I just found out my landlord hasn't been paying the mortgage on the house I live in and I will need to vacate within 2 weeks. The biggest problem, for me, is a total lack of knowledge on moving an established tank. I would love any tips from the experts out there so I can get these tanks moved without killing any of the inhabitants. The largest tank I'll be dealing with here is a 55g stocked with only one juvenile GT. I will most likely be moving in-town, with less than 45 minutes of drive-time between new and old digs.
Moving an established tank.
- Thread starter ZeldarFromBeldar
- Start date
Well, make sure that you have the fish out of the tank for as little time as possible. I am no expert on cycling, but I would think that if you kept as much of the water from the tank in buckets as you could and filled it right back up you would be ok. You also might want to keep your filter media submerged so it doesn't lose it's cycle. I bought a 55g off craigslist recently and the guy gave me 6 piranha with it. He had them all if a half full 5 gallon bucket! Luckily it was 2 miles back to my house. They all did survive, and I filled the tank with tap water.
The tank water itself doesn't matter too much. Just keep all decorations/gravel/filter media submerged in dechlorinated water so the bacteria doesn't die off and you should be good.
keep enough water in the tank to keep the substrate wet. you can bag all the fish or put them in a bucket and they should be fine. lay your filters in the bucket or put them in a bag of tank water. try to keep at least 30% of your water. So it is just like a water change. throw the water back in with the new water, turn the filters back on. if the temp is correct throw em in or acclimate like a new fish.
joworth;2634000; said:
You guys are too fast for me. Thanks for the info. Now I just need to find a new place.
keep fish in one bucket, keep all gravel, filter media, and decorations in another, each with tank water
yep.. its all prettymuch been covered... only thing i would do different is removed the gravel from the tank.... toss it in a bucket with tank water... moving the tank with a few inches of gravel and water not worth the risk IMO... rubbermaid tubs and buckets are the best for moving fish and media
moving tanks is a pain in the neck but if you prepare it can done sucessfully np
as far as storage for substrate,decorations,fish etc I suggest rubbermaid tubs.
you shouldnt really need to move the water except to keep the fish,substrate and media in.
definatly make sure you move your tanks empty.
Once I was fully moved I left my fish in the rubbermaid and hooked my filters up to it while I set everything up. they were fine for almost two days. I did however do partial waterchanges to the rubbermaid with the fish to get em use to the new houses water
as far as storage for substrate,decorations,fish etc I suggest rubbermaid tubs.
you shouldnt really need to move the water except to keep the fish,substrate and media in.
definatly make sure you move your tanks empty.
Once I was fully moved I left my fish in the rubbermaid and hooked my filters up to it while I set everything up. they were fine for almost two days. I did however do partial waterchanges to the rubbermaid with the fish to get em use to the new houses water
