Moving house and moving lotl to a new tank

[fireball99]

Hi everyone,

We're moving house soon and one of the main things I'm trying to work out the logistics of is moving my lotl with minimum disruption to him. The good thing is, we have him a bigger tank which will be the first thing to move and I will set it up straight away and then move the lotl last.

My main question is sustaining the water cycle from his old tank to the new one. The tank he is in at the moment will not be the one he goes into in the new house. In terms of maintaining the water as close to what it is at the moment, would it be ok for me to soak a new sponge (I have a new, more powerful filter) in the existing tank water and transport that sponge in a container of water from the old tank? That would then go into the new tank. I was also thinking if I could get a water tight container I could take some of his current tank water and use that to start off the new tank. I would need to top up the new tank with fresh water, but if I have a sponge which has been seeded with bacteria from his old tank, and also brought in some of the older water, would that be suitable to sustain his cycle meaning I could transfer him straight into his new home?

 

[Chinadog]

Yes, that's the way I would do it more or less. It would be best if you could use some of the old sponge in the new filter if possible, just don't let it dry out between houses. In the past I've transported water in those big bottles that you see on drinking water coolers and also in buckets with lids, but my favourite way is by using poly boxes with lids that the bags of fish arrive at the petstore in. If you ask nicely they might give you some or sell them cheaply. You can transport water, sponge, tank inmates etc very easily, just tape the boxes shut and stack them in the car. Just keep an extra close eye on ammonia and nitrite levels for a few weeks after the move.

 

[fireball99]

Fantastic, thanks a lot. I think I'll try and get some of it into bottls. The new filter doesn't take the sponges I've used in the old one so I'm not sure I can transfer over. I'll transport the new seeded sponge in a container of original tank water though. Thanks


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