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A (more or less) Successful Moving Story

981 views 18 replies 6 participants last post by  Lion Mom 
#1 ·
Hi all,

Well, university starts next week, so I moved in to my dorm a bit early. My biggest concern, of course, was moving my betta and his 10 gallon home with me. The thing I'm most thankful for is the short distance (1 mile) from home to school. The car ride wasn't so bad except for the water spillage from the 5 gallon bucket, but otherwise, all was smooth.

Removing the water, packing supplies, carrying the water + gravel bucket were the hardest parts of the move. I removed my four fish: betta and three peppered cories. I placed the cories in the Petsmart fish bag I asked for a few weeks ago with enough water. I put the betta in his old cup. They waited in there a while for me to siphon the tank water into the bucket, get rid of the rest, and take out the gravel. Along with the tank water and the gravel, I put the plants in the bucket.

I hauled the bucket on my rollable aquarium/TV stand and rode down the elevator to the parking garage, hauled it into the car, and rode back up the elevator with the stand. I proceeded to put the aquarium on the stand and did the same with it. Last, I got the fish and put them in the back of the car. I rode on the floor of the van to make sure the water didn't splash all over. I was no help. The water splashed anyway. The fish were stable.

I carried the fish up to my room first thing after I got off. Then I got the bucket, and then the aquarium. I put some of the water in the aquarium and put all of the gravel in there. The water got really dirty because of the stuff I couldn't really siphon up these past few months. Seems that even with weekly cleanings, I can't get all of the gunk out of there. I added new conditioned water, put the plants in, and waited for the cloudiness to settle. At this point, I floated my betta in the cup and clipped the cory bag onto the side of the aquarium. The sponge filter was set up again, along with the heater. I left the fish to give them time to adjust to the temperature.

I began to pour in some tank water into the cup/bag. In between the wait times, I tested the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrates, and pH. The most important test was to see the change in pH. Luckily, there was very little difference in pH, if any at all. Comforted by the test result, I let the fish in the water after about 1.5 hours in their cup/bag. They seem to be doing good.

I am so glad that the move is over, but I am also daunted by the fact that I have to do it all over again when school is over. For anyone else moving their fish: it'll be fine, but it'll be tough and tiring as well.

Good luck!

-n
 
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#13 ·
Gosh, I have NO idea how somebody could develop a FISH phobia, but whatever. I mean, it's not like they are out & about in the house or anything. :-?

As far as him taking up too much of your time & money, just remind them that you could be doing worse - A LOT worse!!!!
 
#14 ·
Your fish looks really very much like mine! Glad he's doing well after the move and good luck to you!
 
#15 ·
Thank you, LearnToFly! He does look a lot like yours!

A 5-hour drive, if it's extremely smooth and temperature-controlled, I assume will be okay, but I have read that 2 to 3 hours is the max time to drive with betta. Perhaps an alternative is to overnight ship the fish? Would that work?
 
#16 ·
My betta (the one that looks like yours) went a over a thousand miles in 4 days in the car, 7 hours being the longest time with no stops, and is absolutely fine. He was in his cup from Petco and sat in the cup holder, and I can also guarantee that it was not entirely smooth. We had a very sudden stop and several speed bumps along the way and he's fine. We kept the temp at about 74* or 75* (my dad wouldn't let it be any warmer) but he was fine. I didn't feed him the whole way to reduce waste. So I think you can definitely drive your betta!
 
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