Need some serious advice

[FrontosaurusRex]

HERE'S THE SITUATION.

WE ARE GETTING HARDWOOD FLOORS PUT IN OUR HOUSE THIS NEXT WEEK AND I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT TO DO WITH MY TANKS. I HAVE A 125G AND A 65G TANK THAT NEED TO BE MOVED. I THOUGHT ABOUT DRAINING THEM DOWN ABOUT 75% AND MOVING THEM FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS UNTIL THEY ARE DONE WITH THE FLOORS BUT THEN THAT LEAVES THEM WITHOUT FILTRATION. I HAVE A 29G TANK THAT IS EMPTY. I ALSO THOUGHT ABOUT FILLING IT WITH THE WATER THATS ALREADY IN THE 125 AND DUMPING ALL MY FISH INTO IT SO I CAN DRAIN THE BIG TANKS COMPLETELY BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO RE-CYCLE MY TANKS. WHAT SHOULD I DO?

[eklikewhoa]

Keep the filters running and you will be fine. There will be a slight cycle but nothing compared to cycling a whole new tank fully stocked.

What you can do is get some 30g RubberMaid tubs to house the fish along with the filtration, cut feeding for a day or two before the drain.

Now with the hardwood floors you might want to let it settle/dry before placing the weight on them since it might cause them to sink. How do I know? I put a dining room table onto the newly installed hardwood floors where I am at now and there is a round indention from the pegs of the table leg.

Now to keep the hardwood floor from being damaged by the tank long term you could get a piece of foam or insulator to put on the floor between the tank, this will also help level out your tank too.

[schance]

shower liner is great to separate tank from floor

[Cesar]

+1 with Ek, shower liner not a bad idea in case of spills or overflows from refilling

[PhishPhreek]

You can always put the fish in the bathtub or a trash can until everything is back in place.

[jeff]

i have alway been nervous about putting in hard wood due to water damage. I always spill something.

[FrontosaurusRex]

so, when i put the fish in the bucket, i attach a filter and then drain the tank completely? wouldnt it be easier just to drain most of the water and slide the tank out of the way while they work and then slide it back? the guy told me it shouldnt take more than an hour to do the room the fish are in.

[eklikewhoa]

Won't take long for them to lay the flooring but I would give it time to settle.


Again it is your floor though so do as you please.

[FrontosaurusRex]

its not regular wood floors (i probably should've said that from the beginning) its the snap together kind.

[Scooby]

Like I said yesterday at your house we just put in all new flooring like what you're getting. We had to move all our tanks (what a pain LoL). We have a 40G RubberMaid tub and used it to house all the fish in our 125G. We put their tank water in it and took the filter off the tank and put it on the RubberMaid tub. As soon as the floor was finished we put the tank back and started setting up. You dont have to wait for this type of flooring to settle. But remember sliding anything across that type of flooring can cause a scratch!! So be careful when putting your tank back in place.

We also put plastic down around the tank when setting everything up because you dont really want to get the flooring wet. A couple drops here and there wont hurt it as long as you wipe them up quickly, but a big spill could cause permanent damamge.

[spyke1969]

Doesnt sound like a good floor for a fish keeper

[Scooby]

Doesnt sound like a good floor for a fish keeper

LoL - I agree but it's not my choice on the flooring. It's not a good floor to have if you have kids, pets or want to live in the house You have to wear socks when on it because it will show your footprints and you can't just mop them away. But it is beautiful...