# Moving Tank from One House to Another



## socc11girl (Feb 3, 2012)

Hi everyone!

I wanted to get opinions on the best way to handle my tank with my future living scenario.

Right now I have a 12 gallon tank, with only 4 fish - 2 glass catfish, 1 guppy and 1 albino pleco that is full grown at about 3-4 inches.

I am in the process of building a new house, and in the meantime my current house has sold. So in a few weeks, I will be moving into a friends house for 2 months and then will be moving into my permanent house after that.

While I am staying at my friend's house, I am trying to avoid filling up my big 12 gallon tank again, and would like to just keep that in storage. My question is - will my 4 fish be okay to live in a smaller tank for a few months? I have a 2.5 gallon tank and wanted to see if that would be large enough for the fish to feel comfortable with a few live plants?

Also, I was planning on just transferring the existing water from the current tank to the smaller one before I put the 4 fish in (it is a 5 minute car drive from my current house to the temporary one). And then I'll fill the big tank a few weeks before putting the fish back in to build the bacteria.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!


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## CAM (Jan 27, 2013)

I think the 12 gallon is small enough that it wouldn't provide a large inconvenience of using it at the temporary location. The benefits of using it should far outweigh any inconvenience, IMHO.

1. Fish would be more comfy in the larger tank. The 2.5 gallon would really be a huge change for them. 

2. The familiarity of the 12 gallon tank and it's contents would reduce stress on them. 

3. Beneficial bacteria exist in your 12 gallon tank. If you use the filter from it on the 2.5 gallon, and/or the gravel from it, you should be okay. Using just the water... yikes, I think you would not have enough bacteria to support the bioload. Not many bacteria reside in the water. Using the 12 gallon tank, gravel, and filter and there is no chance of going through a cycle.


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## zwanged (Nov 4, 2012)

I would definitely not put them in a 2.5 for weeks.

Just FYI: As a main tank, a 12 gallon is really too small for an albino pleco (is it an albino bristlenose pleco?). Even 20 is marginal. 30gal+ would be a better size if possible -- LONG TERM.

As other posters have pointed out though, moving the fish to a bag/bucket during the car ride should be OK. I wouldn't want them in there for more than the duration of the car ride. 

Also you might want to consider starving them the day before the car ride so that less ammonia gets produced while they are without the benefit of filtration. 

-Zeke


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## WheeledGoat (Jan 29, 2013)

I'll just chime in to underscore the point that your water isn't what you want to preserve... it's the media in your filter (the bacteria that lives there).

I also think it's worth it to set up the 12gal, even temporarily. Put the fishies in bags or buckets with enough tank water for the car ride, and put your filter in a bucket. Don't disassemble it or clean it. Get to your new place, fill with new water (treated for chlorine, of course) and reassemble everything. If it were me, I'd leave the gravel too... it'll look like a mess for a day, having stirred everything up but this would be the easiest and safest IMO.


good luck!


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## socc11girl (Feb 3, 2012)

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all of the information!


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## socc11girl (Feb 3, 2012)

zwanged said:


> I would definitely not put them in a 2.5 for weeks.
> 
> Just FYI: As a main tank, a 12 gallon is really too small for an albino pleco (is it an albino bristlenose pleco?). Even 20 is marginal. 30gal+ would be a better size if possible -- LONG TERM.
> 
> ...


Hi Zeke, quick question on the pleco - it is a bristlenose. I've had him for over a year and he is still pretty small. I assume that over the years he will continue to grow? How nice of the fish store to inform me of this when purchasing!


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## socc11girl (Feb 3, 2012)

WheeledGoat said:


> I'll just chime in to underscore the point that your water isn't what you want to preserve... it's the media in your filter (the bacteria that lives there).
> 
> I also think it's worth it to set up the 12gal, even temporarily. Put the fishies in bags or buckets with enough tank water for the car ride, and put your filter in a bucket. Don't disassemble it or clean it. Get to your new place, fill with new water (treated for chlorine, of course) and reassemble everything. If it were me, I'd leave the gravel too... it'll look like a mess for a day, having stirred everything up but this would be the easiest and safest IMO.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info, I just had another question that came to mind. I've previously had water issues where my levels weren't stable, so that was a concern of mine (putting fish in "newer" water). So you're saying that as long as I treat the new water with chlorine, and keep the filter in a bucket then they should be okay?

Thanks so much!

Thanks again!


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## WheeledGoat (Jan 29, 2013)

how long ago were your levels unstable? actually, it doesn't matter; even if your tank hasn't cycled fully, you're still better off preserving what good bacteria you do have. 

You should be find if you have gravel, but a denser substrate might mean that, even in a cycled tank, you'd have anaerobic pockets that could get stirred up and screw things up.

And when you add the new water, you'd want to treat *for* chlorine, using a product like this (or this or this) that removes chlorine from tap water. (chlorinated water + fish = dead fish)

oh, and the bristlenose plecos are awesome - good choice there! not only do they look cool, but they're actually appropriate for aquariums because they stay a relatively small size and won't as readily outgrow the tank!


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## zwanged (Nov 4, 2012)

Bristlenose pleco's don't tend to get that big, but keeping it in only a 12.5 gallon may stunt its growth. I believe max size on bristlenose is 5", with males (if they have a lot of bristles!) being bigger than females. Yeah, LFSes give horrible advice sometimes. Bristlenose pleco is a great fish though, I'm sure yours will be happier if you increase the tank size someday!  Do you have driftwood in your tank (don't know if there is SPACE  ? It aids their digestion. Also, do you supplement with algae wafers or other food? tank algae shouldn't be sufficient.



socc11girl said:


> Hi Zeke, quick question on the pleco - it is a bristlenose. I've had him for over a year and he is still pretty small. I assume that over the years he will continue to grow? How nice of the fish store to inform me of this when purchasing!


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## socc11girl (Feb 3, 2012)

zwanged said:


> Bristlenose pleco's don't tend to get that big, but keeping it in only a 12.5 gallon may stunt its growth. I believe max size on bristlenose is 5", with males (if they have a lot of bristles!) being bigger than females. Yeah, LFSes give horrible advice sometimes. Bristlenose pleco is a great fish though, I'm sure yours will be happier if you increase the tank size someday!  Do you have driftwood in your tank (don't know if there is SPACE  ? It aids their digestion. Also, do you supplement with algae wafers or other food? tank algae shouldn't be sufficient.


I don't have any driftwood right now, but hope that in the future I can upgrade my tank to a larger one.  I do love my bristlenose - he gets all of the attention anytime we have guests over, they are just so neat to look at.

And thanks for the advice on the wafers. I do actually have some, but sometimes forget to but those in as well - so thank you for a reminder


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## frogwings (Aug 26, 2011)

Hi! I just wanted to say I had the same situation you have now and I am still in my temporary living conditions. I moved my 10 gallon tank with fish and frogs (5 neon tetras, 2 otos, and 2 ADFs) still in it last December. My move involved 1.5 miles of gravel road and then 20 miles of paved. Everyone (including all the plants) made the trip unscathed and are still doing great. I just emptied out about 2/3 of the tank water and put it in one gallon (clean) containers. Sediment clouded the water in the tank but cleared up quickly after I started up the filter again. I added back the old water just to avoid the added shock of new water, then started water changes about a week later. One more move but only about 2 blocks away this time! Good luck!


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