much better about it once planted. And a freshly-planted tank will look like poo poo compared to a mature tank where the plants have had months to grow in and fit themselves into their environment. You can’t fake that stuff, you simply have to let plants do their thing. Dragon stone is a classic, and a bag should get you through at least 2-3 tanks, unless you happen to also do bonsai and you take a bunch of pretty rocks for that. There are also other colors and styles of popular aquarium stone. Always do your best to ensure you’re getting ethically-sourced and mined material. Also if you have the space/load-bearing capacity I’d encourage you toward a 10gal rather than 5, they’re virtually always priced within a negligible margin of each other. Having more volume means better protection from things like water chemistry changes and contamination, and five gallon tanks are a real pain to have to keep topped up if you don’t have a glass cover or something similar. You will also utterly fill a 5gal with plants within like a month if you plant it at all moderately and light it appropriately (my dad has to frequently scape his 5gal office tank and there’s like 3 plants in there). It doesn’t sound like it, but 10gal gives you a lot more breathing room and allows you to put enough distance between the plants and light that they don’t immediately go bugfuck and take over. Also don’t buy a light at Petco. Amazon is the devil but it’s also the best place to get a high quality LED tank light for like $25. I like Hygger lights and I’ve even used one on a nanoreef for a bit.
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Dec 28, 2020 06:13
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That seems like some grade A advice, and has given me a lot to think about as I plan. Thank you One part stood out to me: Ok Comboomer posted:And a freshly-planted tank will look like poo poo compared to a mature tank where the plants have had months to grow in and fit themselves into their environment. You can’t fake that stuff, you simply have to let plants do their thing. I unfortunately, do not have room for a 10gal. I understand that this will greatly increase the difficulty of maintaining stable water conditions, and will necessitate more maintenance. It is a factor that I am aware of, and am willing to attempt to deal with it. Ideally, I'd have a big old warm and humid room glassed in and full of tropical plants and tanks requiring sedan sized canister filters, but alas, we're packed to the gills in this place already.
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Dec 28, 2020 06:39
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A planted tank is a bit more stable than a bare one, and a tank stocked lightly is more stable than a busy highly stocked tank. If you're diligent and patient I think a 5g can be done and doesn't have to be a hassle - the more research you do up front the easier time you have once the tank is underway but hands on experience is the best teacher of all. So post pics once you get the tank started!
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Dec 28, 2020 07:15
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B33rChiller posted:That seems like some grade A advice, and has given me a lot to think about as I plan. Thank you If you’re big on the planted aspect, definitely dig in to the walstad method. I have a 7 gal planted tank with cherries and snails that has needed no real attention after the first month or two. if you choose to go with nerite snail, get only one. If they mate you will have a trail of immovable white eggs that defy physics.
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Dec 28, 2020 08:00
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Stoca Zola posted:A planted tank is a bit more stable than a bare one, and a tank stocked lightly is more stable than a busy highly stocked tank. If you're diligent and patient I think a 5g can be done and doesn't have to be a hassle - the more research you do up front the easier time you have once the tank is underway but hands on experience is the best teacher of all. So post pics once you get the tank started! Sorry. I should clarify that my main beef with 5gal tanks is that you really have to be on top of water top-ups if you don’t put a solid lid on. A 10gal will happily go a week+ open-top without needing the addition of water, and maybe you’ll lose like half an inch or an inch maximum. With a 5gal you’ll need to top up weekly or possibly even more frequently than that depending on how dry your room is and how heavily you run your heat/whether it’s HVAC. And if you don’t (say you’re on a short trip for 3-4 days) you might expose the tops of your plants, which could potentially dry/kill the tips/stunt their growth. It’s not remotely a massive deal, probably even less so with Covid, but it’s the sort of thing where if you could feasibly spend $15 on either a 5 or 10g and nothing else is limiting you (in this case OP doesn’t have the room for 10gal, so this point is moot), the bigger tank might give you a slightly easier time. Slightly. Don’t worry about it, OP. Buy the tank that fits your space, plant it, have fun, and post lots of pics. But do keep a large water bottle next to your tank for quick + easy top ups.
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Dec 28, 2020 12:04
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Hey no apology needed, I wasn't trying to contradict you, just adding my two cents - I don't think there's anything wrong or misleading in what you posted! You're completely right about evaporation too. Personally I have trouble picturing a location that a 10g won't fit but a 5g will, they're generally not twice the length but I would be the first to admit that I have a poor imagination at times. And normally I'd tell any beginner to not go smaller than a 15g if they aren't sure about how much time they can spend on a tank. My sister's 15g gets regularly ignored for weeks and weeks but the plants/algae/duckweed soak up the excess nutrients from fish waste and the fairly bright LED lighting powers it all. I think a 10g would have crashed and burned long ago with the kind of punishment she gives that poor tank. It's not that she's a pet abuser, she's got a complicated life and does get a bit of peace from the tank when it isn't greenly glaring at her with algaefied glass. It doesn't take that long to clean it up either.
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Dec 28, 2020 15:40
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edit: messed up, meant to post Levin fucked around with this message at 01:54 on Jan 2, 2021 |
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Dec 28, 2020 17:53
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ickna posted:If you’re big on the planted aspect, definitely dig in to the walstad method. I have a 7 gal planted tank with cherries and snails that has needed no real attention after the first month or two. if you choose to go with nerite snail, get only one. If they mate you will have a trail of immovable white eggs that defy physics. Or you can have my nerite, who lays eggs incessantly despite there being no other nerites in the tank.
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Dec 28, 2020 18:50
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Corte I think a goldfish sitting on the bottom is either sleeping or has an uncomfortably full belly. Gasping at the surface would be a dire emergency so at least you're not seeing that. Ammonia build up I think would result in equally agitated fish. So I think maybe the auto feeder has dumped a little too much and goldfish being true to form has hoovered it all. Safest move I think would be to fast the fish, turn the feeder off, assuming you're not away for too much longer. That's my best guess anyway. I hope your friend finds your fish in fair shape.
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Dec 28, 2020 19:47
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Stoca Zola posted:Corte I think a goldfish sitting on the bottom is either sleeping or has an uncomfortably full belly. Gasping at the surface would be a dire emergency so at least you're not seeing that. Ammonia build up I think would result in equally agitated fish. So I think maybe the auto feeder has dumped a little too much and goldfish being true to form has hoovered it all. Safest move I think would be to fast the fish, turn the feeder off, assuming you're not away for too much longer. That's my best guess anyway. I hope your friend finds your fish in fair shape. Thanks for the fast response Stoca. They have arrived and things seem worse than I thought. My fish is lying on it's side, not resting at the bottom. I called my local store and they said they think it's overfeeding from the auto feeder as the fish wouldn't be that worse off after 5-7 days without food. My friends are not comfortable performing a water change so it looks like I'm stuck driving 3 or so hours to get back and try to save the guy. Called store again, they say they don't stock anything that can help and water change is the only option. They said creating a temporary living space in a bucket would be a shock and best to leave the fish in the tank. I'm heading out shortly to try and save the guy.
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Dec 28, 2020 20:03
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Good luck! I think a big water change will help a lot and then it's a matter of fasting and wait and see what happens. Fingers crossed that your fish will be okay, goldfish are about as resilient as it gets. I'd be a bit tempted to add Epsom salts to the water to see if it helps unclog the fish if you don't see much improvement after a day or two.
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Dec 28, 2020 20:20
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Stoca Zola posted:Good luck! I think a big water change will help a lot and then it's a matter of fasting and wait and see what happens. Fingers crossed that your fish will be okay, goldfish are about as resilient as it gets. I'd be a bit tempted to add Epsom salts to the water to see if it helps unclog the fish if you don't see much improvement after a day or two. Thanks Stoca, unfortunately they passed. The most likely culprit is the auto feeder I introduced for the holidays. I read it should dispense only enough food for fish to consume in 2-5mins, I thought I had set it to that but maybe I made a mistake or it was too much for my single Fantail. Feel pretty awful and guilty but will get through it.
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Dec 29, 2020 00:59
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Aww Corte I'm so sorry. 
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Dec 29, 2020 04:39
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One thing I learned from the Walstad book with regard to plants is the importance of plants that grow above the waterline and floating plants. Since I added such plants to my tank I noticed more little oxygen bubbles coming from the substrate and I'm battling with algae less. Bacopa would probably be a good fast growing ariel plant for a 5 gallon.
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Dec 30, 2020 17:31
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Man, that sucks. I'm sorry to hear about the fishie passing on. I may get a dedicated dwarf shrimp tank and buy myself a dwarf cichlid or just add them with like, a dwarf gourami.
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Dec 31, 2020 00:05
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Watching youtubes, and thought I would share with the thread this guy's enthusiasm is really endearing. I love his fish store tour videos.
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Dec 31, 2020 21:17
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My cat Jackie has become utterly fascinated with this one fish in an aquarium: According to my roommate, that tank once held about 8 fish of that same type, but one by one they ate one another, making this fish... well, a survivor, I guess. I was worried Jackie might eat the fish, but my roommate said "Man, she can try, if she wants..." Jackie's not much of a huntress, to say the least.
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Dec 31, 2020 23:53
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Anybody know anything about the little white balls attached to the leaf of this plant in my 10gal?  Another angle  Theyre on one of a few new plants I got after I bought a tiny CO2 system. I've got a few amanos, some endlers, and some cobra guppies, and a couple nerites, if livestock is relevant. E: I snipped and removed the leaf it looked pretty damaged. Found another dead floater leaf with a ball on it. Thinking it's hitchhiking fungus. Lost a couple guppies since I added these plants. Gonna let it settle before I restock. fart store fucked around with this message at 04:02 on Jan 1, 2021 |
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Jan 1, 2021 02:29
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fart store posted:Anybody know anything about the little white balls attached to the leaf of this plant in my 10gal? Does it respond to stimulus, like contracting when touched? I had some mystery white clumps on some plants in my shrimp tank, as well as hydra. I did the betel nut extract (planarian zero on Amazon) treatment and it took care of both. I removed my nerite snail first to be safe but the rams horn snails survived it.
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Jan 1, 2021 07:59
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Looks like fungused up eggs or food particles - you'll have fungus spores in your tank water anyway so it just means you need to be vigilant about removing uneaten food so the fungus can't grow on that too.
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Jan 1, 2021 09:34
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And things like moss dying in the far back. :| I may just wait for a shrimp tank and get myself a nice trio of Regular Style German Ram(TM) (Tank-bred!). I've never had a dwarf cichlid, so this is going to be fun. Also, need to resume grabbing the dying mossball.
Aerofallosov fucked around with this message at 23:27 on Jan 1, 2021 |
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Jan 1, 2021 20:27
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ickna posted:Does it respond to stimulus, like contracting when touched? I had some mystery white clumps on some plants in my shrimp tank, as well as hydra. I did the betel nut extract (planarian zero on Amazon) treatment and it took care of both. I removed my nerite snail first to be safe but the rams horn snails survived it. It didn't visibly respond to being touched. Thanks for the advice, all. I'll keep an eye on my detritus situation & do a little research on the betel nut thing.
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Jan 1, 2021 21:07
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Still grieving loss of my Fantail but may eventually want to use tank again. Wondering if there's anything I need to be doing in the meantime to maintain it and if you have any recommendations for stocking. Ideally would like to be able to handle maintenance/water changes bi-weekly and use my auto feeder. I understand I'll need to be there for the first week or two to ensure there are no issues with using the feeder. TANK DETAILS 29g High - lid Dimensions - 11 5/8" x 29 1/8" *AquaClear 50 HoB filter *DIY peanut butter container internal filter (Fluval rings, Corner Filter bio media, sponge) - sharing 20-100gph air pump *Waterwood Corner Filter (Fluval ceramic bio media, carbon pad, sponge) - sharing 20-100gph air pump *Eheim Everyday Fish Feeder *Stuff - Gravel pebble substrate, rocks, driftwood, moss balls *JC&P Full Spectrum Aquarium light - 2888 Lumens // 22 Watts // 101 White, 18 Blue, 8 Red and 8 Green LEDs - white light has 7000-7500K and blue light has 455 wavelengths w/ timer *Temp is 72-82 depending on season TAP WATER LEVELS Ammonia - 0.5-1 pH - 7.6-8 Nitrite - 0ppm Nitrate - 10-20ppm
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Jan 2, 2021 01:55
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Assuming that ammonia in your tap water is in useable form, it should be enough to keep your filter bacteria ticking over at least a little. You need something to simulate bioload so that your filter bacteria don't starve off. I threw some numbers into aqadvisor that I thought seemed reasonable for your tank and tried some fish combos - I think you are looking at picking two kinds of fish and 8 of each seems about right to get the tank properly stocked. You can remove and add fish to get an idea from here anyway. I got around to moving my empty tank today, glad I had a good look at it because it either cracked while I was moving it or it has been cracked and slow leaking for a long time - I certainly don't trust it enough to put water back into it. If it's the latter I think that it's my own fault for not making sure there was foam under the tank, when I set the tank up first I didn't know any better and I haven't had a chance until now to rectify that situation and now it's too late. My options are to either hurry up and finish resealing another tank, or to try moving one of my tanks that already has stuff in it. I haven't decided yet. I definitely need something set up because I'll want to move my bigger fry out to their own tank in time. As it is the baby sterbai corys are too huge to live in their breeder box any more.
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Jan 2, 2021 21:45
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Any chance these are pseudomugil eggs? I saw them stuck to my sponge filter and slurped them out with a turkey baster. I'm guessing, based on the fuzz, that they're toast but figured I'd ask before I did anything with em.
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Jan 3, 2021 03:46
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I think they are almost certainly pseudomugil eggs, there's a free book I was recommended available here which has breeding tips and pictures of the eggs on around page 100 of the book. I bet there are more good eggs in the tank and you just can't see them (that's what I found with my rainbows). The ones that fungus up quickly and stay white are usually infertile whereas the fertile ones are yellowish clear and soon form visible eyes as the fish embryos grow. If you wanted to try breeding them, spawning mops would probably do the trick. It's funny to me that the smaller pseudomugils seem to have bigger eggs than the larger rainbowfish but maybe that is normal in the fish world, I found eggs from panda corydoras which are one of the smallest non dwarf corys to be much bigger than the larger sterbai corydoras too.
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Jan 3, 2021 05:31
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Stoca Zola posted:I think they are almost certainly pseudomugil eggs, there's a free book I was recommended available here which has breeding tips and pictures of the eggs on around page 100 of the book. I bet there are more good eggs in the tank and you just can't see them (that's what I found with my rainbows). The ones that fungus up quickly and stay white are usually infertile whereas the fertile ones are yellowish clear and soon form visible eyes as the fish embryos grow. If you wanted to try breeding them, spawning mops would probably do the trick. It's funny to me that the smaller pseudomugils seem to have bigger eggs than the larger rainbowfish but maybe that is normal in the fish world, I found eggs from panda corydoras which are one of the smallest non dwarf corys to be much bigger than the larger sterbai corydoras too. I've spent the last several weeks gearing up to breed my celestial pearl danios and my rainbows have been getting bunches of baby brine and such as a result. They have been looking super fat and healthy lately (aside from the mystery loss a week ago.) My plan for the CPD breeding was to throw a mop or two into the tank and then shake eggs into an attached breeder box. With CDPs I figured the fry could hang in the box until they were large enough to be safe from adults, but I doubt the same is true for rainbows. My male forktail is drat near as big as my betta. I'll give that book a read, thanks for the link. On another note, my baby shrimp are most definitely neocaridina, not Amano. A few of them have colored up pink and others have gone a bit brown. Still cool to have a shrimpsplosion. My toddler goes nuts when she spots a baby shrimp.
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Jan 3, 2021 06:53
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I think CPD eggs might be pretty hard to spot too, I've bred zebra danios and the eggs were too small for me to see, for both species I think you get better results from separating eggs and adults. Here's a series I saw on breeding cpds: https://youtu.be/wTxM31uf5MU https://youtu.be/BzdHdvfRAfo https://youtu.be/4rAxm6xWlMg Probably nothing mind blowing or different that he's done, generally the process is the same for most fish - condition the adults, get the water conditions right, get males and females together to do their thing, then separate adults and eggs/fry for best yield.
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Jan 3, 2021 09:47
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CPDs are just the cutest little dudes. My snail has gone nuts with laying eggs, and I see little white eggs EVERYWHERE. I also see growing, grown snails. I feed only as much they can eat inside 45 seconds. I may give them out or something. (They are this species: https://aquaticarts.com/collections/freshwater-snails/products/cappuccino-spike-snail I may take the light down a couple of hours since I have some marimo-esque tufts kicking about on my cave. Snails seem to like it, so maybe I'll let the road crew do their thing. Basically, with my goth snails, I can already hear Siouxie and the Banshees. I am having fun reading about the other fish breeding and what people do. I got 3 German Rams for Christmas (yay). I hope it works out since I got a 3 pack. I also need to set up my quarantine tank later (read: giant storage tub with a cave and airstone that powers the sponge filter). I have: 3 gobies (all female, still cute) One snail exploded into a bunch of snails 12 kubotai/neon green rasboras. Soon, I will be adding the 3 german rams (quarantine but they are tank bred). They arrive Friday and I'm really looking forward to it.
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Jan 4, 2021 01:45
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So its finally happening and I'm moving my 75g in 2 weeks. Questions: 1. how do I capture my shrimp population, netting I think is impractical because there are hundreds. 2. What kind of containers can I use to transport the fish, are plastic totes ok? 3. How do I transport the tank itself? Do I leave the substrate in? Do I leave the plants in? Do I leave a little bit of water at the bottom? A guy at my LFS said leaving the substrate and an inch of water or so would break the bottom of the tank. 4. How do I reset up the tank in the safest way with regards to my bio filter? My travel time is 4 hours or so.
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Jan 4, 2021 02:03
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Phi230 posted:So its finally happening and I'm moving my 75g in 2 weeks. Do you have any access to the new place ahead of time?
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Jan 4, 2021 03:03
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Wandering Orange posted:Do you have any access to the new place ahead of time? No, but I have my old place available for a bit after I move
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Jan 4, 2021 03:10
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Phi230 posted:So its finally happening and I'm moving my 75g in 2 weeks. Without being able to set up a temp system at the new place, my thoughts on your questions: 1. Shrimp traps should catch a ton of them, then you'll have some that hitchhike on plants/décor/etc., and a few that hang out in the substrate that you may ultimately lose. So you'll have to plan ahead and have one of the transport buckets running ahead of time to move over the shrimps. Fish should be simple enough to net on the day of the move. 2. I've usually gone with 5 gallon buckets with watertight lids since you are going to want to fill them nearly 100% full to reduce sloshing. I would be worried that any tote filled that full of water would bow like crazy. You'll probably want to give the shrimp/fish stuff to hide in during transport so it's not a bad idea to put the plants in the buckets too. Or you could dump in a bunch of PVC fittings like I did so everyone has their own hidey hole... The other important part is aeration - you're going to want an air pump/stone for each bucket. I drilled two or three 1/4" or 1/2" holes in the lids and ran the air hose through one; the other holes are for the air to escape the bucket and you can put a small towel over top to catch any sloshing water. Another option is a small inverter that plugs into the cigarette 12V socket in your car and then use normal household air pump. 3. If you can carry the tank with substrate then you can try that but a glass 75 gallon tank is already pretty heavy. Best bet is to remove the substrate as you will likely be stirring it up anyways. Moving the substrate is a recipe for a mini or full nitrogen cycle and is probably the #1 biggest risk in terms of the move. 4. Filter media should go into the buckets in a mesh bag or something to keep it contained if it's feasible as you'll want to keep that wet and aerated as well. Setting the system up at the new place is just the reverse of the deconstruction at the old place.  Get the hardware all set up and add enough new (treated, etc.) water to get things functioning. Basically do your hardware test, then add décor/aquascape/plants, then add inhabitants.I moved a 15 gallon and then a 29 gallon about 3 hours on separate occasions and it is exhausting. If you don't know what the water is like in the new place then you either have to bring enough from the old place with you or take the gamble at the new place.
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Jan 4, 2021 04:21
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So I'm thinking a 4 hour drive means it's not really convenient to go back and forth so you want it done in as few trips as possible? My theory on a good way to move the fish is to set up a temporary tub with a lid at the destination that you can heat and run a the filter on (I think shrimp will be fine in a bucket with a sponge filter as a temporary thing) and then deal with moving the tank (and setting it up again) separately. Then you can transfer the fish over at your leisure. I agree 5 gallon buckets with lids seem to be a standard when transporting fish although I think you just need enough water to cover the fish and to make the buckets not too arduous to carry, if they can survive being sloshed around in a bag in the mail, I think fish are going to be okay with being in a half full bucket. The more water you have the longer it will retain heat though, and I think 4 hours assuming it's still winter for you, is long enough the fish might get chilled depending on if the vehicle is heated. Bubble wrap or blankets or some other insulator could help there. Also don't feed the fish for a day or two before moving them, less waste in the bucket = better water quality for longer. I think an empty 75g is heavy enough that it's already going to be hard to move without having stuff in the bottom, using an internet calculator the water weight of a couple of inches of just water is about 20kg on top of maybe 60kg of empty glass (that's for 10mm glass, thicker glass weighs more) so the substrate might make that even heavier. A full tank has a lot of stress on it but it's mostly static, problems occur when you can't lift the tank evenly and get twisting forces which can bust the seams (fixable) and can't carry the tank on a flat clean surface and get cracks from pressure points under the base (new tank time). I don't think the tank will necessarily blow with the substrate still in but you'd need some very careful lifting probably using specialist glass lifters (those suction cups with handles) or similar and having a trolley lift with foam on it to protect the glass to get it to the vehicle. If you're using removalists they might be able to safely move the mostly empty tank for you, or hire the gear to do it yourself, but either way it's always worth having a plan B for your livestock in case something happens to the tank. Having them already safely moved and living in a tub makes a busted tank much less of a disaster. I think I'd be tempted to try to move the tank with substrate but almost no water in, just because of how stinky pulling the substrate out of my 2 foot tank was last night. I think the substrate is reusable but that's a few hours of rinsing muck then doing ammonia tests on the tank once it's set up again and that's a hassle you don't need when you've just moved house. I do think it would have been okay if I hadn't disturbed it but I needed to put the tank on its side to see how bad the cracks in the corners were - tank is pretty much beyond repair as the glass has chipped and flaked away in weird scalloped shapes right to the silicone in places. I'd trust it as a reptile or rodent tank but not to hold any meaningful amount of water. Anyway good luck with your move Phi230! Edit forgot to say: Move your filter with media in, but water tipped out. Damp but well oxygenated is better than submerged but no circulation, a 4 hour trip is not long enough for the sealed filter to dry out but is long enough for non moving water to stagnate and run out of oxygen. Then you can add treated water back into the filter to prime it and run it on the tub that you've got your fish in. Ok this only makes sense for a canister filter which I am just guessing is what you have. Stoca Zola fucked around with this message at 06:16 on Jan 4, 2021 |
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Jan 4, 2021 06:08
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I vote bags instead of buckets: the water will be garbage either way from ammonia. Also, be sure to purge your fish and shrimp, don't feed for a few days before the move. Less poo poo, less ammonia. Keep Prime on hand. Do you know what the water will be like in your new place?
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Jan 4, 2021 14:28
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