moving house

[12Voltking]

Ok, so I'm moving house in two weeks and I'm just going two miles down the road but whats the best plan for moving the tank?

Prepare the new area
Empty out half the water
Transport on wifes lap in car (it's a 10 gallon with half the water missing)
Place in new spot and then prepare new water before refilling

Is that how it can be done?

if it's of any help I also have a 2.5 gallon tank that currently contains a betta.

[sdkfz]

Get 2 clean (new) 5 gallon plastic buckets with a lid, some fish bags from your fish store, and a cheap styro foam cooler.

1) Prepare site at new location.
2) Turn off heater, filters etc. let heater cool prior to draining
3) Drain and almost fill the first bucket and cover with lid.
4) Catch fish and bag.
5) Place fish bags into cooler and then drain and discard or drain and keep remaining water. You want only enough water to keep the contents moist if you have life plants. If you do then also place some paper towels on top of them to stop them from drying out.
6) Move all and replace water, float fish and get heat ASAP on as the water will have cooled. I'd siphon the water back in so you do not stir up gravel and gunk.

Water weighs about 8.5 pounds each gallon, you would not want to sit with this on your lap plus if there were an car accident you do not want this on your lap.

I moved a ten gallon tank to and from college 350 miles each way for four years using this mehod. The plans would suffer a bit for such a long trip, but would always bounce back pretty quickly.

[Native American]

Lot of ways to move that tank, though sdkfz does give you a really complete strategy.

As far as plants go, I once did a 3-day drive halfway across the U.S. with some intermediate stops to see friends. I moved the plants by wrapping them in newspaper and soaking with water, then putting them between two pieces of styrofoam (it was a styrofoam packer for delicate, flat items...it would hold, say, about 8 LP records).

A year later, and those plants are still doing great in my tanks (swords, rosenervig, egeria densa). Then again, those are pretty durable plants, so even with a little less care they would've survived.

v/r, N-A

[goldygrrl]

If you have a larger car or SUV, I wouldn't bother stressing the fish out by taking him out of his original tank at all. Setting the tank on your wife's lap is not a great idea in case of car accident as mentioned in earlier post, not to mention that your wife will get soaked with fish water if you hit a bump in the road and the water splashes over the side. However, if you can fit the tank behind one of the seats in the back or on the floor in the front of the car, or in the back of an SUV, I would do that. I travel with my goldfish all the time (I know this sounds weird, but my husband and I own a disaster recovery company that requires us to move around constantly, and I like to take my fish with me wherever I go) and all I do is remove half the water from his tank, set it on a towel behind the passenger seat of my 4Runner, and connect a few battery operated aerators. We've traveled this way for trips as long as 24 hours with no problems.

[S.A.]

Reminder - if you are planning on moving a 1/2 full glass aquarium I would recommend the full drain and bag the fish method mentioned above. When you move the tank with the weight of the water and gravel (not to mention other contents) it creates a lot of strain on the seams. The uneven tensions put on the seams when you move it (and it will be uneven) with the contents is enough to compromise the integrity of the seams. In the end you could end up with a leaky tank.
If it is acrylic, you stand a better chance. However I have seen them crack also.
Good luck on the move, we too are moving in 2 weeks. 15 miles though, with a 20G, 10G, 5G and 2- 2.5G tanks. Fun Fun Fun :clap:

[Native American]

If you have a larger car or SUV, I wouldn't bother stressing the fish out by taking him out of his original tank at all. Setting the tank on your wife's lap is not a great idea in case of car accident as mentioned in earlier post, not to mention that your wife will get soaked with fish water if you hit a bump in the road and the water splashes over the side. However, if you can fit the tank behind one of the seats in the back or on the floor in the front of the car, or in the back of an SUV, I would do that.

Just a friendly tip on this suggestion, YMMV...I was once in a 1/2-ton truck and got rearended by a subcompact car. The other guy was max-effort braking, and final impact was only at about 10mph. I saw him in the rearview mirror just as he almost disappeared behind the tailgate, then WHAM. Any of the light items leaning against my back seat (it was an extracab 4WD truck) FLEW forward and hit the driver's seatback hard enough to feel like I got punched. That was a soft attache case weighing only abou 4 lbs. that caused that. My dog was in the right seat (a 70-lb. greyhound-yellow lab mix) and I remember, by reflex, putting out my arm to restrain her and badly wrenching my shoulder.

A half-full 10-gallon tank becomes a 40-lb. glass missile in any sort of sudden-deceleration scenario. When it endures a secondary collision inside the cab, even in a light accident, it will explode into a multiplicity of fragments and you will be injured. My brother has investigated all sorts of accidents, and it's amazing how dangerous even small items can be when they are unrestrained, and worse when there is a collision. That's why I tell buddies who stow a jack on the floor behind the rearmost seat in the passenger compartment to put it in its proper design location where it can be restrained, or tie that stuff down in the truck bed. It's amazing how this stuff will fly to the interior roof and forward, especially if your are braking prior to impact.

Just based on my own sorry driving experiences where I was hit by an unattentive driver, I'm with the people who are into bagging the fish and at least putting the tank in a cardboard box in the trunk. That is a much safer idea. If you have to aerate, cob up a rigid container made out of non-shatterable media and, if possible, restrain it. Something made out of opaque polyethylene would give the fish some security, too.

v/r, N-A

[goldygrrl]

Wow, thanks for the advice--that is pretty scary! My aquarium is acrylic so hopefully would be somewhat less dangerous in the event of an accident, but still potentially hazardous I know. Funny, I've always worried about what would happen if we got into an accident, but I've always just concerned myself with what would happen to my poor goldfish, I never stopped to think about the consequences for me!