Just wanted to make a post that may help anyone getting ready to move from one home to the next. I just went through the process at the end of last week, which involved moving two tanks to our new home roughly an hour away.
I knew this was going to be just about the worst part of the move, especially since I’m sure like most of us, I didn’t wanna lose a bunch of fish in the process
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About week before the big day I went to Lowes and bought a total of 4 plastic tubs, Unfortunately I don’t remember off the top of my head the exact sizes, two were larger to hold the fish, and two smaller tubs to hold décor from both the tanks.
I waited until it was just about the last thing to do before I started breaking down the tanks (one 56-gallon corner, and a standard 60 gallon). I started by draining roughly half the water from both, filling all the tubs halfway or so, removed all the décor from each tank and placed it in the smaller tubs, I did this so as to reduce the amount of bacteria I’d lose. Once the décor was removed, I got all the fish out and placed them in the larger tubs. After all the fish were removed, I continued to drain water until there was maybe a ¼ inch or so above the substrate in both tanks. Again, I did this so as to keep the substrate wet and keep from killing off bacteria while transporting the tanks. Honestly that probably wasn’t necessary, but ya never know lol.. I left tank water in the filters as well.
Once this was done, I loaded up the tanks and tubs, and made my way to the new house. Now I was lucky as the seller was nice enough to allow me to move my two tanks in the night before closing, which honestly made move in day much easier since I didn’t have to mess with the tanks, so remember it never hurts to ask! Once we got there, I took a couple minutes to decide where the tanks would go, and brought the stands, and tanks inside. Once the tanks were in place, I dosed them with prime and began refilling the tanks, during this process I placed the décor back in the tanks and dumped in the water from the tubs as well. I also temp matched when I started filling so I wouldn’t shock the fish upon adding them back to the tanks. Once the tanks were full, I double dosed bacteria, and added the fish, then finished with some stress reducer. I kept the lights off as well.
With all that being done I can say with a good bit of satisfaction I didn’t lose a single fish throughout the whole process! I had a plan, I kept to the plan, and even though it wasn’t exactly something I was thrilled about doing, I was able to get my tanks moved and keep everything alive. I’m sure its more difficult if you start surpassing the 100 gallon mark on tank size, but I figure the concept is all the same. I hope this helps anyone looking to move soon, feel free to ask any questions!
I knew this was going to be just about the worst part of the move, especially since I’m sure like most of us, I didn’t wanna lose a bunch of fish in the process
.About week before the big day I went to Lowes and bought a total of 4 plastic tubs, Unfortunately I don’t remember off the top of my head the exact sizes, two were larger to hold the fish, and two smaller tubs to hold décor from both the tanks.
I waited until it was just about the last thing to do before I started breaking down the tanks (one 56-gallon corner, and a standard 60 gallon). I started by draining roughly half the water from both, filling all the tubs halfway or so, removed all the décor from each tank and placed it in the smaller tubs, I did this so as to reduce the amount of bacteria I’d lose. Once the décor was removed, I got all the fish out and placed them in the larger tubs. After all the fish were removed, I continued to drain water until there was maybe a ¼ inch or so above the substrate in both tanks. Again, I did this so as to keep the substrate wet and keep from killing off bacteria while transporting the tanks. Honestly that probably wasn’t necessary, but ya never know lol.. I left tank water in the filters as well.
Once this was done, I loaded up the tanks and tubs, and made my way to the new house. Now I was lucky as the seller was nice enough to allow me to move my two tanks in the night before closing, which honestly made move in day much easier since I didn’t have to mess with the tanks, so remember it never hurts to ask! Once we got there, I took a couple minutes to decide where the tanks would go, and brought the stands, and tanks inside. Once the tanks were in place, I dosed them with prime and began refilling the tanks, during this process I placed the décor back in the tanks and dumped in the water from the tubs as well. I also temp matched when I started filling so I wouldn’t shock the fish upon adding them back to the tanks. Once the tanks were full, I double dosed bacteria, and added the fish, then finished with some stress reducer. I kept the lights off as well.
With all that being done I can say with a good bit of satisfaction I didn’t lose a single fish throughout the whole process! I had a plan, I kept to the plan, and even though it wasn’t exactly something I was thrilled about doing, I was able to get my tanks moved and keep everything alive. I’m sure its more difficult if you start surpassing the 100 gallon mark on tank size, but I figure the concept is all the same. I hope this helps anyone looking to move soon, feel free to ask any questions!
