moving a tank need help/advice

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R

rob1984

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
May 9, 2012
1,418
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ontario canada
so Im moving a hour away from were im living at the moment and I have a 140ish gallon tank that a well established system with 2 arowana's, 2 peacock bass, ornate bichir, indo datnoid, BGK, gold severum, couple algea eaters, with about 100lbs of sand, 2 fx5's and air pump and some decorations....now does anyone have any tips for moving all this without having any issue's or losing anyone during the move as the fish I have are very hard to find in the area I live in took me a year to find all this guys :( and were very expensive.....so far ive been thinking of fasting the fish for a 2-3days as they get fed every other day now, and putting the 2 aro's in a 5 gal pail, the 2 bass in a pail, bichir and algea eaters together in a pail, and bgk and gold severum, dat in a pail with just enough water for em to reduce a lot of splashing and cover tops of the buckets, scoop as much sand as possible out into a pail, and then filters close off the valves and leave the water in em.... now what about when I go to fill the tank back up to get a proper temp since driving down with a glass tank in the back of a open truck box may make the glass cold which will cool down the water during the filling should I put water in a tad warmer then usual with both 250watt heater going....
 
Now would be a great time to look for new homes for some of them, seems overstocked to me.
If they are only an hour away, you have nothing to worry about. Fasting would be a good idea. Don't overstock the containers you are moving them in. Move as much old water as you can. Good luck!
 
rodger said:
Now would be a great time to look for new homes for some of them, seems overstocked to me.
If they are only an hour away, you have nothing to worry about. Fasting would be a good idea. Don't overstock the containers you are moving them in. Move as much old water as you can. Good luck!
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If his aro's can fit in a 5g pail then there fairly small. Same with the bass. But def seems like it should be a "grow out" tank.


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Done this many many times moving apts in college, moving 3hrs back to my parents and then moving again when i bought my first house. Ive never lost a fish in transit. Ur best bet is to save every bit of water u can from the tank...use rubbermaid totes lined with trashbags so theres no spilling and get urself a large rubbermaid stock tank or pond for when u arrive at ur destination and fill it with all the water u brough with u, then top it off if needed and use ur old filter. Do not try to throw in the substrate and all ur fish when u arrive and hope for the best. Give urself time to re set it up and kinda start over, let it cycle, then move ur fish back into the tank. Stock ponds are fairly affordable. I moved 3 hrs. With over 50 fish and 200-300 gals of water and everyone made it. Granted i had 2 f-150's full of rubbermaid totes with fish and water, and 2 stock ponds but it all went very well. I think its a cop out to sell ur fish, that was never an option for me....i still have fish from 8 yrs ago when i was in school :) 3 moves ago. Dont panic its very doable, if u cant pick up a stock pond i suggest doing the above with totes and water but do not add ur substrate. If u add that sand back ull most likely kill everything off. Once its running again, wash ur sand and slowly add it back a little each day until its full. Substrate is useless anyway lol paint the tank bottom and forget it ever existed hah

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Ok, why couldn't I get the tank there add the sand back in, and then fill the tank with new water that been treated ? How is it any different then doing 80-90% WC weekley with my tank ?

I've never moved a tank before so just curious :)
 
rob1984 said:
Ok, why couldn't I get the tank there add the sand back in, and then fill the tank with new water that been treated ? How is it any different then doing 80-90% WC weekley with my tank ?

I've never moved a tank before so just curious :)
Click to expand...

I think the problem lies with the sand or substrate, as it kicks up alot of bad stuff into the water when its disturbed, that is unless you often stir the sand in the tank when you do water changes.

Im also moving a short distance soon and im going to replace my sand with fresh stuff. Ill keep all my driftwood, a third of the water and the filter media..and plants and all fish. this way I can put all fish in when the water is up to temperature. If I used my old sand id have to let it settle down and wouldnt be able to add the fish until I knew the parameters were safe.
 
Well I vaccumm my sand every water change (just habit) also I'm keeping the two fx5s full of seeded media with old tank water in them (just closing my valves on it)
 
poppalina said:
Perfect time for an upgrade
Click to expand...

+1 lol....and i dont care how much u vaccum substrate..ur asking for trouble if u try and throw it in and fill it up...ammonia spike city is what will happen. Ur fish will b stressed enough from the trip dont make it worse.

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