# How long can fish live in a bucket?



## JoshMKB24 (Mar 10, 2018)

So I am upgrading my small tank from 29 to 37 gallons. I don't want to mix the CA cichlids and Danios in with the African cichlids. However the spot and stand where the 29 sits is the same one I'm going to use for the 37. I don't have a way of saving all of the water and just transferring everything within a few hours and I also want to use sand in the new tank whereas right now the 29 has gravel in it. How long can I have them live in a 5 gallon bucket? I would put the filter in it and some rocks and a heater........but I don't think that would be very fun for them. I wanted the tank to cycle a bit before putting fish in it if possible. I can't easily move the filter either because I would need it for the bucket with the fish in it........unless you think it would be ok to use the filter from the new tank in the bucket and put my old HOB filter on the new tank to get some bacteria cycling in there faster?


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## Cyphro (Mar 23, 2018)

How much does a trash can cost? Hardly anything and it's bigger than your tank. Just use that, or some similar larger thing. A 5g bucket is not a very healthy arrangement.


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## dakkon227 (Aug 4, 2017)

Agreed, just pick up a rubbermaid storage container, those can get quite big and store plenty of water. After you're done you can just use it for storage and have a back up hospital/quarantine if needed


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

One more vote for a larger container or containers...A bucket is just like a tank. Filter it and heat it and stock it like a tank (by length). Then the fish can live in a container or bucket indefinitely.

Cycling a tank takes six weeks. Why not just move the 29 to a temp location (where you were going to put the bucket?) but still have the fish in the 29? Run the new filter on the 29 for 2 weeks.

Then you can take as long as you like getting the 37 ready.

When you are ready move the fish and filters from the 29 to the 37. I assume you are not continuing the 29?


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## JoshMKB24 (Mar 10, 2018)

Thats an awesome idea guys! I will hit up Walmart and pick up a big Rubbermaid tub!

I will continue to use the 29. I am going to move it to my office. There is no real rush though. I could keep the fish in the 29 in the location of said bucket, but I will be moving it myself so I'd have to drain out most of the water from the 29 anyways. I'm a pretty strong guy, but I don't know how comfortable I'd feel moving the tank with a lot of water and rocks in it. I moved it from 1 room to another with just enough water to cover some of the rocks, but I feel that would be draining the water levels too much for the fish.


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## JoshMKB24 (Mar 10, 2018)

Awesome input on the tub. I never would have thought of that! I am going to pick up an 18 gallon tub tonight.

Would this work for the fish? I drain 18 gallons or so and put the fish and rocks in there and drain the rest of the remaining water out of the 29 gallon. I would then put sand I washed and had left over from my 75 gallon in there and put in say 10 gallons of new tap water. Let it all settle for like a day and then put the rocks, filter, water, and fish from the tub directly into that tank. Would that work or would it just be a better idea to fill the new tank to the top and let it cycle for a few weeks and then putting the rocks and fish in at that time?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You would never move a tank with water or rocks in it. And there is no reason to keep any of the original water. Just do lots of water changes before the move and get nitrates to 10ppm. Then just use fresh water to fill tanks and/or tubs.

If you cycle without using established media...allow six weeks and cycle with ammonia before adding fish.


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## JoshMKB24 (Mar 10, 2018)

DJRansome said:


> You would never move a tank with water or rocks in it. And there is no reason to keep any of the original water. Just do lots of water changes before the move and get nitrates to 10ppm. Then just use fresh water to fill tanks and/or tubs.
> 
> If you cycle without using established media...allow six weeks and cycle with ammonia before adding fish.


Yeah, I would be worried about the bottom dropping out, that would suck! I am going to do what you guys have suggested. I'm going to fill up an 18 gallon tub, throw the rocks, filter, and heater in there and let the fish hang out there for a while. Fill up a new tank and use 1 of the old filter media and let it cycle for a while.


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## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

If you have a filter that's currently working...you don't need to cycle the new tank at all...as long as you move that filter to the new tank. Put the fish and whatever media is in your filter in a bucket, put the rocks wherever, drain the water and move the now empty tank. Set up new tank how you want it with rocks, sand, whatever, add dechlorinated water, put old filter (reinstall media) and new filter on new tank, make sure the water temps match, put fish into new tank and let the two filters run together for a few weeks. then discontinue the old filter, and check daily (or twice daily) for a couple of days to make sure the new filter is keeping up with the bio-load. If it's not, put the old filter back on for a while longer. Or a faster way would be to split the media from the old filter between the two filters. You've got the bacteria...there's no need to cycle unless you're going to use the old tank right away and need the filter for that.


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## JoshMKB24 (Mar 10, 2018)

lilscoots said:


> If you have a filter that's currently working...you don't need to cycle the new tank at all...as long as you move that filter to the new tank. Put the fish and whatever media is in your filter in a bucket, put the rocks wherever, drain the water and move the now empty tank. Set up new tank how you want it with rocks, sand, whatever, add dechlorinated water, put old filter (reinstall media) and new filter on new tank, make sure the water temps match, put fish into new tank and let the two filters run together for a few weeks. then discontinue the old filter, and check daily (or twice daily) for a couple of days to make sure the new filter is keeping up with the bio-load. If it's not, put the old filter back on for a while longer. Or a faster way would be to split the media from the old filter between the two filters. You've got the bacteria...there's no need to cycle unless you're going to use the old tank right away and need the filter for that.


Thanks that kind of what I did. I put the fish and the rocks in a tub with a heater and their filter. I set up the new tank which wasn't that hard seeing as I had washed all the sand from setting up a different tank. I took the media and a few rocks out of the tub and put them in the new tank. Currently waiting for it to get back up to temperature. When it does I'll move the rest of the rocks and the fish. Hopefully I can do it soon. Its a bit unnerving having 18 gallons of water sitting in a plastic tub right next to my computer here haha. It'll probably take a bit to get up to temp. I'm shooting for like 79 degrees and its currently like 60.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Why not fill with 78 degree water?

Agree with lilscoots, if you are using an established filter, no need to wait.

If you use one filter, think about stocking with 1/2 the original bioload. Why not run the new filter on the old tank?


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## JoshMKB24 (Mar 10, 2018)

DJRansome said:


> Why not fill with 78 degree water?
> 
> Agree with lilscoots, if you are using an established filter, no need to wait.
> 
> If you use one filter, think about stocking with 1/2 the original bioload. Why not run the new filter on the old tank?


The main reason was my fear of what happened to my 75G tank that you gave me suggestions for clearing the bacterial bloom hah. I used warm water in that one and it got all kinds of cloudy with the bacterial bloom. This time I just used tap out of the faucet that was on the chilly side and the water cleared itself up right away. I felt slightly vindicated that my tank didn't get cloudy this time since it was the same sand I had washed last time haha.

The water was up to 77 degrees in the tank and the tub was at 78.2 so I transferred them in. I didn't wait for it to match the temp, but I figured I would just do it over my lunch. They swam around and seemed happy. The digger pleco also decided he has thus far not needed to dig so hopefully he keeps that up!


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