Transferring big fish

[Whip's World]

I know Cory isn't into the big fish so much anymore (Murphy & Ladybird aside), but if he or any of you have an idea on how to move a 20+ in arowana, I'm open to suggestions and/or advice. 

*Edit*

To clarify, I'm moving her from one tank to another within the same fish room, perhaps 15 feet. My question revolves more around netting the beastie, not the move itself. As you probably know, Arowana are jumpers and even after I had the tank 50% drained during a water change a while back, she was still able to launch herself up and out. My biggest net, while fairly large, cannot contain even half her mass.

I'm thinking a pillow case? I thought maybe a koi net-sock thing but most of them are $50ish and that seems a bit extravagant for something I don't plan on using more than twice.

Edited May 31, 2021 by Whip's World
To clarify

[Fish Folk]

2 hours ago, Whip's World said:

I know Cory isn't into the big fish so much anymore (Murphy & Ladybird aside), but if he or any of you have an idea on how to move a 20+ in arowana, I'm open to suggestions and/or advice. 

(Full disclosure... I have Z E R O experience trying to do this)

Im imagining a move where you’ll need something like the following:

1 - A 40-60 gallon Rubbermaid Stock Tank. Tractor Supply is a good store to find one at. Rigid polymer, used for feeding farm animals.

2 - A small camping tarp and straps to cover and secure the top.

3 - A pickup truck.

4 - Battery powered air pump and two medium sized sponge filters with airline and several single adjustment valves.

5 - 5-gal. bucket(s) for carrying water. I’d suggest 4-5 of them. 

6 - 8-ft length of 1/2 inch hose for siphoning water.

7 - Large sized landing net used for sport fishing. Find one with rubber / elastic-like netting for kindest treatment.

8 - Bottle of stress coat.

9 - Recommend 4x friends who are Ok with carrying some weight. Probably could get away with less... but strong arms and backs working together is most helpful. 

——————————————————

—First, make sure that the tank where your fish is moving to is entirely set up, cycled, etc—

A. Bring the 40-50 gal. stock tank and 5x 5-gal buckets to the floor near the aquarium where your big fish is at. Don’t obstruct the space right in front of the tank, but just set them near enough to drain tank water out into without being in the way of where you’ll need to stand to net out your fish.

B. Use the 1/2-inch hose to drain out 5x buckets full of tank water, and to fill up approximately 1/2 of your stock tank. Keep in mind that a gallon of water is 8 lbs, and that a stock tank is about 30 lbs. So, you’re at about 230 lbs there. This is why 4x strong backs are important.

C. Place the 2x sponges into the stock tank with about 3-ft. of airline attached to each. These will be fastened by valves to the battery operated air pump once in the bed of the pickup truck. Aeration is important.

D. Have the small tarp and ties ready to cover the stock tank so the fish won’t jump out.

E. Drain out more aquarium water into your 5x 5-gal buckets. Make sure these, like your stock tank, aren’t in the way of where you’ll need to be to catch your fish.

F.  (This step is up to you... but it may be much easier to catch fish this way) Using whatever method you normally would use, drain the tank down through your sink / drain to about 25%.

G. Use the large landing net to catch the fish, and move to the 1/2-filled stock tank. You might need a 2nd large aquarium net to help hold it in too.

H. Cover the stock tank with the tarp, and tie down around the lip to ensure you fish won’t jump out.

I. With help, carry the 1/2-filled stock tank out to the pickup truck.

J. Bring out the 5x 5-gal buckets, take off the tarp, and add water. Use your judgement how high you want the water to be. The higher it is, the more it will spill in transit. Remember that what fish need is oxygen, and no ammonia burns.

K. Attach the battery powered air pump to the sponge filters via the valves.

L. Add API stress coat to help the fish in transit.

M. Recover with tarp and ties.

N. Bring all items to pickup for move - siphon, buckets, nets, etc.

O. Drive to new location.

P. Open stock tank, drain out 1/2 of after to the ground, and remove sponge filters.

Q. Recover top with tarp, tie down, and carry to new location. Scope out the walkway first. Be sure any stairs are carefully thought through. If it is difficult, consider removing a bit more water to make it lighter to carry.

R. At new tank site, remove tarp cover, net out fish into new aquarium.

—Everything else is just clean up. For which... you should have a ton of towels ready to use! —

 

[lefty o]

large rubbermaid tub with a lid, or a large cooler.

[Whip's World]

On 5/29/2021 at 6:07 AM, Whip's World said:

I know Cory isn't into the big fish so much anymore (Murphy & Ladybird aside), but if he or any of you have an idea on how to move a 20+ in arowana, I'm open to suggestions and/or advice. 

To clarify, I'm moving her from one tank to another within the same fish room, perhaps 15 feet. My question revolves more around netting the beastie, not the move itself. As you probably know, Arowana are jumpers and even after I had the tank 50% drained during a water change a while back, she was still able to launch herself up and out. My biggest net, while fairly large, cannot contain even half her mass.

I'm thinking a pillow case? I thought maybe a koi net-sock thing but most of them are $50ish and that seems a bit extravagant for something I don't plan on using more than twice.

[Griznatch]

 I used  a bath towel to catch my 20+ in channel cat. Drained the tank down to about 1/4 first of course. Wet heavy towel helped control the fish. Never tried it on a fast swimmer however, and channel cats don't have scales..

Edited May 31, 2021 by Griznatch