Moving Fingerlings

[Celticloud]

Hey everyone,

What is the best way to transfer fish from one tank to another? I am a newbie at a critical juncture. I have 100 2 to 3 inch fingerlings in 100 tank and need to move them to my 500 gallon tank. I figured I would put them in 4 five gallon buckets and truck them the 1/4 mile to the big tank.

But I can't catch them. They are quick. I have about 12 inch net. I guess I am going to have to drain 100 gallon tank down until they can't get around my net and buckets. I am afraid this is going to stress them so much they will all go belly up on me.

Am I being overly nervous? Any suggestions are welcome.

Best Wishes,
Tom Cloud

[badflash]

I split this off of Ernie's topic as it didn't belong there.
To answer the question, 5 gallon buckets are fine for 50 fingerlings for about 15 minutes with no air stone. Longer, probably an hour with one.
Drain the tank. You'll be forever otherwise.

[Celticloud]

My apologies for the misplaced post :oops:

My move was successful but I may have made a big mistake. I moved them 6 am Sunday morning. Only one fatality moving from 100 gallon tank to 5 gallon buckets to 500 gallon tank.

Every thing looked fine. Fish were schooling, swimming around, exploring their new habitat. I saved the old tank water figuring that it already had nitrates built up, lots of feces to break down so why not top off the new tank with about 45 gallons of old tank water.

By late afternoon yesterday the perfectly clear water of the big tank was looking a bit green and murky, hard to see the bottom. By mid day today the green had turned to brown and I can't see the fish if they are below the top 1/3 of the tank. Lowering my hand into the water I can't distinguish my fingers when water reaches my elbow.

Water parameters have not changed too much. Before move big tank temp was 74.0. PH 7.0, Alkalinity 40, hardness 70, nitrite 0, nitrate had slight tinge of color.

Water temp today went from 71.7 at 5:30 this morning up to 84.7 this evening. PH has risen to 8.2, Alkalinity 80, hardness 75, nitrite shows slight color and nitrate less than 20.

It is hard to tell how fish are acting because I can't see them. They are alive, mostly invisible hiding in bottom 1/3 of tank. They are not eagerly, actively feeding. When I approach they scatter. If I hang back they rise slowly out of depths to hang in top third of tank, silently rising like a wolf pack of submarines, not darting like a school of fish but just hanging motionless. When I move close to tank they dart and scatter to the depths.

Tomorrow I will begin filling 100 gallon and 25 gallon tanks as soon as sun gets high enough for solar heater raise temperature of our irrigation water. As soon as I get it 70-75 degrees I will start discarding and diluting 500 gallon tank water.

Is the anything else I could/should do? Any suggestions on lowering the PH and Alkalinity? They are the only parameters that seem out of whack. Why would adding the old water affect them when PH was never over 7.4 in old tank?

If anyone has experienced a similar situation and has any suggestions, I'd appreciate hearing them.

Best Wishes,
Tom Cloud

[keith_r]

sounds like an algae bloom,, cover your tank and add air..
if it's still murky after a couple of days, add a couple of eggs (lightly scrambled up in a bucket of water) to remove suspended solids

[Big Al]

yes it sounds like an algea bloom to me also. definetly cover your tanks. also the egg trick that keith suggested works i had to do it to my tanks, with in a couple of hours you should start noticing a difference. but it will take a while to start clearing up the algea bloom. good luck Big Al

[davidstcldfl]

Hi Tom,
I agree with Keith and Big Al....cover your tank, and sump, if your using one.

When I moved my fish outside...they took almost 2 weeks before they seemed really comfortable in the new tank....even with a cover.

I reduce my PH with muriatic acid...for swimming pools.
I add about a 1/4 cup of acid to a large plastic cup ( a quart) with water in it. The cup has a small hole drilled in the bottom. That way, it drips into my sump...lowering the PH 'very' slowly.
I added everyday, for a week, going from in the mid 8's to the upper 7's.
My tank is 500 gals, also....total system around 1000 gallons.

I was told to check the PH ,first thing in the morning....then in the afternoon. If there's a difference...it's being caused by algee. Also, there will be less oxygen at night, because of (lot's) of algee.
Guys with more experience...does that sound correct ?

On the egg trick.....isn't it 'just' the egg whites ...?


Sorry Tom....Maybe I missed reading it.....do you already have grow beds with plants in them ? And, you already 'cycled' the water (before moving the fish) in the new 500 gal tank...using ammonia or something else ?

[Big Al]

hi davidstcldfl, i used the hole egg 6 eggs for every 300 gallon of fish tank water mixed with a little tap water. just like your making scrambled eggs mixed really well. and just dump them in fish tank. and let system cycle like normal. it looks pretty sick at first. but it will clear up. thanks Big Al

[davidstcldfl]

Hey Big Al....Glad to hear the whole eggs work.
I did it awhile back....thught I just used the whites.... I remember looking at a bowl of egg yolks, everytime I opened the frig... :lol:
I heard about it ,form some guys, from 'down under'.....guess they do it different there.... :D

[keith_r]

i think leaving the yolks in helps a system cycle up, but I haven't done any, or seen any extensive testing - like not adding humonia, or anything and waiting for an ammonia build up - i used 2 eggs, shells and all first time, crays seem to have taken care of most of them - the shells that is..but i added aged humonia at about the same time, then added minnows about a week later

[Celticloud]

Sorry Tom....Maybe I missed reading it.....do you already have grow beds with plants in them ? And, you already 'cycled' the water (before moving the fish) in the new 500 gal tank...using ammonia or something else ?

Hi David,

I have 500 gallon fish tank pumping up to 40 gallon flood tank which floods into 4 by 16 gravel filled grow bed. I do not have plants in bed yet, but did add 3 gallons of pond water about a week ago to start bacteria growing. Is that the cycling you speak of?

Thanks everyone for suggestions. Right now I am pumping out murky water and diluting it with clean, temperature correct irrigation water. Will that help? Or will the algae just keep growing?

Best Wishes,
Tom

[badflash]

That won't cycle your tank. Cycling requires ammonia from either live or chemical sources and a source of good bacteria. Just water from a pond is unlikey to get it going.

In the case you are in, green water is good. It will rapidly absorb the ammonia produced by your fish and it may keep it low enough to save their lives until the bed actually cycles. Do nothing to discourage the green water. Watch for fish at the surface and increase the air stones.

[Celticloud]

Hi Badflash,

Thanks for the advice. Could you be more specific as to exactly what I need to do to initiate and promote this "cycling". I don't really understand that.

I thought that I was providing the ammonia by adding the water from their old tank which they have been living in for two months with only aquarium filters and had read in other internet info that water from a living, small pond would contain the necessary bacteria.

From what I have read heterotrophic bacteria convert fish waste into nitrites. Then autotrophic bacteria turn ammonia into nitrates. Which do I need to add?

Help :!: I am assuming that my fish are still alive because they are not floating belly up, but I can no longer see them in a 3 foot deep tank. It is freaking me out.

Best Wishes,
Tom Cloud

[davidstcldfl]

exactly what I need to do to initiate and promote this "cycling". I don't really understand that.
Hi Tom, with the fish 'in the tank' .....you are initiating and promoting the cycling.

Wish I had more advice, the only thing I can think off is...Keep the feeding to a minunmum.


I am assuming that my fish are still alive because they are not floating belly up, but I can no longer see them in a 3 foot deep tank. It is freaking me out.
This is a tuff time....I remember when I went out side and my tank was as green as pea soup.. :shock: I was 'fishless' cycling at that time with humonia, but it still freaked me out.

You have been reading on cycling....of course I have no idea, what all you have read(?) Here's a few links. Most of the info, may be 'after the fact'....in your case. Hope these may help anyway...
The Nitrogen Cycle & Nitrifying Bacteria Facts (http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=131)
Ammonia - The Silent Killer (http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=133)

[wolfracer]

All I can add is that my system really didn't start cycling unitl I added fish. I also had an issue with algae but blocking light exposure to the tank solve that problem.

[badflash]

See if you can net a few and check on them.

You need either ammonia or living things to get the process going and keep it going. The best place to get the bacteria is from an established system, but it will start on its own. The method I like best is to use larger turtles. The bad water doesn't hurt them and they poop & pee all the time.

[keith_r]

you will probably get a trace of the bacteria necessary to start the cycling, but i don't know how big an impact that the low volume of the bacteria would have.. i cycled my sys for 2 weeks before adding fish

[Celticloud]

Thanks again to all :roll:

I kept tank covered yesterday, withheld all food. I am filtering tank splash hoses with old socks. Water is clearing somewhat, orangish brown, rather than green. This morning I could see that fish are indeed alive :D Pedama Kankashala

They were just sitting motionless a few inches above the bottom. When I sprinkled a bit of feed they began darting. I am still withholding feed. They're probably eating algae, right :?: and keeping sun block boards covering tank.

Maybe everything will be okay.

Best Wishes,
Tom

[keith_r]

it'll be fine before you know it!

[Celticloud]

Me again. I bought a 4 oz bottle of Stress Zyme from API. I have read that this is the heterotrophic bacteria which does not live in the media. So I assume I should add this right to the fish tank.

Am I right?

Best Wishes,
Tom

[keith_r]

i wouldn;'t add any aquarium products without extensive research, do you plan on eating the fish or just display fish? ap'ers are looking for bacteria to establish in the growing media to process the ammonia and create the rites and rates
things to look at would be how it affects not just the fish, but the plants as well..aquaria is a whole different ballgame when you are raising edibles

[Jim7631]

Whole eggs, scrambled. Interesting.

I experienced a major fish kill several weeks ago, approximately two weeks after introducing 21 catfish to a new tank. All seemed fine during the interim, algae grew, the water turned green*, and then one morning, dead fish started floating to the surface. We lost 12 of the 21. Ph had spiked to over 10 - don't know why. We reacted and the survivors are doing fine. Can't explain the spike, can't explain why some fish died and others survived. The dead included the large and small siblings of a group birthed about nine months prior, meaning size didn't seem to be a factor.

*a State inspector (Tilapia license) stopped by a day or two before and indicated that all looked (and smelled) fine.

Jim

[badflash]

Green water can cause large pH swings at night. I've seen it go to 10 myself. To counter act the effect you need lots of air bubbling in the water. High pH makes fish more sensitive to ammonia, but all fish are not created equally, so some die, some get sick, and nothing seems to happen to the others as long as the ammonia level are at around 1 ppm.

Sounds like you didn't have a solid cycle before you added a large fish load. Large changes in biomass or plants can cause these upsets.

[Celticloud]

:D I didn't try the eggs, but Keith and Big Al's suggestion to cover the tank, along with using a couple of old sock as filters over my input hoses really cleared things up almost as fast as the bloom. :mrgreen:

[JCO]

If you have a way of floating plants on the surface with the roots in the water, that will help take out some of the nutrients and help hold down the algae. The more plants...the better. Get a 1 or 2 inch thick sheet of Styrofoam from Home Depot or where ever and put any kind of plant...flowers, veggies etc. in through holes using net pots and float them. You can even cut the foam into smaller squares just as long as there is enough buoyancy to float the plants. Don't get into a rush...it takes awhile to cycle a tank. :mrgreen: