I'm Moving a 90 gallon Tank 40 Miles this Tuesday

[Delco]

I have 7 5-gallon pails I plan on using to tranfer as much water as I can along with the gravel and fish. Can I leave the gravel in the tank or will I need to remove it before I move the tank? Does anyone have any suggestions?

I searched this site but didn't find any threads really addressing my situation.

Thanks guys!

[dave76]

I would leave a small amount of water in the tank, at least enough to cover your substrate, that way any bacteria that is in the gravel will survive. Do you know the chemestry of the water you are moving to? Is it similar to the chem of the water you are currently using?

[OrionGirl]

There are lots of threads regarding moving tanks.

Do not move the tank with water or gravel in it. Not only is this hazardous to the movers, but it can weaken the tank, since it will end up being twisted and bowed (being carried without any support on the base but with gravel will do this).

Don't worry about saving the water. Use it to transport the fish, filter media, and gravel, and match the new water to the old water. Fill with new, de-chlorinated, matched water.

[dave76]

Not trying to give bad advice or anything, but this is how I moved my 55 gallon and I had no problems. I left just enough water to keep the gravel wet. Course we had like 4 people lift it two on each end and two in the middle.

[superjohnny]

I would strongly suggest you avoid moving the tank with its substrate. The tank was not designed for use as a bucket. Besides, it'll be really heavy.

Go to Home Depot and buy a whole bunch of 5 gallon buckets with lids. When I moved my 45g I used 5 buckets of water and 2 for substrate. Your tank should be the last thing you move and the first thing you set up. You want to keep the water from the top of your tank, not the bottom. Generally, it's cleaner as the sediment & junk has settled.

So fill up your 5 gallon buckets, then put your fish in them (hopefully they're not really big fish), drain the rest of the water, remove substrate into buckets. Ambient temperature will affect the 5 gallon buckets pretty quickly so avoid direct sunlight if it's hot outside. If it's really hot out you may want to take the lid off so you don't cook them.

Now is a good time to do a thorough cleaning of the tank BTW. Put it out on the patio and get you a razor blade and credit card and scrape off all that residual goo.

I've moved twice with this system and haven't lost a fish yet. Just remember to try and avoid temperature swings as much as possible and acclimate them slowly. You should be fine.

[tnlguinn]

if yo go to walmart or dollar general, they have sterilite containers for like $5 to $10 bucks. i have used these to move tanks fish and substrate three times. and i'm moving a 125, 135, 55, and two 10's. i even have BIG fish. when i get to where i'm going, i put a bubble wall inside the containers and hook up a pump. gives you a lot of time to set the tank up right. haven't lost a fish to moving yet.

[Delco]

Thanks guys, I think I'll take out as much gravel & water as I can before I move the tank. As far as having similar water chemistry, I'm not sure I do know it's a 7 ph and slightly hard but so is my water now. A good thing is that I have well water so no chlorine. Should I still use Novaqua when I do water changes to replace the fishes slime coat?

I'll post what happens.

[tnlguinn]

i've been on well water before, and i still used polyaqua. it helps with the other things in your water too. be sure to have your water tested for heavy minerals also.

[KateA.]

Want to chirp in on the well water. Depending on where you live, well water is not necessarily any better than tap water. It doesn't mean it is any more pure. Well water can contain microbial contaminants, inorganic/organic contaminents, pesticides, herbicides and even radioactive contaminents. I suggest having the water tested as soon as you can so you know exactly what you have and then get the appropriate conditioners. If you are in a farming area that means testing for nitrates/nitrites at least. Good luck on the move. :)

[wetmanNY]

Are there any suggestions at www.skepticalaquarist.com in the "Starting Over" folder that would help you preserve that nitrifying top half-inch of substrate, before it all gets stirred together?

Don't save extra water. Just what keeps your gravel damp in lidded buckets, and keeps your plants damp in their plastic baggies.

Save the biofilm on rocks etc. And disconnect the filter first, not to make it dirty (or for heaven's sake, not to clean it).

No feeding after Sunday night.

Have a bon voyage!

[Decz]

check out www.skepticalaquarist.com !!

(starting over section - the best you'll find!)

[wetmanNY]

...ending with a long quote from decz!

[Delco]

Well it's done and everything went well. I drained water into 8 5-gallon pails and scooped most of the gravel into 2 of them with some water from the tank. I put the fish into the pails with the water & plastic plants then I drained what was left of the water and loaded everything up into a pick-up truck & SUV.

After the hour drive I set the tank back up and pour the water in then setup my python to fill the rest of the tank and added my fish. I did add some Nova Aqua and got the filters running. I did make sure to keep the filter media in the tank water during the drive to save as much bacteria as I could. By the end of the day the fish we're back to normal and the tank was clear.

By the way, before I did the move I installed a 3-stage whole house filter with a UV light to make certain the water was good for the fish & me.

[dave76]

glad to hear every thing went well :D