Old Tank Crack - New tank coming with 1st Discus

[Topkath]

Hi All -

Great info on this site. Awesome.

My Problem - My old tank cracked while I was cycling it to get started - bummer. :cry: But now I've bought a 2nd hand one from Ebay, and the guy selling it is also selling the fish which I'm going to buy - incorporating 1 adult discus (12cm) and a few corys. He's had all the fish for about 2 years and is moving and can't keep them. MY DILEMMA - apart from being a bit nervous, I've not had discus before... :shock:
I'm getting the new tank and the fish all at the same time... How am I going to transport the new fish without stressing them to death??? and cycle the tank without killing them? All I have at the moment is a 50 litre plastic bucket that is keeping my guppies alive (they were starting the cycle on my old tank) I will be getting the complete tank setup - heater, filter, decorations, fish, and I'll be taking some water from the old tank too. Any helpful suggestions on what I can do?? :idea: :idea:

[sammigold]

When we moved house we took the tank apart as you have to due to weight etc...

we kept as much of the tank water as possible about 50-60%(thouroughly cleaned out 20litre plastic keg things from a pub) and transported it to new house...

kept some water in with the gravel so bacterias wouldnt die...

depending on size of fish we either bagged them or as in the case of our synodontis we bought a bucket with a lid to transport him.

kept filter media in some of the tank water and transported that across then when we got to new house we just put it all back together with the original water and added the rest as if it was a normal water change... Popped the fish in and that was it... No cycling required as we had kept our bacterias alive... You could try that....

When transporting my baby discus from wangaratta to Preston (Vic. 3hr drive approx) I had them in bags inside a foam esky to keep them insulated and in the dark to keep them calm... they settled in quite well... so I think you could use a similar idea with success. HTH

Good luck.