Moving with my betta....?

[RazzleDazzleRose]

Hi everyone! So tomorrow, I'm moving , & it's about two hours away. I'm gonna bring Happy, my little buddy. I think I'll transport him in his pet store cup during the trip. So, any tips? And how should I get him in the cup? I don't have a net..... And his cup does have holes. How can I ensure he will make the trip? Thank you

[Aus]

Agh, I'm moving this week - with five tanks.. I feel for you.

If you dip the cup in the water, you'll notice how the water gets sucked into it. If you feed your fish and kind of sneak up behind him with the cup, dip it in gently and let the water suck him into the cup, you'll find it much easier than chasing him about the tank with it.

To move my smaller (10 g and under) tanks, I'm cupping the bettas, draining the tanks (they're planted, so I don't want to take them apart if I can avoid it), sitting the bettas in the cups inside the tanks and carrying each one over on my knee.

Luckily, it's not far to go (10 mins away), and it won't take long to set each tank up at the other end.

If it's warm weather there, your fish ought not get too cold.. might want to ensure he won't get too hot in the cup, though, in the car. Little cups get hot/cold really rapidly.

It's the 3-foot tank I'm not looking forward to. My wilds, Darwin shrimp and snails are moving into a 15 g plastic tub with a heater and a pile of moss for a few days, until I can get their tank over in the moving truck. If it happens to get broken by the movers it'll be covered by insurance and the fish will have somewhere to be until a replacement can be organised.

Moving with fish is the suck. I feel for you. Hope it goes well. :)

[deso]

What a coincidence - I'm moving this coming week as well. What Aus said is all correct. OP, if you're driving yourself, then put Happy in the cup holder of your car and keep an eye on him during the trip. Bettas are quite hardy (I've moved mine once already without any problems during the 2-hour train ride or adjusting at the new place), so you need not worry about them too much.

Good luck to the both of you!

[RazzleDazzleRose]

Thanks guys! Today Happy seems to have built a bubble nest, his second one- to bad I'm gonna have to destroy it! Or is there any way to preserve it? And thanks, I'll report back on our trip to let you know how it went!

[teeneythebetta]

Originally Posted by RazzleDazzleRose

Thanks guys! Today Happy seems to have built a bubble nest, his second one- to bad I'm gonna have to destroy it! Or is there any way to preserve it? And thanks, I'll report back on our trip to let you know how it went!

He will probably just make a new one once he settles in your new home! Wishing you guys a safe trip!

[RazzleDazzleRose]

Thanks for all the answers everyone! We made the trip, & he's still in his travel cup, so once the movers take his tank out of the moving truck, we will put him in his 5g tank. Right now, he's happy & healty! (and will be happier in his tank!) Getting him in his cup was easy, because I used Aus's method & did it on the first try! I hope he builds me another bubble nest!

[deso]

Perfect! Great to hear that :)

Now that you have the hang of it, I'd suggest you continue with the cup method from now on whenever you have to do 100% water changes. It stresses bettas less and nets run the risk of damaging their fins.

[RazzleDazzleRose]

Okay, thanks. I am not able to get him into his tank right now, because it's somewhere in the truck, and our apartment is on the 3rd floor, so the movers could take a while 2 get it out. And Happy is acting strangely - he will rest at the top, then swim around rapidly? What is wrong? Or should I just wait till I get him in the tank?

[deso]

Most likely he's stressed by the move, I doubt there's anything seriously wrong with him. See if he's still behaving like that once he's been back in his tank for a few hours.

[RazzleDazzleRose]

Ok, thanks.