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Pertains to my aquarium, not sure where else to put this

SoI've come to find myself in a bit of a pickle. As I am most likely moving in late December/early January. Now normally that wouldn't be an issue, but in the last few years I have lived here not only have I taken up growing and caring for Nepethes, but I have also taken up keeping betta fish as hobby. Now i won't be facing the main issue here until a few months from now, but because My hobbies include things that like warm climates, moving in the heart of winter probably isnt the best thing for them( Especially when you take into consideration that i live in Colorado, and that it snowed a little bit yesterday already) but I don't have many other options. I don't want to put my plants or my fish in the way of harm transporting them with these cold temperatures. I think that since I am currently fishless cycling my tank, I could keep supplementing the ammonia to it until after I move(still gotta figure out how to move everything from it without crashing the cycle). But I'm not sure what to do with my plants, one of them is a monstrosity of a Nep. But as I said a moment ago I do not want to harm the plant. So any word from you lovely folks about how I could safely move these things, especially without crashing the cycle of my tank, and if you think it would be better to get a fish instead of trying to supplement ammonia until the move is done. Do any of you have experience moving with tanks that are up and running or still cycling or with moving monstorsities of plants(and causing as little harm as possible in the cold)?
 
pictures would definitely help. are your things outside or indoors? moving from where to where? long distance, a couple of blocks?

moving a tank, i think the easiest way to deal is to drain it, and start the fishless cycling again. if you arent turned off with idea--urine is an excellent ammonia supply.
 
moving about 45 minutes away. the plants are indoors and so is the tank, Im not opposed to cycling again, it is an amazing learning experience. It's a 10 gallon tank, no live plants. i will get some pictures put up here soon.
 
picture of the nep would probably be best, that one will be the trickiest to ship--is it in a tank? leave it in there. good thing cars have temperature control--that would come in handy.
 
the nep isnt in a tank. i meant the fishtank is also indoors. here is picture of the nepenthes
photoccg.jpg
 
might take a dishpack or two. no easy way to do this. take a dish pack and cut along the side so that the box opens out. place plant into the box (by cutting along the side, you do not need to go through the top of the box. tape pot to the bottom of the box. tape vines to the sides of the box. fill up with crush. tape everything up. when opening, cut the sides of the box out so you dont have to reach down to pull the plant out.

that or use a waredrobe box---same concept, but you might not need to cut the box.

that would be my best guess.
 
okay. the white bracket on the wall is 4 feet off the ground
 
for the fishes....
I moved my discus breeder tanks from Houston Tx to S Oregon. Just save a bucket of the good "old" water and leave most of the gravel in the tank (s).
pack the fish in plastic food safe bags ( your local fish store should give you as many as you need), always allow 1/3 of the bag as water and capture another 2/3 of the space as air. Pack them well and place in a cooler that is at room temp. Transport and only open the cooler under dim light conditions as many fish can be "light shocked" and die form this rapid exposure.
add an equal amount of your old water into each tank and fill as normal with dechlorinated(never use aloe based products for Labyrinth fishes) water of desired temp. Float the fish as per any new arrival and release after 1/2 to 1 hr. Discard all the "bag water" you can.
45 minutes is a piece of cake in any weather.
happy moving!
 
If you are currently just cycling the aquarium, and don't yet have the fish (which is what it sounds like, but im not sure)
then I would just stop the cycling right now..don't get any fish, drain the tank, and just wait until after you move to start over..
that would be easiest IMO, and then there are no fish to be stressed by the move.

you are going to have to drain the tank to move it anyway..
(never carry a tank with water in it..even a 10-gallon..thats still 80 pounds of water, and the weight of the water could easily stress the
walls as you carry it, causing cracks and failure of the tank...totally empty it out before you move it.)

as for the nep..wrap it up in a blanket, run it from the warm house to the warm car..
drive to the new place..run it from the warm car to the warm new house..
being exposed to cold air for just a minute while its being moved from house to car should do it no harm, especially if its wrapped up..

Scot
 
  • #10
For the most part, the cycling is done on your filter media. You can take a tank with established Nitrogen Cycle and drain all of water. As long as the filter media hasn't completely dried out, you can refill the tank with non-chlorinated water and you'll be fine. in contrast, 'old water', with brand new filter media means that the Nitrogen Cycle will have to be done again.
 
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