Rescaping tank, how long can i keep my fish in a temp 5 gal bucket?

[Desktop Aquatics]

As the title states im rescaping my tank and have a small school of cardinals and 3 otos in the bucket at the moment. I want the tank to settle in for a day to do some testing before put them back in the tank. Filter and tank are a year old but replaced all the hard scape and will have plants in the tank tonight. can the fish live in a bucket with an airpump going for at least the night?

[KBOzzie59]

Absolutely.  

[FlyingFishKeeper]

Hi, they definitely can (I've had some fish in them for around a month for qt-ing before putting them into a main tank)

[Cmike15]

i'd recommend keeping any filters wet with tank water if you can instead of drying out. i have moved a few times with five gallon buckets so it definitely works!

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/14/2022 at 3:33 PM, Desktop Aquatics said:

can the fish live in a bucket with an airpump going for at least the night?

Just test ammonia in the morning. Should be fine. Keep it covered / darkened and then the fish should be ok.

[Desktop Aquatics]

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE! @Cmike15 yah i have water in the tank still and the filter is running with it just the nitrates are super high right now and will be like all night due to stirring up all my substrate putting in the new stuff! last time i moved anything I almost killed the whole tank so I thought keeping in a bucket would allow them to be less stressed out.  I also added a bunch of botanicals and other bs that needs a day or two to settle without livestock in the tank.