Moving a fish tank

[Dan J. S.]

I need to move a 110 fish tank to a new house that is 30 miles away. It's
acrylic, with 20 cichlids and two Eheim filters. I basically need someone to
come over on a specific day, catch the fish, drain the tank, move it and set
it up again.

Two questions:

1. What would something like this cost.
2. Anyone know of someone that would do this in Chicago land area.

I can't do the move myself due to a legal constraint. Basically I am closing
on my current home and the new home on the same day, so I will be busy doing
the closings and supervising the move (that I will have 6-9 hours to
complete).

Any help is appreciated!

Dan

[RedForeman ©®]

> I need to move a 110 fish tank to a new house that is 30 miles away.
> It's acrylic, with 20 cichlids and two Eheim filters. I basically
> need someone to come over on a specific day, catch the fish, drain
> the tank, move it and set it up again.
>
> Two questions:
>
> 1. What would something like this cost.
> 2. Anyone know of someone that would do this in Chicago land area.
>
> I can't do the move myself due to a legal constraint. Basically I am
> closing on my current home and the new home on the same day, so I
> will be busy doing the closings and supervising the move (that I will
> have 6-9 hours to complete).
>
> Any help is appreciated!
>
> Dan

There are sometimes, local clubs that have members that offer maintanence
services, they might be able to accomodate you....

--
RedForeman ©® future fabricator and creator of a ratbike
streetfighter!!! ==========================
2003 TRX450ES
1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale)
'98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted....
==========================
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is that better??

[Flash Wilson]

On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 09:16:20 -0500, Dan J. S. > wrote:
>I need to move a 110 fish tank to a new house that is 30 miles away. It's
>acrylic, with 20 cichlids and two Eheim filters. I basically need someone to
>come over on a specific day, catch the fish, drain the tank, move it and set
>it up again.

Do you not have a friend who could do this? Alternatively I would
ask the local fish shop and the local vet's nurses whether they
would do it for a fee.

The first time I did this kind of thing it took me a while.
I was rubbish at netting, the fish got wound up, and the water
got stirred up. Next time I was remarkably fast!

In future, I'd remove the plants and ornaments etc. to make the
tank bare one day before the move. You can always keep the plants
in bags with a little water. Then the water will settle and clear
by the time they need to be netted a day later - and it's SO much
easier. I also use a bigger net than I think I need, and often
use one net to sweep fish into a breeding net cage, which I can
simply lift out. I found it helped to have someone standing by
holding a bag open for me to put the fish into from the net.

That might help whoever you rope in to help, anyway!

--
Flash Wilson
http://www.gorge.org
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I am a hostage to my .inbox.

[Dick]

On Thu, 15 Apr 2004 22:04:42 +0000 (UTC), (Flash
Wilson) wrote:

>On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 09:16:20 -0500, Dan J. S. > wrote:
>>I need to move a 110 fish tank to a new house that is 30 miles away. It's
>>acrylic, with 20 cichlids and two Eheim filters. I basically need someone to
>>come over on a specific day, catch the fish, drain the tank, move it and set
>>it up again.
>
>Do you not have a friend who could do this? Alternatively I would
>ask the local fish shop and the local vet's nurses whether they
>would do it for a fee.
>
>The first time I did this kind of thing it took me a while.
>I was rubbish at netting, the fish got wound up, and the water
>got stirred up. Next time I was remarkably fast!
>
>In future, I'd remove the plants and ornaments etc. to make the
>tank bare one day before the move. You can always keep the plants
>in bags with a little water. Then the water will settle and clear
>by the time they need to be netted a day later - and it's SO much
>easier. I also use a bigger net than I think I need, and often
>use one net to sweep fish into a breeding net cage, which I can
>simply lift out. I found it helped to have someone standing by
>holding a bag open for me to put the fish into from the net.
>
>That might help whoever you rope in to help, anyway!

Great advice, I hadn't thought about the hassle of catching the fish.
I hate moving my fish between tanks because of the problems in
catching them.

A couple of questions: when you use the large net with no plants or
other obstacles, is there a danger of hurting the fish if you catch
too many in one sweep? How do you handle larger fish? I moved a fair
size breeding pair of Black Angels and I think their swim bladders got
damaged. In any event after a few days of moving them they started
becoming disoriented and died. So, catching and moving larger fish
seems a bigger problem in my mind.

[NetMax]

"Dick" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 15 Apr 2004 22:04:42 +0000 (UTC), (Flash
> Wilson) wrote:
>
> >On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 09:16:20 -0500, Dan J. S. > wrote:
> >>I need to move a 110 fish tank to a new house that is 30 miles away.
It's
> >>acrylic, with 20 cichlids and two Eheim filters. I basically need
someone to
> >>come over on a specific day, catch the fish, drain the tank, move it
and set
> >>it up again.
> >
> >Do you not have a friend who could do this? Alternatively I would
> >ask the local fish shop and the local vet's nurses whether they
> >would do it for a fee.
> >
> >The first time I did this kind of thing it took me a while.
> >I was rubbish at netting, the fish got wound up, and the water
> >got stirred up. Next time I was remarkably fast!
> >
> >In future, I'd remove the plants and ornaments etc. to make the
> >tank bare one day before the move. You can always keep the plants
> >in bags with a little water. Then the water will settle and clear
> >by the time they need to be netted a day later - and it's SO much
> >easier. I also use a bigger net than I think I need, and often
> >use one net to sweep fish into a breeding net cage, which I can
> >simply lift out. I found it helped to have someone standing by
> >holding a bag open for me to put the fish into from the net.
> >
> >That might help whoever you rope in to help, anyway!
>
> Great advice, I hadn't thought about the hassle of catching the fish.
> I hate moving my fish between tanks because of the problems in
> catching them.
>
> A couple of questions: when you use the large net with no plants or
> other obstacles, is there a danger of hurting the fish if you catch
> too many in one sweep? How do you handle larger fish? I moved a fair
> size breeding pair of Black Angels and I think their swim bladders got
> damaged. In any event after a few days of moving them they started
> becoming disoriented and died. So, catching and moving larger fish
> seems a bigger problem in my mind.

The bigger the fish, or the more hard rays it has, the better it is to
catch them alone (and even transport them alone). Hard rays are the
first few spines on the dorsal and anal fins. Cichlids usually have
several hard rays (stiff spines) before the soft rays (soft spines which
fold over). Pectorals can be hard rayed as well. Most plecs have deadly
spines in the pectoral fins (and dorsal and caudal), so these should
never be netted with another fish.

Many fish out of water will extend their fins to make themselves harder
to swallow, so larger fish must be eased out of the net head first (by
lightly holding their torso) so the hard rays can fold down as they leave
the net. If the fish gets stuck (usually plecs), and you can't untangle
them, try putting the net underwater. Sometimes (usually) the fish will
untangle itself (otherwise you decide if the fish is worth more than the
net while going for scissors ;~) So far, I haven't had to resort to
scissors.

You might consider alternate methods to nets (which are actually quite
abrasive, and leave areas of open skin prone to diseases). Submerging a
container and pushing the fish in, or in the case of larger fish, lower
the water level and use your hands, though with big fish (ie: plecs &
cichlids), I wear my gardening gloves.

NetMax

[Flash Wilson]

On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 11:23:51 -0400, NetMax > wrote:
>You might consider alternate methods to nets (which are actually quite
>abrasive, and leave areas of open skin prone to diseases). Submerging a
>container and pushing the fish in, or in the case of larger fish, lower
>the water level and use your hands, though with big fish (ie: plecs &
>cichlids), I wear my gardening gloves.

I wish I'd known this before I had to bag a plec and a couple
of angels... I did catch them one at a time (I always aim to,
but in the case of smaller fish sometimes you do catch more)
and the plec did have to be very carefully detangled. I persuaded
him into a net cage box, then loosened the net so it wasn't
making a rim around the opening, and he could no longer hold on.

However, both he and the angels panicked a little and in the process
pierced the bags, which began spraying like a shower.... Luckily
I had lots of spares (but it helps if someone else can hold the
new bag while you try to pop the full one in). And they were fine
on the journey but when pulled out again at the other end again
an angel sprung leaks - I handed it over on someone's doorstep
with my fingers in very many strategic places, going "Ready...?" :)

Anyway, to the original poster, yep, catching bigger fish can
be a real hassle. Luckily I haven't had to do it much; unluckily
I didn't think to ask Netmax's advice first!

--
Flash Wilson - http://www.gorge.org

Comments in my journal or guestbook are welcome!

[NetMax]

"Flash Wilson" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 11:23:51 -0400, NetMax >
wrote:
> >You might consider alternate methods to nets (which are actually quite
> >abrasive, and leave areas of open skin prone to diseases). Submerging
a
> >container and pushing the fish in, or in the case of larger fish,
lower
> >the water level and use your hands, though with big fish (ie: plecs &
> >cichlids), I wear my gardening gloves.
<snip>
> However, both he and the angels panicked a little and in the process
> pierced the bags, which began spraying like a shower.... Luckily
> I had lots of spares (but it helps if someone else can hold the
> new bag while you try to pop the full one in). And they were fine
> on the journey but when pulled out again at the other end again
> an angel sprung leaks - I handed it over on someone's doorstep
> with my fingers in very many strategic places, going "Ready...?" :)

That reminds me, I forgot to mention double-bagging for cichlids. For
big plecs, they travel in a pail, styrofoam box (usually free from a
sympathetic LFS) or doubled up (or tripled) Koi bags. Those square pails
used for cat litter work well too. You can push the pleco in the pail,
lift, cover and they usually fit inside, corner to corner, instead of
wrapping around the bottom of a round pail.

NetMax

<snip>
> --
> Flash Wilson - http://www.gorge.org
>
> Comments in my journal or guestbook are welcome!