moving soon... seeking advice

conger

Hello all,

well I'm moving soon from Florida to New Mexico (a long way!!), and have a question about one particular fish of mine. I've given all of my other fish either to friends in town who keep fish, or returned them to the LFS, but I have one large Jack Dempsey cichlid (~8") that I would love to keep if possible. However, I have a couple of concerns which I'll outline; please let me know your opinions on whether or not I should risk him by trying to keep him, or if I need to hand him off to someone here and start new when I get to my new home.

First, its simply a long trip... the drive itself will likely be a two-day trek, and the logistics of the moving crew hired by my company may make the total trip time of the aquarium itself closer to four days. I suppose I could try the battery-operated heater and battery-operated air pump, but in your opinions, would that be too impractical or risky for such a long trip?

And secondly, I imagine by taking the tank apart, moving it, and setting it back up, it will go through a cycle all over again. I have no desire to put my prize Jack Dempsey through a cycle and risk his life. Is there any suggestions on ways around it?

So basically, is there any way that I can keep my JD on this move? Or should I give him up to someone local, and start over with new fish when I get where I'm going? Any advice, wisdom, and experience to share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

okiemavis

Well, yes, it is definitely possible. However, it will be tricky. I can get into the logistics of it if you would like, but before I go off on that, let me make a simpler suggestion.

It sounds like you have a bunch of fishy friends. Could you have one of them take the JD temporarily and ship him overnight to you when the tank is all set up? If you keep the gravel and filter media wet (or at least moist) during the move, the cycle should be quick and painless. Your JD is small enough that he's still allowed to be posted, and he'll be able to rejoin you will minimal moving stress and no aquarium cycle to deal with.

conger

hmm, I guess thats not a bad suggestion, I hadn't thought of having him shipped to me. However, my first reaction to thinking about that is mis-trust of shipping companies & employees... I would prefer to remain in control of the entire process, if it could be done without inducing too much stress on the JD. If you wouldn't mind, what would you recommend as a "manual" process for me to travel with the JD? I think I can arrange to keep the gravel (its a very fine sand) and the filter media wet. Thanks a bunch :)