Moving Brooding BN

[AndiH]

Hi all. It appears I'm going to be moving around the first of October. I reduced my fishload by getting rid of many, but I have a young pair of BN left. From what I can tell the male hasn't left a broken cup in 10-14 days though he does move around in it. I already plan to take a bucket of tank water from here to put him in when he arrives at the new place, but beyond that, I'm not sure what to do. Is there a safe(r) way to move him and any fry/eggs when it comes time?

[Taratron]

How long/far is the move? It might be easiest to keep the cup with male and fry in a bucket with an airstone, unless you're talking hours on the road.

[AndiH]

The move is only 10 miles or so. The cup doesnt have a bottom, instead its rim is buried in the gravel so I have to figure a way to lift it from the tank to begin with. If I separated the male from the cup just for the move, what would happen when I tried to rejoin them?

[Taratron]

He might reject the eggs, but are they eggs right now, or wrigglers, or ready to leave the cup anyway?

[AndiH]

Thats it, I have no idea whats in there. The position of the cup makes it impossible to get a good view, especially with daddy in there. I guess I'll just try for the best. Maybe I'll move them to my 10g and transport it half full

[Taratron]

Don't move a tank with water in it; you risk breaking the seams and having water everywhere! Best bet is to get some form of slate or a flat piece of something and use it as a floor to the cup, then move the entire thing to a bucket with airstone for the move.

[MatsP]

I would gently lift the cup to see what's going on. If the babies are all brown (or yellow/white if they are albino) rather than the juvenile orange colour, then you can just siphon them up into a suitable fry container. If they are orange, then suggestion above on moving the entire cup is good.

I have moved eggs with dad, and didn't loose any. But it's not ideal.

However, they should lay another batch 4-5 weeks after the previous spawn, so I wouldn't worry overly about if you lose them.

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Mats

[crkinney]

I had to move one of my tanks with a male bristle nose guarding eggs .I lowered the water level to 3" and lifted very carefully.
I only had to go a few feet,the male did not even notice . I have about thirty fry swimming that tank now.
mule

[AndiH]

Well, the male came out of the cup and I caught the female in there briefly. I can't see signs of fry/eggs now so must have died if there was anything. Makes it easier to move at least though babies would have been nice.

[MatsP]

Seems more likely that the fry has been released. Do you have any fish that could eat small other fish in the tank?

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Mats

[AndiH]

Only thing in there right now are the BN pair, 4 corys, and a betta - who could eat fry I imagine

The betta got moved to that tank when I cut back on my fish and closed down the other tank (10g) he was in as I prepared to move. Obviously I wasn't expecting any breeding behavior.

I haven't seen anything that looks like fry