On Feb 3, 3:25?pm, "JeffinMS" wrote:
I sold my tank. I am going to be doing a lot of traveling in the next two
years and dont have time to take care of a tank. So I was wondering if
someone might answer a few questions.

The person picking up the tank wants to transfer the fish using buckets. The
fish are a large Pleco, Mollies, swords, tetra;s, cichlids and a couple of
other fish. I know to transefer them in the water from the tank. When she
puts the tank back together on her end, what is the reason she needs to use
some of the same water the fish are coming out of? I need to be able to
explain it to her.

The time from removing the fish from the tank to getting them back in the
tank is probably going to be 2-3 hours. Is this OK, or is she going to have
to figure something out faster? She lives about 20 miles from me and will
have to set up the tank before putting the fish in, she doesnt have another
tank. This is her first tank.

Anything else I need to know?

TIA
J


Agreeing with what Zebulon said about not needing the old tank water.
The nitrifying bacteria are on all the surfaces inside the tank. The
plants, decor, gravel, filter material, etc.
You'll want to explain to her to keep these wet (you can use old tank
water for this) so the N. bacteria don't dry out.
Tell her to set it up as soon as she gets home.
Fill the tank with tap that's been dechlorinated (or if your town uses
chloramines, use a proper conditioner for that), set up the filter
(again, like Zeb said, rinse the filter pad in old tank water and then
keep it wet, and not to use tap water for this as it will off the
bacteria she will need), heater (if needed..but let it warm up to room
temp before adding to tank if it's cold outside, and then another
10-20 inside the filled tank before turning it on), run the filter,
float the fish. Gallon sized freezer Ziplock bags should hold a
smaller to medium Pleco. I say freezer because they are stronger and
should hold up to his armor.
I prefer to put a few small fish (molly size) per sandwhich size
baggy, or one medium size fish per baggy. Anything larger needs an
obvious larger bag to float in.
She need to do 10-20% water changes weekly, vaccum gravel, and watch
for a light bacteria bloom. This would be a white cloudy tank. It's
the nitrifying bacteria colony building up lost numbers in the move.
Nothing crazy needs to be done, just normal water changes. It will
clear on it's own in time. What ever she does....tell her not to
change 100% of the water and sterilize the gravel if this happens.
It's a very common mistake newbies make when they have a bacteria
bloom and then they must start all over again.
That would put the fish at risk. A 2-3 hour ride shouldn't be too hard
on the bacteria colony as long as they stay wet, and the tank gets
refilled asap.
Don't bother cleaning off any decor, as it will also have the N.
bacteria on it and evey little *live* bit helps in this situation.
Again, just make sure they stay wet. They don't have to be sloshing in
water, just moist and not dry out.
In the following weeks she should watch for any signs of stress on the
fish, feed lightly and enjoy her new tank.
Hopefully she has a computer and you can lead her here. = )