Moving--Big fish and Big tank?

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OSCARLOVER

OSCARLOVER

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 6, 2006
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Omaha, Ne.
I'm moving about 20 minutes away from my current house. I'm a little worried about moving my 150 gallon fish tank. If your not aware I have 2-12" oscars, a 16"+ Clown Knife, a 9"+ Jag, a 16"+ and a 10"+ pleco. For substrate I used 2- 50lb bags of sand.
I really dont want to lose any of my fish in the process.
Do you think it would be wise to take half of my water thats currently in the tank with me and drain the rest?
I have a couple of large insulated coolers I usually keep beer in would these work for transporting the fish as well as a couple of 5 gallon buckets? Would I need to get those battery powered aerators?
Also what would be the best way to remove the fish from the tank without stress and damage to them?
I really want to do this the easiest, fastest, and less stressfull way possible for the fish in the most orderly fashion.
Im thinking I will need 17- 5 gallon buckets. 15 for the water and media, and 2 for the sand.
Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks!
 
Keep your filters submerged in tank water in buckets for the trip.

Pour tank water into coolers and transport the fish in those. Add stress coat and plastic plants to keep stress down to a minimum.
You dont need aerators. They will be fine for that trip.

When you get to the new place, fill the tank with decor and new water. Treat for chlorine and chloramines. (wait about 15 minutes for it to treat)

Hook up the filters. Turn filters on.

Acclimate your fish to the new water in case its a different temp or has different properties.

Add fish.
Just net them out carefully. (hold on to them while they are in the net to prevent damage)

You can add some of the water from the transport coolers. But its not vital.
 
Much more important than old water are your filters. Make sure to have them disconnected for the shortest time possible. If you move 20 min away, then I mean: Disconnect filters, bring them to yout new place with a bucket or bin of old water. Hook them up so that they run on the old water within less than one hour. Then take your time and move the rest.

Good luck,

HarleyK
 
Well water would not have chlorine or chloramines.
But it should still be tested.

So for well water, you most likely wouldnt need tap water conditioner.
 
I agree with what Die Fledermaus said in his first post. Well almost everything, I would use a bag or a pillow case to catch the fish and put then in the coolers.
Just leave the substrate submerged and get this filters running asap.

Good luck.
 
So would it be safe to use water conditioner to treat the water just in case or would it be a waste and be over treated?

So basicly I empty all the water out of the fish tank except what is needed to transport the fish, sand, and media. Keep the filters running in the buckets while I load up the tank into the truck. Right before I leave unplug the filters and keep the media in the bucket with the same water from the tank. Go to the new house, plug in the filters on the buckets. Set up the tank and fill with warm water close to the same temp as the water at the previous house. After its filled with the sand and water, then attach the filters. Let the fish adjust to the temp in the tank for a while, then release them into the tank.
The new house has a water conditioning system ment to treat the well water. Does this basicly turn the well water into city water that has the contaminates?
Thanks for all the help guys!
 
I do this kind of thing for a living, actually going to be doing a move tomorrow. What we like to do is get yourself a couple of 30 gallon heavy duty garbage pales with lock down lids, drain 50-60% of the the water into the cans, net your fish (like the idea of using a pillow case if no large rubber mesh net is avaliable) and place in the buckets. Because they are much larger then most fish I would seperate each fish to their own bucket of 30 gallons. Use a dolly to transport the water to your vehical (hopefully a truck) you can use a wet dry shop vac to suck out your sand, tho it may not be the greatest, or just use a clean dust pan works very well, put the sand into the buckets with some of the aquarium water, move your tank and stand and buckets of water to where your going set up, then pump the water from the 30 gallon cans to the aquarium, place in fish, fill the rest of the tank with fresh water as if doing a regular water change and keep the lights off for a good 24+ hours to allow the fish to readjust.
 
The new house has a water conditioning system ment to treat the well water. Does this basicly turn the well water into city water that has the contaminates?
So would it be safe to use water conditioner to treat the water just in case, or would it be a waste and be over treated?
Thanks!
 
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