Moving

[williamhhmclean]

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum, but a long time Opae Ula parent. I have a well established tank which has a sand and gravel substrate, along with lava rocks. I'm getting ready to move across town. Does anyone have experience moving with super shrimp, and if so, do you have any tips on how to make it as safe and stress free as possible for them?

Many thanks, friends!

[mcdaney]

Hi williamhhmclean!

We all have to move somewhere someday and I too am interested to know how to move them safely

My initial thoughts was to just remove a majority of the water in the tank to maybe about a quarter full (water transferred to large bottles) and then carry everything over to the new place. But this depends on the size of tank and there is danger of decorations (lava rocks and stuff) moving around too much and might hurt the shrimps or damage the tank.

My other thought was to remove decos entirely, let the debris settle (removing rocks will cloud the water definitely), catch all the shrimps (with decos removed, they're easier to net haha), transfer shrimps in a tub with tank water, remove remaining water in the tank, begin transporting the tank and shrimps to new place, set tank up again, add in tank water, let the debris settle, add in the shrimps.

A lot of work but I feel it's the best way.

[Super Jess]

I have this same question! I'll be moving across the country in the next few months, so starting to think about how to manage.

Was thinking about reverse-engineering Mustafa's shipping rig, ie. fish bag with water and shrimp inside insulating cooler. Could remove (and keep) most of the water and leave substrate in the container, and pack deco separately.

I think as long as the shrimp don't overheat, they should be ok.

[minishrimps]

I have moved both my 5.5 gallon tank and 2.5 gallon shrimp tanks a few times from office to home and I just moved to a new home. It's not more than twenty miles or so, not quite as long as cross country. Usually my plan of attack for my small tank is to leave the critters in their habitat. My lava rocks won't tip over, but the corals usually get jostled a bit, but that's all stuff I can fix up when i get back. I empty about 1/3 of water into whatever nearby vessel I have and save it for when I get to "Point B". Then I cover the tank with saran wrap across the top sort of loosely but tight enoughthat it doesn't touch the water below, then I wrap some around the top side of the tank to hold the first piece in place.in Then I put the top back on it which keeps the pressure against the saran and the inside of the aquarium (both my tank lids are just glass panes that sit in the rim of my tanks). I put it in the floor of the front passenger seat on the floor mat. My 5 gallon, I put in the back of the jeep on a floor mat so it doesn't slide. I keep it at 2/3 full anyway so no need to worry about water. Then I drive slow, like, the posted speed limit slow, maybe a little slower around turns. When i get to where I'm going i just unwrap, add the water back into tank, fix anything that moved with a bamboo skewer, and turn the light back on...

maybe that helps...

I have this same question! I'll be moving across the country in the next few months, so starting to think about how to manage.

Was thinking about reverse-engineering Mustafa's shipping rig, ie. fish bag with water and shrimp inside insulating cooler. Could remove (and keep) most of the water and leave substrate in the container, and pack deco separately.

I think as long as the shrimp don't overheat, they should be ok.

I think that is what i would try! Cross country is a long way but they've done it before

[williamhhmclean]

Hi All,

Thank you so much for the wonderful advice! I'll let you know how it goes. It'll be a short drive ~15 miles, so minishrimp's experience is very reassuring! Thanks again, everyone. I love these little guys!