Pet Forum / Aquaria / Freshwater / July 2008

I would get a cheap plastic 20 liter backup tank. You don't need a stand
for it, just put it on some table shelf. Cover the bottom with a thin
layer of gravel from the old tank (just so that it isn't a mirror),
maybe add a rock or two for hiding places, too, and then fill with water
from the old tank. Relocate your fish to the new tank. For short periods
(several days) you don't even need a filter, an air pump with a bubble
stone will be quite sufficient.  

Then you can empty your old tank completely and take advantage of the
opportunity to clean and redecorate it at leisure.

jue

For only four small fish, it would make sense to put some tank water
in another container (clean plastic not previously used for anything
else), add a cheap sponge filter, add the fish, then you can empty the
bowfront and move it safely.  Then reverse the process after the
carpet is in reusing some of the extracted water.  Probably a good
idea to do a partial water change first.

What about any outgassing from the carpet?  Might that be a problem
for the fish?  Can you ask the company you're buying the carpet from?
At any rate, I've kept fish in a plastic "tank" for weeks while I
replaced an old, smaller aquarium with a new, larger aquarium with no
harmful effects.

Gail

I'd put the fish in a 5 gallon bucket with an air stone and pump.
That's what I have done in the past for any thing longer than a few hours.

Andy

On Jul 25, 8:06 pm, Grumpy...@msn.com wrote:

Moving the tank like that sounds fine. However, after you move it add
enough water for the filter to work.
If you turn off the filter the nitrifying bacteria( on the media and
the housing) will die.
You want to avoid losing your live bacteria so that you won't force
the tank into a brand new cycling process.
As you drain the tank, vacuum the gravel. You don't lose any bacteria
vacuuming the gravel (they're stuck like glue), and you really don't
want dirty gravel when you do the move.

Thank you all.