Road Trip - Moving Aquariums?

[EmilyMarie85]

I really need some help... heres the deal:

My husband just received a fabulous job offer in another city, that we are about to accept. We will be moving in about 30 days. We currently have a 125 gallon and 30 gallon setup, both planted and stocked. The new city is approx. 7 hrs away (440 miles).

We want to move the aquariums with us. We have other tanks we can "use" to accomplish this, a 180 (drilled), 75, 55 & 10. We have a large vehicle we can use (Yukon and/or Cargo Van).

I looked into power inverts for the vehicles - its possible...

Question: What is the best way to move the fish?
Question: How do we move the gravel without killing the bio and making it toxic?
Question: How do we move the filters without killing the bio?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Emily

 

[gt1009]

I would just move the fish in 5 gallon barrels with lids, or anything else you can use to prevent spillage. As long as you keep the gravel and filters wet you should be fine. You can't move the tanks filled, so you might have to use rubbermaid containers to move the fish. Also, make sure you run air stones in whatever containers you move the fish in.

 

[haynchinook334]

Question: What is the best way to move the fish? A large rubber made container with a battery powered air pump.

Question: How do we move the gravel without killing the bio and making it toxic? It is only a 7 hr drive. I don't think it will kill the BB

Question: How do we move the filters without killing the bio? it's only 7 hr drive, i don't think it will kill the BB.

But the house should be set up for the tanks. The tanks should be last or the first things you should set up in the house. And congrats on the new job.

 

[AKlass]

Drain the tanks half way and throw the media from the filter into the tank. If the fish are compatible get a large igloo cooler and throw them in there and run an airpump from an inverter or use a battery air pump

 

[EdCal]

i did the same thing, moved a 150g from Dallas to SoCal, a 1400+ mile trip. put the fish in 5g buckets with a battery powered air pump in the back seat. carefully up-rooted each plant and put in a 5g buckets with water. kept just enough water in the tank to keep the substrate submerged and loaded it up into the truck bed. and on top of all that had a jack russell and a puppy pit bull to deal with too haha

 

[fishbum]

Don't leave the tanks half full.Take out as much as possible.Some people say to remove the substrate as well.Taking it out will make it much lighter too.All the shifting of the move with water and/or substrate in the tank can break the silicone seal.

 

[dadsoldtruck]

Me personally... I moved my fish from Cali to Az and AZ to NC... a trip over 2,000 miles. This is what I did to move my fish... and it really worked for me.

We got some plastic to make a liner in the truck because no matter what the water will slosh. You can buy a thick drop cloth for this at your local hardware store. I went to Home Depot. Also while I was there I bought a bunch of 5gl buckets with lids. I used theirs because their lids have a gasket on them and are water tight... I then went to Walmart and bought the biggest cooler they had (105qt) and a small thermostat controlled heater for 30gl. I also, bought a power inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter. and some black trash bags.

I had a caniter filter... not sure what kind you have but all I did was disconnect the canister, plugged up the outlets and put it in a trash bag and stuck it in the truck upright where it wouldn't tip over still full of it's water. I then put some clean water for a couple of water changes in the five gallon buckets. I also put the gravel into the rest of the five gallon buckets. you wont need to put water in there just as long as it stays moist you're good. Again, those lids seal very well. My plants also went into a five gallon. My fish and only fish went into the cooler with the heater plugged into the inverter. I found that the sloshing around gave them enough oxygen and current to mix up the heat from the heater. I stuck the heater on the bottom so it would always be in water. We'd stop every couple of hours to do a small water change on the cooler because the ammonia would start to build up and the water get cloudy. With salt water i found out the hard way that corals need to go in their own bags into a cooler or they will sting eachother.

I also found (since i've moved my fish long distance twice now) that a day or two before we leave to stop feeding them... but i also had big fish. And i did a water change on my tank to get the crap out of the gravel so it didn't rot.

I hope this helps!!!! Oh and get you some stress coat... it'll be your best friend.

 

[dadsoldtruck]

Don't leave the tanks half full.Take out as much as possible.Some people say to remove the substrate as well.Taking it out will make it much lighter too.All the shifting of the move with water and/or substrate in the tank can break the silicone seal.

this is very true... i would take everything out of the tank, put your lids on and tape them in place.

 

[EmilyMarie85]

I wanted to say thanks to all who posted advice. I am very pleased to report that we did move the fish, with 0 casualties.

 

[EmilyMarie85]

OK now that I have the energy - I just wanted to post how I accomplished this, for future fish movers...

Quick Recap: I have 2 freshwater tanks, a 125g high light w/ CO2 and a 30 gallon medium light - destination is 7ish hours away - its November, winter time for the pacific northwest.

Moving: I purchased 3 rubbermaid buckets - 2 were 55 gallons, 1 was a 15 gallon; I filled them about 80% full of water. I split the fish from the 125g between the two 55g rubbermaids, clown loaches in one, everyone else in the other. The 30g tank went into the 15 gallon rubbermaid.

I have a 2010 Subaru Outback... So, I purchased (at Shucks auto) and installed a 400 watt power inverter http://www.globaltrucker.com/products/Peak_400_Watt_Power_Inverter-16753-2.html, I hooked it up directly to the battery - and I put a 110 watt power inverter in the cigarette lighter thing http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5162346...

Each of the 55g buckets went into the back (no needs to fold the seats down) and each bucket had a 150 watt heater (plugged into the 400 watt inverter). The 15 gallon bucket went behind the passanger seat and had a 50 watt heater (plugged into the 110 watt inverter).

I purchased 3 azoo battery air pumps http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3693 - I put 1 in each "bucket". FYI: the box on these says "A" size battery - that is actually a D size battery... I spent like 30 minutes figuring that out....

I pulled the fish out of the 125g first. Moved them into the Subaru (in the two 55g buckets), parked a u-haul infront of it and kept it running (so the 400watt didnt drain the battery, and to help maintain temp. in the car). Then I used six 5 gallon buckets from Home Depot to store/take water from the tank (30 gallons of water). I used another six 5 gallon buckets to haul the gravel, filled about 90% full gravel and water for the rest. All this went into the back of a u-haul.

30 gallon was last, all the fish into the Subaru (in the 15g bucket), 80% gravel (all) and 20% tank water in a 5 gallon bucket). - bucket went into the u-haul.

Filter media for the 125g (canister) was split between the two 55g buckets and went in w/ the fish. Filter media for the 30g (power filter) went in the 15g bucket w/ those fish.

Plants from the 125g were split between the two 55g buckets. Plants from the 30g were put in the 15g w/ their fish.

The tanks were the LAST thing out of the old place and the FIRST thing into the new place.

A few notes:
1. Dont feed the fish 2 days before the trip
2. Vaccum gravel realllllllly good 3 days before trip
3. I stopped every 1.5 hrs at first, then every time we needed gas - checked water param's each time - didnt have to do a water change once
4. When I arrived at new place, I had extra heaters and sponge filters to heat/clear water up quickly - to make quick fish move from buckets to tank possible - worked like a charm


This process worked for me, REALLY well. When i arrived at the new place, and got the fish into the house my first thought was "holy &*^% their colors look great!"... even my Mom said that and she doesnt know ANYTHING about fish, I had just told her to expect the fish to be "white-ish looking" from the stress.

Em
P.S. I listened to rock music the whole way - I think the fish liked it?