General Care Discussion :: the professor and i are moving

[2wicky]

I'm moving (a couple blocks away) in a week and was wondering how I make the move with a 20 gallon. Do I keep the professor in water during the drive or just dry...do i save some of his water and put it back in when i get to the new place... will he be fine?

Also, related but not turtle related, i have a dalmation molly (i think) and i want to transfer him to a new tank at the new place. do i keep some of his current water? Is it the same for turtle and fish?

[steve]

Never move a tank that has water or decorations in it. Never transport a turtle in water.

You don't need to bring the water that you have for your turtle, I'm not sure about the molly.

[TheComputerGremlin]

If you are only moving a couple blocks, just put the turtle in a secured shoe box or something, on paper towels, and he'll be fine. Just set him up first and don't leave him in the car, in the sun, or unattended. Get rid of all of the water, it'd be nearly impossible to move the tank otherwise. As for the fish, unless you can keep maybe 25% of the water for the new tank, I'd just start anew. Moving water is such an added pain that you won't need on moving day ...

[Chrisbarnett]

I agree. Transport the RES dry. They can be out of water for up to 24 hours if absolutely necessary, but your only going a few blocks.

and the mollie, I would just say to transport her in one of those little bags with a rubberband on top like when you bring fish home from the pet shop.

[hdaisog]

For the mollie...
We move about every year and have several fish tanks. I would agree to just start over for the mollie's tank. If you have a salt water tank you usually want to keep the water becuase its such a pain to reset up, but for fresh or brackish water its best to start from the beginning. If you put the fish in a plastic bag like what they use at the petstore just remember that there is only about an hour of oxygen in there. If it will take you longer than that to transport and reset up the tank I would suggest to get one of the small plastic aquariums with lids. Good luck with the move.

[2wicky]

i would never move with water still in the tank. i was going to put the water in a huge tupperware or something. the reason i ask about keeping water is.. i've read that it's best to keep some water because of good bacteria..or building up the bacteria takes time.. I'm not sure.. I'm a new owner

[hdaisog]

I don't think it is worth it to move the water. You just have to go through another bacterial bloom. Your water will get cloudy for a couple of days, but if you do everything else right it will be good from then on. I don't know a lot about that part of it because my husband is the one that always takes care of the water situation. I just know that it only took about one week for everything to be good to go bacteria wise.