Moving fish to another tank

[Don Trinko]

Can I just net and dump fish from one tank to another if the temp is +/- 1 degree and the PH is +/- .2? What abought nitrates? If one tank is 5 and the other 10 is that OK?
I don't like moving fish but my wife wants me to move some from a lower tank to an upper tank. Thanks; Don T.

[hironobu]

Speaking from experience, regardless whether its right or wrong, I did it that way couple of times and my fish all survived. They seem alright after the move and were back to normal within an hour. But I'm just an amature and my discus were young (around 3") so I dont know what "should" be done in the ideal senario. I have a show tank and a BB and a hospital tank thats why all the swapping. I do feel bad for my discus because of my inexperience in the first couple of months. But I have settled down since then and I think I'm doing a good job so far. :p

[bastalker]

Great thread Don!

I am fixin to do just that. I have 6 adults in a BB 55G at the moment that are going to go into a planted 125G in the next week or so. The temps are easy, but the N04, an P04 will be alot different I believe. I think I can replicate the readings in both tanks by not doing any WC's in the 55G for a couple days.

It will be interesting to see what everyone thinks about it though.

tc
Mark

[AADiscus]

Don, you can move fish at will. IME We run 20 tanks and about once a month we have to shuffle fish around to make run for upcoming fry, etc. We never have any problems (knock on wood). All our tank stay about the same on water parameters, etc. The only difference is moving an adult from a community tank to a breeder tank. I would just drop and plop, turn the light off until the next day. If they are young adults or older adults then you will more than likely see some froggyness going on in the tank along with some aggression. Due to the hormones going off in the water.

[bastalker]

Angela...I realize that moving fish from one tank to another is a drop in the hat with the breeders. The parameters are pretty much the same.

What if the average joe like myself wants to take fish from a BB an throw em into a planted tank where nitrates an phosphates are higher, what should we we look out for? The temperature is a givin. What would we be wanting to really look out for as far as water parameters?

I am not by any means trying to put you on the spot, but I think that your input would be valued by all here...

Would phosphates and nitrates make that much of a difference?

Before you answer, I think that nitrates, and phosphates would have a significant impact on the way discus would persevere their new surroundings. Going from a non N03/P03 environment to an environment that has both would be a little stressful for any discus!

Should we try and replicate this environment before we move them into it? Does it matter?


tc
Mark

[pcsb23]

Mark,

I do this fairly often, keeping both BB and planted tanks. Only time I have seen a really bad reaction is when I took some OG's and put them into a high tech planted tank, they did not habdle the CO2 very well at all.

In truth most planted tanks run with relatively low NO3 (often needs dosing ime) so the change should not be too stressful in that respect, as for the PO4 provided that isn't too high all should be pok. Most dry foods are laced with it so it will be present even in BB setups.

So for me I just net them from one tank and straight into the other :)

[bastalker]

Thanks Paul. I will probably wind up just plopping them right in there when the time comes. :)

tc
Mark

[FishLover888]

Nitrates of 10, is that kind of high for discus in the long run?

Just wondering.

[Apistomaster]

Nitrate @ 10 ppm, a problem? Answer: No.

I would watch Discus closely that are introduced to a CO2 supplemented tank. Some run their CO2 on the high side and if it is high, then Discus may show signs of distress, like gasping at the surface.

[Don Trinko]

I keep my nitrates abought 5 for discus but if I put them in a different tank it might be 10 untill I up the WC. Don T.

[tcyiu]

... I will probably wind up just plopping them right in there when the time comes. :)

I think that if you were to transfer them in a container, it would be less stressful. For your consideration, here's what I do as I move fish around.

- I use a 1gal food safe plastic container without the lid. The container is somewhat elliptical so it is easy to grasp with one hand.
- I lower this into the tank and slowly shepherd the target fish against one of the sides of the tank.
- Then I ease the open mouth of the container over the fish and press the container against the side so the fish is trapped.
- Once the fish is trapped, you will need to get the container upright. I tip the mouth of the container up when the fish swims away from the glass. Oftentimes, the fish will just hang to the side of the tank - don't tilt the container yet. Tilting the container creates a gap between the mouth of the container and the glass - room for the discus to slip out. So you need to either encourage the discus to move away from the glass or wait.
- Once the fish is in the container and the container is upright, I will release as much of the tank water out of the container as possible while leaving enough in for the fish to be somewhat comfortable.
- I take container with fish to the other tank and slowly trickle in the new tannk's water to mix with the old tank water. I don't spend as much time acclimating as I would if I were to bring a fish home from another source since the water and temps are roughly similar.
- Once the container is full of new water, I tilt it over and let the fish swim out.

It is my opinion that this is the least stressful way to move the fish. 1. I do not touch the fish with anything which could scrape off slime coat. 2. The change in water is somewhat gradual vs. the sudden change that would come from extracting a fish out of water with a net and "plopping" it into new water.

Sometimes, rarely, the fish do get skittish and bang around in the container. But this OK since the container is made of somewhat soft plastic and the inside is smooth with no protrusions. The possibility of a freaked fish is why I leave enough water in the container for the fish to swim upright. Leaving too little water to cause a fish to flop around at the bottom of the container seems to me to be pretty stressful.

Hope this helps.

Tim

[A1 Aquarium World]

Don,
mate i also move my fish from here to there like that with no probs as long as their your fish and you know their are no health issues should be fine.



cheers

[AADiscus]

Mark, moving breeders is not as easy as it sounds sometimes. But moving fish from community tank to other community tanks or to breeders is often around here. As long as your water parameters are the same and tank temp. We have never had a problem however, I have never had a planted tank (with discus)but I think that if your fish are healthy and you keep an eye on them then you should be fine moving them from a bb to a planted.

Sorry to get you frustrated :(

[tonymaccs]

Hi Don/Mark,
Moving fish is unavoidable and the more you have the more often you will find the need to do it. I certainly agree it is uneventful in most instances and water parameters will be relatively consistent unless you are deliberately doing things to alter them in which case you will be aware.
I'd just like to add a cautionary note as a reminder. Moving discus can be stressful and does add risks to their health. I have had some injuries and even deaths occur immediately after a casual scoop and drop move. I am fairly sure the issue wasn't basic water parameters, and only suspect it might be due to injuries from eratic behaviour if the fish has been spooked by it's new environment or bullied.
I'm a little more careful now about timing (just before or after lights out) and their new environment than I used to be.
Tony

[bastalker]

Thanks Angela an Tony!!

I am fixin to pull the Discus out of the 55G BB in a few days and plop them into the 125G planted, I guess I will wait until just after lights out. I have been advised to wait a month or so before I do it, but my patience is wearing pretty thin. The water parameters are great in the planted tank. The angels have spawned already an it has only been set up for a couple a weeks! :)

tc
Mark

[mikesmac]

I've got a few tanks.... and move them when it is necessary, but I am pretty cautious also. I got the idea from a place I ordered fish in from...and a book that talked about catching them in the wild. The person that I ordered from told me to acclimate them upon arrival in as little light as possible so as to keep them sleeping during the transition. The book talked about using a spotlight to catch them in the dark because it was easier while they were sleeping....so... -whenever possible- if I am going to move fish....even just from tank to tank... I shut off the lights and wait for them to fall asleep, then use a flashlight to spot and catch them.....into a bag to float and acclimate them while they are still asleep and when they wake up in the morning....new home... hopefully as little stress as there could have been. Even though all of my tanks have the same water.... there are still slight differences because of tank size, filtration, amount of fish in the tanks, amount of time the tank has been set up, etc. I still think it is a good idea to acclimate them even from tank to tank. Better safe than sorry. JMO

Mike