Need advice on moving tanks

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krylos

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 7, 2012
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Going to be moving about thirty minutes across town soon. I have a few tanks that I will list at the bottom. I have never moved aquariums before, and would like input. I will most likely have a u haul. My idea was to buy two ice chests, fill then with water from the tanks, put the fish in the coolers with air stones, break the tanks down and set then up at the new apartment, then move the fish. I want to cause as little stress as possible. Are they going to be okay in the coolers in the back of a moving truck? Here are my tanks.

55 gallon stocked with two bala, two pictus, two bichir, two pearl gourami, two red long fin tetras.

37 gallon with two mbuna cichlids and a jewel cichlid.

Ten gallon with a rehabilitating angel fish. Will likely bag him and float him with the 55 gallon stock in the move.

Beta tank. This one is easy.

Would love some advice from those experienced. I am on a tight budget right now, so if you guys know a better cheaper way I'm all ears. I have been worried about the move for a while. I have grown deeply attached to all my fish and would be heart broken if something went wrong or I was negligent.

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If you are setting up the tanks the same way as before the move I wouldn't worry about an airstone and pump, driving will slosh the water and break the surface tension of the water which is all which an airstone does. Coolers are nice since they are covered and won't tip over. When I move tanks this size I leave the substrate and decor in them unless you have rocks which may fall and break the glass. If you brak down tanks after you've loaded all your other belongings and setup as soon as you get to the new place and you're looking at less than 2hrs of disturbance which isn't very long.
 
Should be fine man, sounds like you have your bases covered. One suggestion is to remove the biomedia from your filters and place them into a 5 gallon bucket with water from your aquarium. This way the bacteria won't die and start a minicycle when your tank is set back up.

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Good idea. I didn't think about the filters. Thanks for all the input, feeling better about the move.

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Hello; Will it be possible for you to set up a tank at the new place some days in advance of the date of the final move? I did this a couple of years ago. I moved about an hour away and had access to the new place about three weeks ahead of the final move day. I was able to set up a tank in the new place and get it running and established. I left moving the fish to near the last.

I have moved tanks of various sizes several times over the years and find the potential problems to be much reduced if the tanks are empty.

Also keep in mind the first rule of moving something heavy or bulky; Always first have a place to sit it down before you pick it up.

With glass bottom tanks a particular issue can be sitting one down on objects just high enough to crack a bottom glass. I like to have plywood panels undr my tanks when i pick them up. I usually cut the plywood the same width as the bottom of the tank and a few inches longer than the length of the tank. This overhang gives a good place to grab when picking up a tank and protects the bottom when sitting it down. I keep such plywood under some of my tanks as they sit on a stand. The extension also makes a handy little shelf.

A 55 gallon is near the max I can pick up and carry by myself now days and is awkward going thru doors. A helper that you communicate well with can be a bonus.
Good luck.
 
I don't have any extra tanks. Just the ones the fish are in. I was thinking of setting them up the day before and moving the fish the next day but that would involve two trips

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krylos said:
I don't have any extra tanks. Just the ones the fish are in. I was thinking of setting them up the day before and moving the fish the next day but that would involve two trips

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Hello; A decent excuse to get another tank if the finances allow?
Two trips would have been great for me. I made numerious trips during my move, several with a fully loaded pickup/ trailer combination. Good luck
 
Yeah I wish. Budget doesn't allow though. At least not another 55.

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Me and my dad picked up a 75 gallon tank that came with a 14 inch Oscar. The first thing you do is get the fish in a rubermaid container. Then you mdranin the aquarium and ethier put the substrate in a bucket or leave it in the tank. If your fish are not hardy you should use an airater. Oscars are hardy so I did not. Then you fill the tank with decloranated water and put the filter on it and add the fish. You would need two people to hold the tank.
 
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