Moving soon..How to move tanks

[JH]

I will be moving in the next couple of months (beter to start planning early) if everything goes as planned, which means that I will have to move both of my tanks. A 20 and 125 gal. The good news is that it will only be across town. So I assume that will make my life a little easier I hope.

I have never moved a fish tank before, so I really have no idea where to start. I plan to move the 20 gal first since this will be the easiest. Right now I am planning on moving the tanks on two different weekends, hopefully. I figure that will be less stress on me and the fishes.

How should I go about moving both tanks? What should I prepare for? What equipment should I get? Do you save the water? If so, how much? Best way to keep stress level down for fish?

My biggest concern is my clown loaches. I know they are prone to ick when stressed.

Let's see I hope I didn't forget anything. If I did please let me know.

Any suggestions to make this move easier? I hope to hear from you soon.

JH

[fishfreek]

Well. Your are in for a fun ride ;)

First bit of advice. Move the tanks last and set them up first. Move everything else in the house/appartment first and get it to the new place. Make sure you leave plenty of room to setup the tanks in the new place.

Get some 30 gal trashcans and put them in a pickup or moving truck. Then either use a bucket bridage of 5 gal buckets to relay the water from the tanks to the trashcans OR get a nice powerful pump and pump the water via hose from the tank into the trashcans.

The reason your saving all this water is because you want to lessen the stress on the fish and doing what would be the equivilent of a 100% water change plus the move could be rather stressful.

Once you get most of the water down then collect your fish and put them in a few 5 gal buckets. Fill the buckets no more than 1/2 full. Put just a few fish in each bucket. I would say no more than 6 per bucket. Less depending on size. Now with the 20 you may be able to leave the substrate in the tank but with the 120 you will probably have to remove the substarate aswell. If so put this in buckets.

Disassemble all your equipment.

Now put eveything in the moving truck/ pickup and drive very carefuly to the new place. 150 gal of water in the truck will give you alot of extra weight when stopping and turning so make sure the trashcans are secure so they do not slide or tip durring your drive.

Once you get to the new place reverse the procedure. Setup the tank and the stand. Setup the equpment. Put the substrate back in. Start to slowly add the water back in. Once you have 20-50% of the water in you can add the fish back in.

NOTE: NEVER TRY TO MOVE MORE THAN 2 5 GAL BUCKETS OF WATER AT A TIME. Water is very heavy and as it moves it will splash and shift weight. Even a strong man runs the risk of serious injury if moving heavy water contaners.

[Decz]

Hi JH!

I have moved MANY MANY times with my tanks... here's what I did.


First off, I moved my tanks last. I made sure all my furniture was in the new place, and then I made arrangements to move my tanks. This isn't always possible, but if you can, it will make things easier.

I picked up some styrofoam fish-boxes from the local outdoor store, and using my python/gravel cleaner, I filled them all up with water from the tank. The amount/size of fishboxes really depends on how many fish you have, and how big they are. It is very important not to overstock these, as the ammonia will build up quickly. Also, don't go too big, don't be buying one of those 3 foot long styro cooler's because you'll snap it in half once you try to move it with water in it. Once the fish-boxes were full of water, I divided all my fish into them, trying to keep schools together. The next step in taking down my tank was going to take some time, so to keep my fish as less-stressed as possible, I placed heaters in the styro fish-boxes, as well as air stones hooked up to air pumps. Then I put the lids on as much as possible to avoid any "jumpers". I moved these out of the way so I could get on with the rest of the tank.

I had an extra styro fish-box that was for my plants, my substrate and my filter media. I filled this box with water from the tank, then added those things to keep them all wet (bacteria... aka bioload).

Then using camping jugs that I had around and garbage cans and buckets, I salvaged as much water as I could move. If it's a short trip, make a couple of trips if you can. Just don't move any water in the tanks, as it could cause stress fractures. If you really aren't able to move most of the water or as much as possible, for whatever reason (financial?), then don't stress it. It would be the best possible situation, but it IS possible to just use the water in the styro fish-boxes, then top up with new de-chlorinated tap water. I have done it both ways. With my 100 gallon, I actually had basically do a 100% water change, because it was a long distance move, and all my fish were fine after that.

Once you've loaded up all your water, fish, deco's, substrate etc... pack uyp whatever equipment is left over. I always take the opportunity to clean the calcium deposits off my heaters at this point. If you aren't keeping this equipment wet, and it's equipment that runs in the water, wip them down. Dead bacteria isn't helpful in a tank and *could* cause a mini-cycle. Same goes for the tanks themselves.

Now for the moving part.

Here's the fun part. If you have the space to do it, leave your fish-boxes hooked up to whatever filters, heaters, air pumps you've already placed in them. This will reduce some stress. otherwise, un-hook any filters, heaters and air pumps that you have running in the fish-boxes, and pack them up. Then tape the fish-boxes shut and move them to your vehicle.

I have a tonne of freaking equipment, so it always takes a minimum of 10 loads to get it all to the truck. So, I turn my truck on, turn the heat on in the cab and place the fish in the front seat/floor area so that the heat doesn't drop. Then I do my wheel-barrow trips back and forth with everything else.

Really try to avoid moving ANYTHING in the tanks. The movement can cause damage. I once cracked a 20 gallon on a move, because the heater that was sitting on the bottom of it, slid and hit the side. What a waste!

Once you're loaded up, take off to the new place.

Whenever I've gotten to the new place, I take the fish-boxes inside asap. I hook them all back up to the heaters, filters and air pumps and shut the lids as much as possible. Then I move on to getting the tanks inside and setting them back up. If I've ever taken more than 5 or more hours between take-down and set-up time, I have done minor minor watrer changes to the fish-boxes, to avoid ammonia.

OMG, did I mention NOT TO FEED YOUR FISH THE DAY BEFORE THE MOVE?!?! DON"T!! Keep that waste to a minimum!

Anyway, set your tanks up, fill them with any tank water that you moved, (not inlcuding the fish-boxes yet), and get the heat up on them. Use warm tap water if you need. Just remember to de-chlorinate! All this moving around, and all these items, and it's possible to forget that detail (I have.. horrible!).

Check your new tap water for any differences (nitrates, chloramine).

You should be ready to go at this point. You've probably already moved your filters and heater and airpumps to the tanks, so leaving your fish alone in those fish-boxes isn't too great of an idea, since they've already been there a number of hours. So move them home! Use the water if you can as well!


Well, I hope I haven't left anything out. And I hope this helps... If you have any questions, don't hesitate!

GOOD LUCK! :)

Decz.

[wetmanNY]

Now the Skeptical Aquarist, on the other hand, de-emphasizes the water and instead emphasizes transfer of the topmost layer of gravel --separate from the rest of the gravel-- and enough water to keep filters. plants and rocks etc wet and transport fish. Details are at www.skepticalaquarist.com in the "Starting Over" pages in the SetUp folder.

[amy]

I like your idea of doing it over 2 weekends; it'll be a lot less stressful.

Don't transport anything in the tanks themselves.

Since you're only going across town, it's likely that you're going to have the same water as your old place. Move with enough water to bag the fish and to keep your gravel and filter media wet in buckets. When you get to the new place set up the tank minus fish and then float the fish bags (as if they were new) to acclimate them. After that, let them in.

[Decz]

Thanks WetmanNY. I didn't empphasize why I said to keep the substrate/filter media wet.

Like I said before, if you can easily move the water, do it. but like WetmanNY points out, it isn't the critical part.

Keep the Bioload wet, and you should be fine. The article at the Skeptical Aquarist is great, read it! :)




Originally posted by wetmanNY
Now the Skeptical Aquarist, on the other hand, de-emphasizes the water and instead emphasizes transfer of the topmost layer of gravel --separate from the rest of the gravel-- and enough water to keep filters. plants and rocks etc wet and transport fish. Details are at www.skepticalaquarist.com in the "Starting Over" pages in the SetUp folder.

[wetmanNY]

Decz, my brief post sounded dismissive. To the contrary, I wonder if you'd let me steal it for Skeptical Aquarist, with your name. e-mail me!

[JH]

Thanks everyone.:) You have all been very helpful. At least now I know a little of what to expect and I'm not looking forward to it at all. I had decided to span it out over two weekends because I remember how it was when I set the 125 gal up the first time. It was a all day event. Not fun, but worth it in the end.;)

I guess I am going to have to stock up on containers now. I would like to save as much water as possible. We will have to see how that goes.

As far as keeping the filters wet, at least in my case, I can hook them up to the other tank for a couple of hours till I'm ready for them.

Thanks for telling me not to feed the fish. I probably would have overlooked that.


Thanks again everyone.

[FireZeus]

DO NOT TRANSPORT THE TANKS WITH ANYTHING IN THEM. I made the mistake of moving my 55 with the gravel removed, yet 2" of water to support life without having to over stress the fish. 2 people have to carry this and what happens is that the center doesn't have any support. It weakens the sealant and a leak develops once it is full again. One good thing did come out of it though...when the carpet was pulled up to aid in the drying, we realized that the house was originally finished with oak hardwood flooring. Thats another story.

[Sumpin'fishy]

I have a question. I keep hearing everyone say not to leave ANYTHING in the tank while moving. When I moved my 55 gal to my new house (same city) I removed all equipment/fish, rocks, etc. but I left the 2" gravel substrate and whatever water I couldn't syphon out with my python. I liked keeping this small bit of water in with the gravel because it kept it moist, and it was also well aerated with all the minor sloshing around from turning the car (hardly sloshed around except in the gravel itself). My question is do you all see a problem with moving a 2" layer of gravel in the tanks with a small bit of water (not above gravel). I thought it would be more hassel than benefit to remove this....and maybe I was fortunate, but I have had no problems with my tank integrity. Also the gravel doesn't smack into the glass to cause cracks like equipment and rocks would. I could definately see those being problems. Some people even try to move with fish in the tanks.....ouch that hurts!

I moved all fish and plastic plants (5 fish, 3 plants) into a large Rubbermaid-type container (different brand- very sturdy) and filled it about 75% with tank water. This was the problem to move!:(

Since these containers aren't well sealed around the top, water kept sloshing out over the sides and into my car (didn't have a truck) I kept it up front with me so I could occasionally breath some O2 into the aerator hose I left hanging out between the container and the top. Anyways, my car has bench style seats and my butt was SOAKED when I got to the new place. Otherwise, the move seemed successful.....no sickness, no panicking fish:)

My rocks and filter media I kept in a separate 5 gal bucket and only drissled water over them occasionally before and after car trip. I had no problems with mini-cycle when at new place. I think most people get into problems when they drown their bacteria and let them sit in stagnant water (no O2). I also put tops on the buckets to preserve moisture.

I would suggest moving at night so that you can avoid lots of traffic and take a slower route. I would be almost stopped before taking turns to stop from sloshing water over the top of container. The last thing you need is to feel rushed by traffic!

[carpguy]

I don't think you need to save so much water.

We do massive water changes when the fish are stressed. A massive water change shouldn't be that stressful so long as the temp and chemistry is what they're used to. There isn't a significant amount of bacteria to save in the water column.

In both cases, you'll have to move enough water to move the fish in. If that works out to a quarter of the total volume I'd call it a 75% water change and spare my back.

[fishfreek]

you need to know that moving your tank with substrate and water can cause undue stress on the corners.

Also note that one of their tanks is a 125. That would be rather heavy with just the tank let alone the substarate and probably 10-15 gal of water.

Thats alot of weight and would probably require 4 or more folks to moveit with some water in it.

[JH]

I agree. I would much rather be safe than sorry. I can't remember how much gravel is in there but believe me it is alot. I had to rinse all of it off when we set the tank up in '99. My hands were raw.

[Sumpin'fishy]

Very true, I can see a 125 being quite unmanageable. It does add up quickly with regards to weight. I didn't seem to notice any undue stress on me or my partner (or the tank) when I moved my 55. But I'm sure that since sand compacts more than gravel, I should be safe assuming that it would be twice as heavy (especially wet) for the same depth of substrate. I can see your points with this. I would definately err on the side of caution, but I don't think I took any chances with mine. I use minimal gravel and syphoned as much water as possible without overturning the tank and dumping more out.

[29gallonsteve]

I am reviving this thread...

I am interested in moving my 29 gallon about 15 feet across the room on a hardwood floor. It is on a wrought iron stand.

Do I have to go through all the trouble listed above?

Has anyone moved a 29 gallon this short distance? How many gallons/inches of water can I leave in the tank???

There will be 2 of us moving it...

Thanks,
Steve

[Sumpin'fishy]

I would, Steve. I moved my 55 gallon across the room from where I originally put it when I moved back in November. I ended up completely draining it and getting rid of the gravel this time, too! I would have done exactly as I did the move cross-city, but I happened to be changing to sand substrate, and this seemed a perfect time to move it, too!

Even small tanks can get cracked, so I suggest at a minimal, remove all fish, decor, filters, and equipment. If you wan to remove the substrate, so be it, but I personally wouldn't bother (just me;) ). If you have someone to help you, then things should go pretty smoothly. I suggest NOT doing a cleaning of the tank at the same time. Enough bacteria is traumatized and most on the glass walls dies, so do the cleaning the following week. It shouldn't take more than maybe 2 hours....topps. If you have live plants, things can get interesting! I would probably ask someone who has personally done it. I have a planted tank and will probably move that in the future, so I'd be safe and remove them and re-plant....DOH!:(

[29gallonsteve]

Thanks for your response...unless someone has a better idea, I will probably take the fish out, leave the substrate, plants and rocks.

Should be able to move the tank pretty easily. I was planning on taking the time to re-scape the tank (moving only the plants), anyway.

Thanks,
Steve

[Sumpin'fishy]

Good luck to you on your minor move.