Moving question: tropical fish

[brewer12345]

We have spent the last 4 days doing heavy labor clearing out the house and preparing for a sale and move. I am exhausted, but we are most of the way there and the stuff that is left requires the presence of a dumpster (Thursday), the handyman (tomorrow)), or is a minor nitpicky thing. One of the issues that comes up is what to do with my tropical fish. I have a small tank with a half dozen barbs and a 75 gallon community tank with a ton of smaller fish. I am taking the stands, but not the tanks, but my real worry is what to do with the fish, as I do not want them doomed just because I am changing my address. Any ideas? Should I just toss something up on craigslist? I'd be happy to give the fairly expensive 75 gal Oceanic tank to anyone who wants the fish and plants.

 

[mh]

We have spent the last 4 days doing heavy labor clearing out the house and preparing for a sale and move. I am exhausted, but we are most of the way there and the stuff that is left requires the presence of a dumpster (Thursday), the handyman (tomorrow)), or is a minor nitpicky thing. One of the issues that comes up is what to do with my tropical fish. I have a small tank with a half dozen barbs and a 75 gallon community tank with a ton of smaller fish. I am taking the stands, but not the tanks, but my real worry is what to do with the fish, as I do not want them doomed just because I am changing my address. Any ideas? Should I just toss something up on craigslist? I'd be happy to give the fairly expensive 75 gal Oceanic tank to anyone who wants the fish and plants.

ask your local tropical fish hut if you can post a "give these fishies a good home so they don't die" notice.

If the local proprietor is a good person they will probably go along w/ it..

 

[figner]

ask your local tropical fish hut if you can post a "give these fishies a good home so they don't die" notice.

If the local proprietor is a good person they will probably go along w/ it..

+1

last time I moved I gave about a dozen small fish back to the local pet store I bought them from.

 

[W2R]

We did an interstate move in 1976 from Mississippi to Norfolk, Virginia with both saltwater fish and freshwater tropical fish. We put them in several large plastic trash cans, with battery operated air. Then we drove like a bat out of h*ll with no stops except for gas, until we got there. The fish all survived the trip. We barely did.

My STRONG recommendation is to not even try this. It is very stressful and just not worth it. In later interstate moves, we donated the fish to pet stores that specialized in fish.

 

[GregLee]

Should I just toss something up on craigslist? I'd be happy to give the fairly expensive 75 gal Oceanic tank to anyone who wants the fish and plants.

How about this? Sell the tank on craigslist "obo", without mention of fish, then offer the buyer the fish for free. The idea being to try to find someone who has a genuine interest in keeping fish.

 

[clifp]

When I moved from California to Hawaii, my 6 tanks I sold worth of fish back to the Pet store. I lot of stores will only give you store credit but you might be able to do something with the credit. I foolishly shipped my nicest 55 gallon tank and 11 years latter it is still sitting in storage.

 

[Purron]

We have spent the last 4 days doing heavy labor clearing out the house and preparing for a sale and move. I am exhausted, but we are most of the way there and the stuff that is left requires the presence of a dumpster (Thursday), the handyman (tomorrow)), or is a minor nitpicky thing. One of the issues that comes up is what to do with my tropical fish. I have a small tank with a half dozen barbs and a 75 gallon community tank with a ton of smaller fish. I am taking the stands, but not the tanks, but my real worry is what to do with the fish, as I do not want them doomed just because I am changing my address. Any ideas? Should I just toss something up on craigslist? I'd be happy to give the fairly expensive 75 gal Oceanic tank to anyone who wants the fish and plants.

Not a fish person so can't offer pratical advice. Respect you for caring about the fishies and wish you all the best in your move Brew. You are a good man. Your kids are lucky to have a dad like you

 

[Midpack]

+1

last time I moved I gave about a dozen small fish back to the local pet store I bought them from.

+2. If you're a regular, they might even give you some $ for them. But I'd give them to a pet store before anything else. And thanks for taking care of the little buggers, I used to keep fresh, goldfish & salt tanks - but no more.

 

[Zero]

Lots of Chinese restaurants have fish tanks with tropical fish, maybe donate them. And yeah, there is always the possibility that the fish end up in some dish.

 

[brewer12345]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will start contacting the local stores if none of the neighbors express interest.

Considering that the largest fist is maybe 5 inches long and most are small tetras, rather doubt anyone not starving would be eager to make a meal out of these guys.

I plan on seting up a tank or two in my new home, but shipping a tank is not worth it.

 

[toofrugalformycat]

I thought I'd chime in with the news that if you put them in a plastic bucket, it must be a new one that has never ever been used for anything else. Any soap or other chemicals that were once in the bucket can never be completely removed, and will contaminate the water and kill the fish. If you care about the fish, buy them a new bucket.

 

[brewer12345]

I thought I'd chime in with the news that if you put them in a plastic bucket, it must be a new one that has never ever been used for anything else. Any soap or other chemicals that were once in the bucket can never be completely removed, and will contaminate the water and kill the fish. If you care about the fish, buy them a new bucket.

Understood. I have food grade buckets for brewing or in a pinch I suppose I could put them in a clean, empty homebrew keg (stainless steel).

 

[Dimsumkid]

You can also use Freecycle, it's a yahoo group. Nice thing is any member must be registered as opposed to people that try to scam you on Craigslist. You can ask for and offer items, only requirement is it must be free, no payments involved. My 11 yr old wanted to have a pet fish, we responded to someone that offered up everything on freecycle, 20 gal tank, food, fish, light, heater, rocks, etc. We got 4 fish and my son is now a proud fish manager!