lefty
Active Member
zjhoward,
I, too, have about a three hour drive from my house to my campus. I will be taking my tank home over Winter break (I leave this friday). Over Thanksgiving break, I had someone on my floor check on my fish daily (I was gone for five days). Over Spring break, they shut off the power to the residence halls so I believe I will set the tank up at a friend's apartment nearby for that time. Taking your tank with you isn't as bad a process as it sounds. I guess it depends what all is in your tank. Here is how I take my tank home and it works well for me (keep in mind my tank is only 20 gallons):
1. The day before I leave, I make about three gallons of saltwater to make up for the water that's lost in transport or will become unusable by the time I get home.
2. The first thing I do is remove all the LR and put it into a rubbermaid. I then siphon some water into that container so the rock is completely submerged (I take the rock out first to make it easier to catch my livestock).
3. I then siphon about 3.5-4 gallons of water into a five gallon bucket and put a heater in there. I put my livestock in this bucket. I have a lid for it that I drilled holes in so they have an air supply. I have a battery operated air pump that I put in the bucket as well.
4. I now take out all of my equipment and put it in a bag or a bucket.
5. I siphon out all of the remaining water into two 6-gallon water jugs.
6. I am now left with the sand in the bottom.
7. I haul everything except for the livestock bucket out to the car (I transport the tank as is; with the hood on top and the sand in the bottom. I don't have much sand so it doesn't put strain on the seems of the tank. Just keep the tank somewhere where it can stay fairly stable).
8. Lastly, I put the livestock bucket into the car where I have a power inverter hooked up to the cigarette lighter. I plug only the heater into this, and it will stay on as long as the car is running (it has an emergency shut off when the car isn't running so it doesn't drain the battery).
9. 2.5-3 hours later, I set everything back up again. I bring in the tank first and put all the equipment and water back in. I put one of the bucket lids on the sand and pour the water onto that and not directly onto the sand to avoid stirring it up. Then I add the rock, and once the water is back at the correct temperature, I acclimate the livestock back to the tank's water (it has changed slightly since I'll probably be using the three gallons of new water I made ahead of time). I don't usually do the drip method this time around since the water differences are minor. I usually will take a cup or two of water out of the livestock bucket and add a cup or two of the tank's water and do this over the period of an hour or so before I add them back.
10. All done!
This way has worked for me just fine. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. :happyfish
-lefty
I, too, have about a three hour drive from my house to my campus. I will be taking my tank home over Winter break (I leave this friday). Over Thanksgiving break, I had someone on my floor check on my fish daily (I was gone for five days). Over Spring break, they shut off the power to the residence halls so I believe I will set the tank up at a friend's apartment nearby for that time. Taking your tank with you isn't as bad a process as it sounds. I guess it depends what all is in your tank. Here is how I take my tank home and it works well for me (keep in mind my tank is only 20 gallons):
1. The day before I leave, I make about three gallons of saltwater to make up for the water that's lost in transport or will become unusable by the time I get home.
2. The first thing I do is remove all the LR and put it into a rubbermaid. I then siphon some water into that container so the rock is completely submerged (I take the rock out first to make it easier to catch my livestock).
3. I then siphon about 3.5-4 gallons of water into a five gallon bucket and put a heater in there. I put my livestock in this bucket. I have a lid for it that I drilled holes in so they have an air supply. I have a battery operated air pump that I put in the bucket as well.
4. I now take out all of my equipment and put it in a bag or a bucket.
5. I siphon out all of the remaining water into two 6-gallon water jugs.
6. I am now left with the sand in the bottom.
7. I haul everything except for the livestock bucket out to the car (I transport the tank as is; with the hood on top and the sand in the bottom. I don't have much sand so it doesn't put strain on the seems of the tank. Just keep the tank somewhere where it can stay fairly stable).
8. Lastly, I put the livestock bucket into the car where I have a power inverter hooked up to the cigarette lighter. I plug only the heater into this, and it will stay on as long as the car is running (it has an emergency shut off when the car isn't running so it doesn't drain the battery).
9. 2.5-3 hours later, I set everything back up again. I bring in the tank first and put all the equipment and water back in. I put one of the bucket lids on the sand and pour the water onto that and not directly onto the sand to avoid stirring it up. Then I add the rock, and once the water is back at the correct temperature, I acclimate the livestock back to the tank's water (it has changed slightly since I'll probably be using the three gallons of new water I made ahead of time). I don't usually do the drip method this time around since the water differences are minor. I usually will take a cup or two of water out of the livestock bucket and add a cup or two of the tank's water and do this over the period of an hour or so before I add them back.
10. All done!
This way has worked for me just fine. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. :happyfish
-lefty
