Moving Aquarium
Tuesday January 6, 2009
This forum member is moving soon. Care to post some advice for how he should manage moving his fish and aquarium?
"In less then 7 week I will be moving to another apartment on the other side of town, about 30 minutes away from where I live currently. I got a 29 gallon freshwater community tank with lots of gravel, some fake plants, rocks and some other ornaments. I have 2 black skirted tetras, 3 blood fin tetras, 3 scissor tail rosabaroa(?) and 2 golden algae eaters.
I was wondering how should I break the tank down and everything else. I got a plastic storage container with a latching lid and some heating or hand warmers that you stick in the microwave to warm up. I was wondering of I should go to petco and get some of their plastic bags that they send the fish in for the customers? Any advice."
"In less then 7 week I will be moving to another apartment on the other side of town, about 30 minutes away from where I live currently. I got a 29 gallon freshwater community tank with lots of gravel, some fake plants, rocks and some other ornaments. I have 2 black skirted tetras, 3 blood fin tetras, 3 scissor tail rosabaroa(?) and 2 golden algae eaters.
I was wondering how should I break the tank down and everything else. I got a plastic storage container with a latching lid and some heating or hand warmers that you stick in the microwave to warm up. I was wondering of I should go to petco and get some of their plastic bags that they send the fish in for the customers? Any advice."
Comments
When I moved my tank (55 gallon saltwater), I got a few of the 10 gallon buckets from Home Depot and siphoned ~90% (take enough water out that you can lift the tank) of the water into the buckets. I caught the fish and put them each in their own ziplock bags. After filling the buckets I just let the bags float in the buckets.
With all the water out, the tank *should* be light enough to lift with another person. Take the filters and heater and such and just set them in another empty bucket. With the same water and same contents, you can just re-set up the tank, refill it with the same water, and put the fish back in and it should work just like before. Since you are only 30 min away you shouldn’t even need anything to heat the water (unless the buckets are going to be riding outside, which I don’t recommend).
You can even take advantage of the move and do a cleaning at the same time. When you siphon the water out, dump some of it as if you were doing a regular cleaning. That will be less fish water for you to travel with. When you get to the new place, just add the extra clean water after adding all the old water.
And just a note, the water will look pretty nasty for a day or so once you set it up, but that will settle and it will look fine after a little bit.
For a 30 minute trip you don’t need to do anything special. Take all of the ornaments and plants out of the tank and transport them in the plastic container. The fish can stay in the aquarium. Lower the water level to about 2 inches and just move the tank with the fish in it.
Get a friend or relative to help you carry it and make sure you set it on a level surface or something soft (like the back seat) when you drive it to your new home. The fish will be fine even if the water sloshes back and forth a little. You should get a couple of brand new 5 gallon buckets (with lids) and save 10 gallons of the tank water to help refill the tank when you get to the new home. Keep the filter media wet (put it in one of the buckets, unplug the heater before you lower the water level (it will crack).
Test the water at your new home for pH, sometimes it can be quite different than what is in your tank now. If it is different, the 10 gallons you saved should be used along with only 10 gallons of new water(yes, the tank won’t be full for a while). Wait 3-4 days before filling it all the way up.
A rapid pH change is one of the most lethal problems for fish being moved from water they have lived in for a while to a new home. It can kill fish quickly or sometimes it takes 7-10 days for the effects to kill them.
Professionally I have recently had a crew move a Pet Store. They had dozens of tanks.
All were emptied to a minimal level with decorative pieces removed and bagged. It was done is a much shorting time than the client expected and we were happy with the experience. The fish were moved by the owner individually bagged. Not fatalities and no damage. YEAH. Best of luck. The Move Lady of East Coast Moving LLC in NC
You should also get Stability from a pet store to avoid ‘new tank syndrome.’ It should be ok, because you are saving the stuff in the rocks, so it should maintain the good bacteria. It will be like a mayor water change. Good luck though.
I’m surprised at John’s response, I’ve always been told to NEVER move a tank with any water in it, it can compromise the seals and cause leaks later on. any comments about that?
You are correct, tanks should not be moved with anything in them. Any manufacturer will not only say the same thing, they will void the warranty on the tank. People do it all the time anyway. Some are lucky, others aren’t so lucky. My personal advice is not empty the tank completely before moving it.
I’m moving a little farther an hour and a half drive away. Does it matter whether I use the baggies you get from the pet store or is a zip lock just as good and is there anything else I should know since my trip is a little farther? Hmmm, the vehicle will probably have the air conditioning running so I should be careful not to let them get cold right?