Help, I'm need to move my planted tank

F

Freewilly

AC Members
Feb 8, 2005
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Canada
I'm moving in about 3 months.

I have a 75gal plant setup with various tetras, pleco's, rams.

I'm thinking I should dump half the water and just move the whole tank with the fishes in it. Have a plasitic garbage can full of water ready at the new house, and just add the water back in the tank once I'm there.

My new place is only about 1 hr away, and I'll drive really slow.

What do you guys think?

Thanks,

Will
 
Moving a tank half full of water really changes the fluid dynamics inside the tank and creates different pressures than what they were designed for. I think five gallon buckets with holes punched in lids would be okay for fish (lots of buckets, obviously) and the filter media. Drain the tank, keep the substrate moist, but not soaked and then make the hour trip. The plants would do okay for a while in a rubbermaid container, a bucket, or if the substrate stays pretty moist, they may make the trip if you can protect stems from snapping by remaining upright, though I think laying down in a rubbermaid with wet newspaper around their root systems would be preferrable. HTH
 
I just moved my 46 gal two weeks ago. I put all the fish in a rubbermaid container (with the exception of one stubborn cardinal tetra, 3 plecos, and 5 cory cats). I left all the gravel and plants in the aquarium and emptied the water until there was about 4 inches in the bottom. That was enough water for the plants to lay in and enough water for the fish that I couldn't catch. I removed the fish the night before and put a heater and bubbler in the rubbermaid. The next morning I drained the rest of the water, then moved it five hours away. It took about two hours to get it set back up. All that said, I only lost the one stubborn cardinal tetra. I wouldn't recommend keeping all that water in your 75 gal -- mine was heavy enough with that little water, all the gravel, driftwood, and plants.
Good luck with the move!
 
I moved my planted 33 Gal the other week and all I did was take out all my rocks and driftwood,put it in a bucket, and threw my fish into another bucket. I then drained the tank to just above the substrate and took it to my new house up the street. The fish had to stay in the bucket(all of them) for 2+ hours while we drained/moved/setup, and they all lived, looking none the worse for wear. My crab even hitched a ride somehow, even though I couldn't find him anywhere....I even searched the substrate...My fish are all fine 2 weeks later and my plants are getting resettled and have started growing again.
 
Freewilly said:
I'm thinking I should dump half the water and just move the whole tank with the fishes in it. Have a plasitic garbage can full of water ready at the new house, and just add the water back in the tank once I'm there.
Click to expand...
Holy crap! You and your friends must be a lot stronger than me and mine! That's probably a good 300lbs.!

Anyway, I think that the thing to remember here is that there's really no benefit to old tank water. All the bacteria you're trying to maintain are in the filter, the plant surfaces and in the substrate. Take this perfect advantage to do a 100% water change and fully reset your tank's chemistry. Heck, your fish might even spawn from it, it's been known to happen.

Drain the tank but keep the substrate moist. Pull up the plants, keep them damp and flat (between some wet newspaper is sufficient. Put the fish and filter media in some rubbermaids and you're good to go. If you keep the tubs open until ready to move there's no need to put holes in the tops, just leave some air at the top and it's just like the bags from the lfs. The fish will be fine for an hour or two anyway.
 
i shiver at the thought of moving my 55g much less anything bigger.
 
Man you guys are STRONG I couldn't even move my 20 gallon two weeks ago with only gravel left in it. Had to bag most of that and move it over basically empty.

moving tanks is not fun. Its one of the few times I wish fish were more like cats and dogs.
 
Don't move a tank that big with water in it! Its way too dangerous. You shouldn't even attempt moving a smaller tank with water in it but a 55 or 75 gallon is even more dangerous. The distance between the two ends is 48" or more. As Harlock mentioned, there will be sudden changes in pressure. This could crack your tank or damage the seams or you could drop it. I think you should drain the entire thing. This is a giant piece of glass remember, filled with water.
 
thanks for all the response.

I think I'll just drain the tank to one or two inches of water, but leave the substrait, since I have soil in the bottom layer.

Do I have to pull out all the plants?


Will.
 
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