The big move

[Venus]

The Big Move

Some of you know I’ve planning on moving an hour away. With seven cats in house right now and a 170 gallon stock tank, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and I was right. It was going to be a big move. It was easy breezy the first two weeks. I packed a few boxes and my son in law moved them to my new place; no sweat, but the last day was a doozy. I had two carriers, one large crate and a trap, so the cats were moved in two separate groups. Then came the fish. I had been working on lowering the water table, and by the time the the big move came I had about forty gallons to drain

Surprisingly, the fish were easy enough to catch. I placed them in a small ice chest with two gallons of tank water. I added two to three gallons of tank water to a five gallon bucket and dropped the pond pumps in it after filling four two gallon jugs with tank water. Next, I finished draining the tank. I was pooped. My son in law is a big strong guy, and told me it would be okay to leave the gravel in the tank, so I did. Bad idea. As we rolled the tank on its side out the door, the gravel rolled with it, chewing the lush layer of algae off the sides. As most of you know, I’ve been building this layer of algae for several years; tending to it like it was a baby. I’ll get over it, and as I do, the amount of water I exchange is going to be greater due higher nitrates. Yes, I’ll get over it, but will my back? lol

Moving goldfish

After the big move, when I arrived at my new place, the first thing I did was to set the fish up in a thirty gallon tub with one of the pond pumps, using the tank water I had salvaged. They were stressed, but okay. I had added pH Boost to the water before the move, so the water was rich in oxygen. Then I got to work on filing the tank with fresh tap, treated water. Yes, I said treated. I was worried about a spike in the cycle, so my tank is no longer organic after using Amquel Plus water treatment

I kept the fish in the tub for a few days and treated them with garlic, aloe and dandelion tonics, but the pump I had in the tub wasn’t able to handle the bio load for long, so in the tank they went. Thankfully, there hasn’t been a spike in the cycle after all of the pumps were installed, and the fish are fine and dandy

If you would like to read up on moving goldfish, check out this article Moving with goldfish

I took advantage of the opportunity, and set my tank away from the wall, so now I can walk around it. Makes it much easier to gravel vacuum. At the old house it was pushed against the wall in a corner, and I had to lean way over the tank. I just knew it was a matter of time before I went head first in the tank

Moving with goldfish

I would rather move three giant truckloads of furniture than one small tank of fish lol

The cats are doing fine as well after the big move

[Anonymous]

It’s a ton of work and exhausting, I know. Glad it went so well. No spike; I’m impressed! :yahoo:

[Venus]

Well, actually, there was a spike in the tub I set up. I had them in it for two days while I set up the tank. There was only room for one pump, so there was a spike in nitrites. I had treated the tub water with Amquel Plus, so no biggie. I was ready and waiting for it. Once I got the fish in the big tank the levels went back to normal, except for nitrates of course. With all the fresh water, they dropped to 5. ppm, but a few weeks later, back to 10 ppm, and all is well

It won’t be long before the nitrates begin to climb with most the algae gone

It’s frustrating; all the work on creating the natural organic system and all. Now I have water treatment in the water, and although I’m not using it now, it’s there and will be for some time to come….. :scratch:

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I’m sorry about the loss of your algae… you worked long and hard to cultivate it. But it’ll come back in time. I put all of my gravel in a bucket so the tank wouldn’t get scratched in transit. It was a lot more work. It took hours to get it all torn down, especially this last time. Another thing I did was to put the pumps in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid that had a hole for pouring paint. I threaded all 4 pump cords through the hole, put the lid on the bucket of water and pumps, then I used duct tape to close the hole… no spills. That worked very well.

[Venus]

I had all the pumps in a five gallon bucket too, but I didn’t bother with a lid. They were in the back of a truck. I think things would have gone smoother if I hadn’t had to move the cats and the fish all at the same time. It was too much stress for all of us

Yes, I should have put the gravel in a separate bucket…me banging head against wall, but you’re right, it will come back

[Author]

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