how long in a tuberware?

[BootDink]

im considering taking everything out of my eisting tank which includes sand, decor etc. my question is how long generally can the discus stay in a large
plastic "tub" for with a heater and airstone?

[Harriett]

First, it depends of course on the size of the tuperware tub. If it is a reasonable size, you should be fine for a couple days, as long as you are areating the water and keeping the temp steady. If you are planning on having them in there more than a couple days, you will need to do water changes. Keep the surface of the water moving with a power jet or something, for gas exchanges. I have done exactly this when I have done major renovating or substrate changing in my big planted tank and never had a problem. Moved them all out Friday evening, put them back by Sunday afternoon, no one was worse for the wear. I put a few pieces of driftwood in from the tank for the littler guys and plecos/botias to hide in and a few plants. The rest of the plants went into another tub, also with aeration. I put a light diffuser sheet over the top so there was no jumping. It's a little stressful I would think, but my guys have done fine and I have done this maybe 5 times over the last 7 years. I used about a 50g tub. I have also done this and set up a HOT filter on the edge when I had one running. About 10-12 discus. I don't fed them when they are in the tuperware.
BEst regards,
Harriett
If you fill the tub too high, it will bow out in the middle--plan on that!

[Roxanne]

..how long generally can the discus stay in a large
plastic "tub" for with a heater and airstone?

With a cycled filter, as long as you like....without, you could throw in some ammolock and do water changes...

Rox

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

With a cycled filter....indefinetly. With no filter....a few days with no food. Or indefinetly if regular, large water changes are done with airstones and a heater.

-Ryan

[BootDink]

ok great, i was only thinking like 6-8 hours give or take, just long enough to get all the substrate out and switch to barebottom, give all the wall a nice thorough cleanging( lots of calcium depposit buildup on the top walls from previous owner).getting the white calcium buildup off the top of the tank walls is my biggest challenge, its like a hard crusted cake which is what will prolly take me the longest to clean.

thanks all

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

ok great, i was only thinking like 6-8 hours give or take, just long enough to get all the substrate out and switch to barebottom, give all the wall a nice thorough cleanging( lots of calcium depposit buildup on the top walls from previous owner).getting the white calcium buildup off the top of the tank walls is my biggest challenge, its like a hard crusted cake which is what will prolly take me the longest to clean.

thanks all

Muriatic acid works great to for calcium build up....just becareful with the fumes as they can be harmful and not fun.

-Ryan

[BootDink]

Muriatic acid works great to for calcium build up....just becareful with the fumes as they can be harmful and not fun.

-Ryan

ive been having good luck with very warm water and a large putty knife, just make sure the blade is always flush and there is no worry for scratches either.Little more pain staking but hey for the nice clean finish it leaves it worth the extra headache!

[KDodds]

From experience, pay attention to the temporary storage vessel as you would any tank. When I was converting my 180 reef over to the 450 reef, I had split the fish and corals into 3 125 gallon tubs. In one of those tubs (of course the one with all of the corals), an Ebo stuck on and brought the temp up to 95ºF. Since it was corals and a few small fish, I wasn't really feeding (much) or checking every day. The smell gave it away.

[Roxanne]

Keiren did you lose your corals? or is that what you meant by "the smell"?

Rox

[KDodds]

Sadly, yes. Probably over $1k in corals and fish, retail, mostly all coral. :( The 180 was literally covered in coral.