Mature 55g Tank, New Owner

Hi sienna,
Welcome to the world of aquariums!

First, I'm not going to get into your stock list, compatibility, etc.

Start collecting a few 5 gallon buckets. You'll need at least 3. 4 or more would be better. You need the buckets for the fish, the filter media, and decorations. The dempsey should be alone in his bucket. Use 2 more to separate half the african cichlids (half in one, half in the other.) This is just to keep them from hurting each other. The catfish can be together.

It would be a good idea if the fish are not fed until after you move them. This will clear their guts so they don't foul the bucket water. I don't know how far or how long they will be in buckets. Fasting fish will not starve them at all. for that matter, if you go on vacation, large bodied fish like yours can go 2 weeks without food thus not fouling the water while you're gone either.

While you drain the tank, capture the fish and put them into thier buckets with tank water. Not too much water in the buckets or the fish will be able to jump out!

If possible, drain the tank to an inch of water, or just enough to keep the substrate submerged. This will keep the biofilter in the gravel alive. Place the filter media in another bucket with enough water to keep it submerged as well. A 55g tank with substrate and a little water will not be to heavy. If you have alot of stairs and can't move it level the whole way, put the gravel in a bucket and keep it wet. Dry out the tank (clean it well when you reach the new location. A bathtub is useful for cleaning. A 55g is about the biggest you can place in a tub...)

Move it to new location. Set up the tank and fill it with water at 78oF temperature. Use a suitable dechlorinator and buffer the new water to match as closely as you can to what the fish were accustomed to prior to moving.

Once the tank is assembled, filled, dechlorinated with the filters and heaters running, check the temp of the buckets and the aquarium water. If the buckets are cooler than the tank water, you can warm the buckets by placing them in a bathtub with warm water. Once it matches, either net the fish and put them in the tank, or drain the buckets as much as you can, then pour the water and fish in.

Moving an established fish tank really is a pain, but if you're not moving anything else, it should only take 2 or 3 hours at most. As many friends who can help as well! 2 strong people will certainly be needed. Even empty, a 55g is pretty bulky.

Hope this helps. The only chores with fish-keeping is water changing 20-50% of the water 2-4 times a month, and keeping the filters and glass clean. Less work than cats or dogs, thats for sure!

Good luck!

okay well most importantly try to keep as much of the bacteria in there as possible. As Bumblefish said try to keep your gravel submerged and dont do anything to the filter, even leave it full of water if its an external filter. keep as much of the water as possible then that way your tank will already be cycled. set it up as soon as possible so the bacteria dosent die back, if you do it this way there is no reason why you shouldnt be able to add the fish all together once its up to the correct temp that way none of them will be able to get tearotial in the mean time. You may get a slight ammonia spike but it would be less harmfull then leaving them in buckets to long. Just over the first week make sure you keep checking the water chemistry and if any levels creep up do some water changes while your filter settles in.
As for 'rubber maids' Im from the UK so I dont know what they are, but I have heard other people mention them, If you can transport the fish in containers with lids all the better as not only does it stop suicidal fish but also helps to keep heat (so long as they aren't air tight!
I had to transport 30 fish for over 200miles recently (about 400klm) and I used large polystyrene containers that I borrowed from my LFS you could always see if this is an option.

Well, 5 gallon buckets with lids may be preferable, since you can control which fish you put together. That dempsey should be alone for the trip, IMO. Also, a bunch of 5gs would be easier to carry around than a 25g rubbermaid with 10g of water, etc. Not only that, 5g buckets are usually free!

The filter media should still go in a bucket so you can dry out the filter itself, and put it in a cardboard box with the other stuff. If you put the gravel in a bucket as well, it's a good time to give it a good rinsing as well.

Once you're moved, avoid feeding the fish for a another couple days while monitoring ammonia and nitrite. If no amm or nitrite is measurable on the second day, go ahead and feed them lightly.

An hour or 3 in a bucket won't hurt the fish at all. I've had fish in bags before auctions for quiet a long time (although I did use bag buddies.)

Good luck with your 'new' tank!

Sienna_98 said:

The 5 gallon bucket sounds grand (I'm not married to the idea of the rubbermaid), but where would I find them? especially for free?

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Restaurants and Deli's may have them. Avoid buckets used with chemicals.

With respect to the filter media, do I understand correctly that I should remove the media from the filter, put it in the bucket, and move the rest of the filter separately?

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Yes. By sloshing around in a bucket, the bacteria colonies will have much higher survivability.

If I clean the gravel, will I be removing any necessary bacteria?

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Not enough to matter. That is why you feed very very sparingly the first week or so, to make sure the biofilter is up to the load, and can grow to replace what bacteria may have expired.