Moving Fish to a small tank

hawkinsrgk · Aug 9, 2012

Hello Everybody

Wanted to get your feedback on setting up a 30G tank.

I am about to start the process of getting the 125G tank ready to move in about 2 weeks. The tank currently has a yellow tang (4yrs old) and two clowns (1.5yrs old). I would like to temporary setup a 30G to house the 3 fish for about 3 weeks while I move the 125G to the new location. The plan would be to use about 20lbs of live rock and a CSS 125 Skimmer with it hanging on the back.

Would this work or is it too much with such a small tank? I do have a plan B if this is a bad idea.

Thanks
Randy

H@rry · Aug 9, 2012

I don't see why that wouldn't work assuming the 30 is fully cycled.

hawkinsrgk · Aug 9, 2012

Thanks Harry

The 30 is not setup yet. I would be using the rock and water from the 125 to setup the 30.

Onebaldman · Aug 9, 2012

Only put the rock and water in, don't move the sand over or it will mini-cycle. Other than that, you should have no problems for 3 weeks.

Tomoko Schum · Aug 9, 2012

For a small temporary fish-only or quarantine setup, I'd use a small filter, either an inexpensive power filter or a sponge filter in a tank without rocks or sand. You can provide them with a good size PVC fitting for a hiding place. You can season your filter ahead of time by running it on the main tank for a week. If your fish gets sick for some reason during the holding period, you can easily treat fish in the small tank.

JSB · Aug 10, 2012

Tomoko Schum said:
For a small temporary fish-only or quarantine setup, I'd use a small filter, either an inexpensive power filter or a sponge filter in a tank without rocks or sand. You can provide them with a good size PVC fitting for a hiding place. You can season your filter ahead of time by running it on the main tank for a week. If your fish gets sick for some reason during the holding period, you can easily treat fish in the small tank.

That's exactly what I did. I have 2 4" PVC tees that are stuffed on end side with filter floss that was in my sump for a while. Bare bottom, no rock, with a cheap power filter. It has worked like a champ for almost a year now, and all of my fish have spent a couple weeks in there. When nothing is being help in it, I drop a little ammonia in there periodically to keep the filter from starving out.