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traveling tank?

jamieterrin

By jamieterrin,
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jamieterrin Enthusiast

jamieterrin

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Hello all,

I wonder if any of you have ever thought about having a tank in an RV?

I'll be traveling across New Zealand for 6 months with my daughter in a RV soon and I was thinking about taking this opportunity to teach her about the hobby and the magic life in general, it's probably crazy idea but here is what I'm thinking.

Gear

If I am able to get it I plan to use this or something similar as a "tank",

with one of these sponge filters and a USB air pump

I may include a USB pump and might include this USB heater if I can find it

Livestock

As it's NZ I can use the local mud snail and hopefully the endemic freshwater shrimp and maybe even their freshwater crab, and that would be a significant biosphere in itself, but I would also like to add a nano fish like  Endler’s or white clouds to complete it.

Plants

I plan to use loose river gravel for the bottom so it can roll around a bit with Java Moss and  Anubias attached to an ornament glued to the bottom with some Lucky Bamboo or Pothos and floating plants for good measure and might even try to put some soil in a mesh bag to see if it will grow something and in the end the system may evolve to hydroponics Arduino setup at some stage, but that might be getting carried away.

Yes of course it will be very secure and I'm a slow driver


Thanks for reading looking forward to hearing your thoughts, comments and snide remarks.

 

 

PS I'm posting here because I used to be an Edmonds lad and just can't resist Cory's dulcet tones.

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Fish Folk Grand Master

Fish Folk

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Very interesting idea! Are you on North Island or South?

The Aisen water container looks interesting. Just need to figure out how to maintain good dissolved O2.

My son corresponded awhile with a nice young aquarist in NZ. I'm sure he'd be interested in your trip.

Here's his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP8YP1IA2a7125T-WAF7kQg

Post a comment, and see if he is anywhere near your route.

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Torrey Grand Master

Torrey

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On 6/18/2022 at 11:47 AM, jamieterrin said:

Hello all,

I wonder if any of you have ever thought about having a tank in an RV?

I'll be traveling across New Zealand for 6 months with my daughter in a RV soon and I was thinking about taking this opportunity to teach her about the hobby and the magic life in general, it's probably crazy idea but here is what I'm thinking.

Gear

If I am able to get it I plan to use this or something similar as a "tank",

with one of these sponge filters and a USB air pump

I may include a USB pump and might include this USB heater if I can find it

Livestock

As it's NZ I can use the local mud snail and hopefully the endemic freshwater shrimp and maybe even their freshwater crab, and that would be a significant biosphere in itself, but I would also like to add a nano fish like  Endler’s or white clouds to complete it.

Plants

I plan to use loose river gravel for the bottom so it can roll around a bit with Java Moss and  Anubias attached to an ornament glued to the bottom with some Lucky Bamboo or Pothos and floating plants for good measure and might even try to put some soil in a mesh bag to see if it will grow something and in the end the system may evolve to hydroponics Arduino setup at some stage, but that might be getting carried away.

Yes of course it will be very secure and I'm a slow driver


Thanks for reading looking forward to hearing your thoughts, comments and snide remarks.

 

 

PS I'm posting here because I used to be an Edmonds lad and just can't resist Cory's dulcet tones.

Travelled with a tank in a VW van in Mexico for almost a year. Yes, it is an awesome opportunity! A nano acrylic will work great, small glass tanks don't handle undeveloped roads. If I were to do it again, I would probably use a glass drink serving container (2 gallon to 5 gallon round or hexagon drink dispensers with lids) over BPA free plastic options. Over time, all my BPA free plastic nano tanks the fish have eventually gotten sick. Amphopods and snails seem to do fine in plastics, amphibians, fish, and shrimp do not, over time (my personal experience).

With a drink disepenser, water change are easy and don't take as much materials: Just open the spigot, lol.

I heard of someone with an RV getting a reinforced steel shelf to support a traditional aquarium in their RV, I haven't seen any follow up for how the aquarium is doing on the travels.

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jamieterrin Enthusiast

jamieterrin

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wow cool do you have any photos?

acrylic would be amazing but i don't think I'll find that with a screw on lid, how long do you say is long term? like you say glass doesn't do well on all but the best roads, plus plastic comes with much better handles and i can just use a hot nail to make some air-holes for a few tubes 🙂
I think untimely it will depend on what i can find and works in the space hopefully maybe even this one🤣 https://www.ebay.com/itm/362597762266


did you attache any ornaments to the glass?
what kind fish did you try raising?

I'd love to see that tank an RV must be ott!

hopefully i can figure out some gas exchange with out spilling water ever where 😇

greetings from Guadalajara

 

On 6/18/2022 at 3:23 PM, Torrey said:

Travelled with a tank in a VW van in Mexico for almost a year. Yes, it is an awesome opportunity! A nano acrylic will work great, small glass tanks don't handle undeveloped roads. If I were to do it again, I would probably use a glass drink serving container (2 gallon to 5 gallon round or hexagon drink dispensers with lids) over BPA free plastic options. Over time, all my BPA free plastic nano tanks the fish have eventually gotten sick. Amphopods and snails seem to do fine in plastics, amphibians, fish, and shrimp do not, over time (my personal experience).

With a drink disepenser, water change are easy and don't take as much materials: Just open the spigot, lol.

I heard of someone with an RV getting a reinforced steel shelf to support a traditional aquarium in their RV, I haven't seen any follow up for how the aquarium is doing on the travels.

 

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Torrey Grand Master

Torrey

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On 6/18/2022 at 8:19 PM, jamieterrin said:

greetings from Guadalajara

😭😭😭 I don't trust Google translate, and my brain hasn't remembered my spanish or Hichol(sp?) yet since my stroke (it's why my typing isn't always great and I sometimes use wrong words). If I'm remembering my geography right, Dos Hermanos was in Guadalajara? In the mountains? It's been 30 years, and I wonder how the kids I fed are now doing as adults, and how their kids are doing. They thought I was weird, and weren't sure if they could trust food from a skinny cook (first taste always won them over) and I am positive there are still jokes told about the crazy lady who told the kids to get out of her pig (I thought I said "get out of my kitchen" which was an outside tented area when we set up camp, and I'd chase the kids out if I caught them sneaking food before the meal was done... never did understand why it turned into a game with squeals of laughter until a few years ago, and we realized sometimes I replaced "c" with "ch" 👀)

In case you couldn't tell, I really miss Mexico.... I miss village celebrations and pulque and being adopted into family and Sundays at the ruins.... and swimming in cenotes, and hiking Agua Azul to Palenqui.

No, I didn't attach anything. Gravel in the bottom, plants (lots of plants, like the Co-op video of the fish store that doesn't do water changes) and when we got to McAllen I delivered the fish I had bred for Santiago's because no permit for cross-country travel for the fish. Once we got to my friend in Merida, we helped with some research collecting and got permission to travel with some fish samples to deliver for her to a researcher closer to Tulum. Got plants from the same waters as the fish, and literally saran wrapped the tops of various  containers (street vendor drink dispensers weren't an option and seal on our tank had utterly failed long before we got to Merida... styrofoam and a couple of coolers held the containers so fish didn't overheat)  so nothing sloshed out and no fish got yeeted out. We were probably the most eclectic set of travelers meandering across Mexico, but it made for great stories and led to great friendships. I never did follow up with the professor or my friend to find out about their breeding project, I do know water quality tests led to better sewage treatment in Acapulco and Cancun... but we had to leave as we experienced the gov. response to the Zapatistas a little more directly than we felt comfortable with...

So, leanred experience was in the absence of A/C overheating can be ameliorated by storing containers in coolers, don't store the tanks over the engine, seal the lid and as long as there are sufficient plants and at least 2" of airspace at the top the sloshing will keep the water aerated. Uncover as soon as parked and level to allow gas exchange, and cheesecloth will keep mosquitoes from laying eggs in the tanks. Oh, and keep the fish food cool and dry... but wildcaught won't eat it so park near bodies of water so it's easy to do water changes and catch food for the fish.😅

Somehow, I'm willing to bet there are a lot more regulations now, lol

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jamieterrin Enthusiast

jamieterrin

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On 7/3/2022 at 11:40 AM, Gwallace said:

I think it is a great idea!  I would love to see pics of the set up.  Happy trails!

Thanks,

I think I might do some vids around it and the native fish, shall post the link here if I do

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EVoyager31 Rising Star

EVoyager31

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Having an aquarium in a vehicle is a interesting idea.. I would personally be worried about spillage and water movement was you're driving round. Makes me wonder if there is some kind of gimbal you could rig for it to sit on to keep it level and have minimal spillage and movement. At least to help compensate for hard braking and the like. 

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jamieterrin Enthusiast

jamieterrin

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That sure sounds interesting maybe some sort of earth quake rig... But no car is to small and it's complicated enough at the moment.

What I'm going with now is a storage box strapped down and glad wrap around the top in hopes of making a seal.

I don't think the fish and plants are going to mind the sloshing around, the substrate might...

Also it's an RV van so not driven like a car.

Hopefully the biggest problem will be convinceing my ex of the crazy idea 

 

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Katherine Mentor

Katherine

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On 7/20/2022 at 10:06 AM, jamieterrin said:

I don't think the fish and plants are going to mind the sloshing around, the substrate might...

I would be concerned with the sloshing slamming the fish into any hardscape or the sides of the tote.

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jamieterrin Enthusiast

jamieterrin

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On 7/20/2022 at 3:25 PM, Katherine said:

I would be concerned with the sloshing slamming the fish into any hardscape or the sides of the tote.

Yes I've thought on this i will be keeping the hard scape low and on the sides.

Giving the the fluid nature of water a fish in it isn't likely to hit the sides unless they are eating from the sides. It might surprise them, so i worry of stress, but I'll have good swimming ones so the might enjoy it...

There will also be snails and probably a baby pleco to keep the sides clean so hopefully the swimming fish will stay in the center and I'm planting the center to slow the slosh 

I'll also have a gyro sensor just to record what kind of force the tank does experience 

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Scot Contributor

Scot

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You are better off using Glass Carboys for aquariums than long aquariums.

Liquid is no your friend when driving, and a long shallow tank is cause to cause havoc to your fish. Tall, round, and with a very narrow openning at the top is the right choice for this application.

I kept fish on a sailboat, that's like an RV that moves around even more.

 

 

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jamieterrin Enthusiast

jamieterrin

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On 8/22/2022 at 12:02 PM, Scot said:

You are better off using Glass Carboys for aquariums than long aquariums.

Liquid is no your friend when driving, and a long shallow tank is cause to cause havoc to your fish. Tall, round, and with a very narrow openning at the top is the right choice for this application.

I kept fish on a sailboat, that's like an RV that moves around even more

wow that must of been fun! salt, fresh? lake, ocean? photo? 😄

A glass carboys  was one of my ideas, but expensive, made of glass and i'm not sure how i'll get a filter in there. With all the options for cheap clear plastic storage boxes these days, i was just going to strap it down like an atomic boom and position it for least momentum. You are  right about liquid in a round container being easier to manage but i'll see my options test it first. if not an old water plastic jug shouldn't be too hard to find, but only 5g 😞

just a few more questions 
what did you keep? for how long? did any of them die? do you think they liked being in sail boat and in such a container? did you use lake water for water change? lights? planted?

 

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Scot Contributor

Scot

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On 8/29/2022 at 2:40 PM, jamieterrin said:

wow that must of been fun! salt, fresh? lake, ocean? photo? 😄

A glass carboys  was one of my ideas, but expensive, made of glass and i'm not sure how i'll get a filter in there. With all the options for cheap clear plastic storage boxes these days, i was just going to strap it down like an atomic boom and position it for least momentum. You are  right about liquid in a round container being easier to manage but i'll see my options test it first. if not an old water plastic jug shouldn't be too hard to find, but only 5g 😞

just a few more questions 
what did you keep? for how long? did any of them die? do you think they liked being in sail boat and in such a container? did you use lake water for water change? lights? planted?

 

If you are determined to do it, keep the containers 3/4s of the way between the front to the back tires. Why there? The back tires will have the least sheering force during a turn, but you want to be between the front and the back tires so that bumps are dampened as much as possible. Right over the tire and beyond the tires will have the most "bump".

I think you will find that strapping down a plastic lid on a plastic container isn't going to hold the water as well as you might think.

If you are going to do it, evacuate ANY AND ALL air from the container. This will help stop the water from sloshing, and therefore stop the fish from being shoved into decorations and sides of the container.

 

I still don't recommend it. The first time you forget to secure it properly, you are going to lose 1/2 the water on the first sploosh, and 1/4 more water on the second sploosh.

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Scot Contributor

Scot

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On 8/29/2022 at 4:09 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

This sounds good for slosh prevention, bad for fish.  Fish benefit from surface agitation, air stones, dissolved oxygen, and the like.

only necessary over the long term. A few hours of driving doesn't require aerations and gas exchange. Otherwise we couldn't ship fish across the country and around the world.

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Scot Contributor

Scot

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On 8/29/2022 at 4:27 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

This trip is 6 months, but I am not sure how much of that is driving and how much is stationary.

I am assuming whether it's 6 months or 6 years that you will be stopping every day. Again as example, tiny bag of water for several hours up to a few days.

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