How to set up a tank for school

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C

carcrazy

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 11, 2007
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Fisher Branch, Manitoba, Canada
It looks like I will be buying a 180g plywood tank with homemade stand for my high school science room next weekend. :) It comes with a heater, shop light, and lids but no filter (well, he said he'd include a sponge filter). He is including two iridescent sharks that are both about 18" (according to him) for free. My problem is that I have to transport the tank and fish about 150 miles to the school and set up the tank right away. What will I do with the fish until the tank has warmed up, let alone cycled? He suggests that they are tough and don't need a cycled tank but I am skeptical about this. Can I keep the catfish in rubbermade garbage cans with an air stone and daily water changes until the tank has cycled? I don't have any spare tanks for them. I doubt that the LFS in the same city that I am picking up the tank would house such large fish for me. I don't really want to go looking for a kiddie pool to put into my basement temporarily, either. Help! :nilly:
 
From what im guessing, you have a truck/suv that can transport a tank, you why dont you take the tank to the school, go back and drain water from you other tanks into buckets or something and then take those to the school. Your gonna need a filter fast thou.
 
Moving fish that large over that distance is gonna be hard (for you and the fish). I'd just give them to some MFK'ers in your area who can meet up when you get the tank and take good care of them afterward. You really do need a cycled filtration system for them regardless of what he said. If it was tilapia I'd believe it but not those fish. You could get away with water changes but you'd be doing alot of them for a couple weeks (8-12) till the filter cycled. Ammonia is really bad for any fish let alone nitrite and nitrate.
 
I do have a heater that comes with the tank. I guess I'll have to buy a canister filter for it when I pick up the tank and hope to get reimbursed by the school. Water from the old tanks would not carry much good bacteria. I was considering replacing the gravel in my 270g as it would be too rough for my baby rays and replacing it with smaller grained gravel or sand. I could use the replaced gravel at school.

If I decide to take the catfish, I'll just have to keep them in the rubber maid garbage cans with a heater and airstone until the tank is ready for them. If I do daily water changes I think they'll be alright. I have a hiblow air pump that would aerate the heck out of the containers. Hopefully the catfish can survive this ordeal as it will take at least a couple of weeks for the tank to cycle. If I lived close to the school I'd risk having them in the tank and doing daily water changes but I live 35 miles away so that is out of the question.

Thanks everyone for the advice, I need all I can get! I've never kept iridescent sharks before so all help is greatly appreciated.
 
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