Moving with Cichlids??

[bry1929]

Hi! I'm new here and need some advice. I will first start off by telling you a little about the tank an myself.

I have had fish tanks for years, salt and fresh! I learned about them from my father and self teaching. Also, I work at a popular pet store and have learned lots from there.

My fish tank is a 40 gallon. It has: Clown Knifefish 6"
Electric Blue Johanni 1.5"
Jewel Cichlid 1.5"
Oblique 0.5"
Fire mouth Cichlid 1"
African Leaf Fish 1"
Angelfish 2"
Tiger Barb 1"
Hatchetfish (x2) 0.5"
Red Platy 1.5"
Albino Cory 4"
Julius Cory 0.5"
Kuil Loach 3"
(I do know my tank has some fish that just sound like expensive feeders for my cichlids but the other fish have been in there for months now with no issues and they had came with the tank originally)

I am going to be moving Monday from Sarasota to Ft. Lauderdale. This is a 3- 3 1/2 hour drive for me.

My questions is what do I need to do in order for my fish to make it down there? Any chemicals I need to buy? Can I just put them in plastic bag, individually? If not, do I need a bucket? Obviously I can't carry 14 different buckets, I can carry at most 3, so who can go with who in these buckets?

Thanks!

 

[chriscoli]

Welcome to the forum!

Moving fish is always stressful, but 3.5 hrs shouldn't be too bad as long as you pack the fish properly.

I'm not a fan of moving fish in buckets. I save that only for larger fish that won't do well in a bag (big enough to puncture it).

If it were me, I'd bag most of your cichlids individually, double bagged, in bags that are at least 3 ml thickness. If you try to combine them into bags, odd are they'll either suffer a lot of damage from the ammonia buildup or one will end up killing the other via typical cichlid aggression.

Some of the smaller, more mellow fish can probably be put together into one larger bag if they are not too aggressive. Again, if in doubt, split them up.

Make sure to pack everything into insulated coolers or boxes so that they don't drop too low in temperature during transit. A gradual drop of a little bit is ok, but you don't want them to get too chilled. (i'e. don't stop too long for meals with them in the car....do the drive through if you have to stop).

I like to put small squares (I cut ~ 1 cm by 1 cm cubes) of Polyfilter in the bags with them....it absorbs wastes and adds some insurance against ammonia burn. http://www.amazon.com/Poly-Bio-Marine-APMPF-9_0200-Filter/dp/B00025664C

Do you already have tanks setup at the new place? If not you'll need to plan on extra time for tank setup. Have a plan for what to do with the fish once you arrive while you're setting up the tank(s)....it always takes longer than you think.

Finally, do you know how your water compares from where you are now to where you're going? The only chemical I really use much is a good dechlorinator. If you get there and notice fin damage, you might also want to put them on Melafix and Pimafix as a preventive treatment to help heal things up. If the water in your new location is significantly different in pH and hardness you'll want to spend some time acclimating your fish or adjusting the water depending on what the differences are. Basically, do your best to keep things the same.

This last point is just my personal preference, others will argue with me, I'm sure. If I see a dangerously stressed fish in a bag, I prefer to accept the stress of sudden change and move it to it's new tank ASAP rather than spend time acclimating it.