moving tank

I'm having new carpet installed and need to move my 26 gal bow front
tank on a 28 inch high wood stand to another room. I'm thinking of
draining the tank down to about 3 inches, slip "furniture slides"
under the stand and moving tank and stand all at once leaving the fish
(2 bala sharks, 2 black tetras all small) in the tank. I'm guessing it
will be no more than 20 hours untill I get the tank back in the living
room and refilled.

Will the fish be ok in that amount of water and with no filter
running? I want to save about 10 gal of that water in buckets, will
it be ok to pour that back in?

On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:06:33 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

I'm having new carpet installed and need to move my 26 gal bow front
tank on a 28 inch high wood stand to another room. I'm thinking of
draining the tank down to about 3 inches, slip "furniture slides"
under the stand and moving tank and stand all at once leaving the fish
(2 bala sharks, 2 black tetras all small) in the tank. I'm guessing it
will be no more than 20 hours untill I get the tank back in the living
room and refilled.

Will the fish be ok in that amount of water and with no filter
running? I want to save about 10 gal of that water in buckets, will
it be ok to pour that back in?

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

wrote in message
...
I'm having new carpet installed and need to move my 26 gal bow front
tank on a 28 inch high wood stand to another room. I'm thinking of
draining the tank down to about 3 inches, slip "furniture slides"
under the stand and moving tank and stand all at once leaving the
fish
(2 bala sharks, 2 black tetras all small) in the tank. I'm guessing
it
will be no more than 20 hours untill I get the tank back in the
living
room and refilled.

Will the fish be ok in that amount of water and with no filter
running? I want to save about 10 gal of that water in buckets, will
it be ok to pour that back in?

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

wrote:
I'm having new carpet installed and need to move my 26 gal bow front
tank on a 28 inch high wood stand to another room. I'm thinking of
draining the tank down to about 3 inches, slip "furniture slides"
under the stand and moving tank and stand all at once leaving the fish
(2 bala sharks, 2 black tetras all small) in the tank. I'm guessing it
will be no more than 20 hours untill I get the tank back in the living
room and refilled.

Will the fish be ok in that amount of water and with no filter
running? I want to save about 10 gal of that water in buckets, will
it be ok to pour that back in?

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

Thank you all.

First you will need a bucket or Tupperware, they are enough to transport the entire contents of the tank. You need to be able to put these containers of water, sand, stone, all of your animals, so plan accordingly, I propose that more then you think you need, it is always easy way to return had to give up halfway through, and get more . You also need to have some extra preparation, instead of water is water, and loss in transit. You need to ensure that the correct salinity and temperature.

I would get a bargain artificial 20 liter advancement tank. You don't charge a stand for it, just put it on some table shelf. Cover the basal with a thin layer of alluvium from the old catchbasin, maybe add a bedrock or two for ambuscade places, too, and again ample with water from the old tank.