Moving with fish?

Lady G

Lady G

It's a mafia thing, nothing personl
Oct 6, 2005
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WI
gingersassatelli.bodybyvi.com
Ok, I am going to be moving soon (to accomadate my tanks :Angel: ), no really because I rent and the landlord put the house up for sale...Anyway I have my 55g FW, 29g cichlids (soon to be in the 55), 30g BW, and a 75g on the way (the fish from the 55 are going in there) Has anyone moved with fish before? Any suggestions on moving the tanks and fish?

I plan on moving them last or first which would be better, if I move them first then while my husband and others are moving things in I could be setting up, but then I may be in the way and god forbid someone run into them with something :eek: ! If I move them last they will be safe from being knocked into..but sh*t I'm going to be wore out and have crap all over the place, plus it is going to take a while to set up all three tanks....I don't want to loose any fish, I've had the ones in the 55 for almost a year now and they are very healthy (thanks to you all :D ).

So any suggestions would be VERY helpful!!

Thanks,

Gin
 
Actually, I just moved all 6 of my tanks, and here's what I did for all the freshy tanks:
  1. Unplug all filters, lights, and other apliances used for your aquarium, and either pack them or put them somewhere where you won't forget them. Make sure to put filter media in buckets containing tank water.
  2. Remove all decor.
  3. Catch all fish, and transfer them to styrofoam coolers.
  4. Transfer substrate to buckets, and add water until you have about an inch of it above your substrate in each bucket.
  5. Drain as much of the remaining water as possible into buckets, and make sure you hae enough water conditioner to make up for what you discard.
  6. Move everything to the new house.
  7. Set everything back up, with the fish going in last.

The only differences between that and what I did with my saltwater tank is I moved corals, crabs, and snails into a seperate cooler, and live rock that didn't have a coral or two growing on it went into a bucket.

All I lost was 2 zebra danios (I literally lost them, I only had 4 of them when I set the tank back up; I had 6) and a hermit crab.

If possible, I would move the tanks one at a time, and make sure you have room to set the tank backs up. I would also try to do them on a seperate day from when you are moving your house, this way you have a lot of time to get everything done. If you have to move the tanks and the rest of the house at the same time, the fish should come out last, and go in first, get them set up before you start moving things in the house.
 
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I did the same thing...I removed all the decor, fish, etc out into seperate buckets and then drained the water all the way down to the gravel. I didn't remove the gravel (i had to buy another tank since the one I originally had sprung a leak somehow) until I got the new place and switched it to the new tank. I think set up the decor again, added water and then fish last. Luckily, it all worked out for me
 
Thanks soooo much...I was thinking if I don't have to move EVERYTHING in 1 day I could leave the tanks here overnight then when we have everything in the house I'd move the tanks in.

One by one is a VERY good suggestion thanks for that one especially, now I'm thinking maybe I'll set the 75g up (since I'm thinking I'll wait till the move to set it up anyway), then move the fish from the 55 to there, once that is done, I can move the 55 tank, set it up, then the cichlids to there new home and so on...that way each tank is set up for them when they get there :thm: , the only one I wont be able to do this with is my BW...Oh just had a thought I could tranfer the water from the BW, to the now empty 29 and put them in there while I take their tank and set it up...boy this is going to be a whole lot a extra trips but I'm sure worth it in the end (my husband may not feel the same...but hey they ARE my babies!!)

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!! ;) :D

Gin
 
HEY, just had a new "happy" thought...I'm going to have a free tank!!! We know what this means right....MORE FISH!! :clap: :dance2: :dance:
 
Sweet. But everyone has been finding free tanks here! When I was looking for the 15 nobody was seeling a used tank for less than 70 bucks (with accessories). That's good to hear though- good luck on the move. I'll be moving in a few years so let me know how it goes.

My biggest concern both for you, me , and anyone moving would be the lack of heater. sure the cooler would keep the temperature constant for a few hours but what happens after that? What if you have a 3 or 4 hour drive? That would be my biggest concern here.
 
InR reason said:
Sweet. But everyone has been finding free tanks here! When I was looking for the 15 nobody was seeling a used tank for less than 70 bucks (with accessories). That's good to hear though- good luck on the move. I'll be moving in a few years so let me know how it goes.

My biggest concern both for you, me , and anyone moving would be the lack of heater. sure the cooler would keep the temperature constant for a few hours but what happens after that? What if you have a 3 or 4 hour drive? That would be my biggest concern here.
Click to expand...

LOL, I didn't mean "free" as in I found one I didn't have to pay for, I meant one I have now will no longer have fish in it....so I can use it for something else :D
 
I moved over a month ago and thankfully only had a 10 gallon to move. I moved the tank last so that I would not have to worry about someone hitting it with some furniture during the move, and I was able to figure out where the tank should go once everything was in place.

I put all my fish into 1 gallon bags (a few fish per bag) and put them into a styrofoam cooler and put the lid on top. Every so often I would add the air stone for a minute while I was setting up their new tank, a 20 gallon. I also added a small plant to each bag so they had a place to "hide" and not feel too scared.

I saved almost all the water so the new tank wouldn't be too much of a shock. It took a few months of saving milk jugs but it was totally worth it. Once the tank was all set up I started adding the fish. They quickly acclimated and I didn't lose a single one. I just took my time and made sure they were comfortable and not stressed.

Good luck in your move!
 
I moved three tanks 100 gal. 55 gal. and 50gal. from phoenix to florida in the middle of summer, the coolers helped but one thing was important I stopped feeding 2-3 days prior to the move they were all healthy fish and this was benificial in that when they get packed up the first thing they do is realease the waste in thier bodies which pollutes the water and ads to stress and makes for unhealthy conditions, even in a short move it makes a big diffrence.Best of luck...L
 
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