Moving advice

[adkjoe]

I'm moving an hour and a half away from where I currently live this weekend. I need to move my 55g. I have 5 small cichlids and a small butterfly pleco in the tank. Can someone give me some advice on how to move them safely. Is putting all the fish in a 5g bucket and draining most of the tank the way to do it? They all get along in the tank but because there's plenty of hiding spots, do you think they will fight in the 5g bucket or should they be fine? Thanks!

 

[GreenLily]

I personally would think that they should be fine as long as you are sure to make setting up the tank again a priority. The less time they spend in the bucket, the better. Also, be sure to disturb the surface of the water to aerate the water. And make sure the temperature stays within an acceptable range. Good luck! Moving's a lot of work!

 

[squirrilah fish]

I did the same thing, what I did: I put the fish in buckets with a filter and heater, drained the tank, moved the tank, filled the tank, moved the fish, put the fish in. It's a lot if driving back and forth and a lot of work. It took me the whole day. The goal is to minimize the amount of moving and stress on the fish. You may want to think about getting a large tote or something, (like 20 gallons) to put them in, basically set up a mini tank for the day. Just make sure you clean it real good before hand, and use water from the tank, a filter should hang off a tote just fine.

 

[squirrilah fish]

You can get a good sized plastic tote for pretty cheap.

 

[adkjoe]

Good idea, ill pick up a tote. I was just going to drain the tank and put it in the back of my jeep. Put the fish in the tote in the front seat and keep the jeep nice and warm for the ride. As soon as I get to the new place fill the tank and put the fish back in.

 

[squirrilah fish]

Sounds like a plan.

 

[FrankoQ]

Could use a battery powered air pump and run a air stone to the tote to keep oxygen going. You can do a 100% water change in this process. The filter is the one with the bb.
What about moving the tank?
hopefully, you move it with the fish and set it up at the new place quickly.
including fill it up, put Prime, get the filter and heaters going. and then put the fish back in. Good luck.

 

[squirrilah fish]

I would fill the tote with tank water, and then fill the tank with the same temperature tap water that you need, and then put the water from the tote back in the tank to top it off. That way your only doing like a 50-70% water change. Getting it set up, with the heater going, and filters running, you should be able to put the fish back in instantly, the main thing is going to be water temperature, and making sure you don't kick up the bio too much, which if you do NBD, it will re-settle, or you can do a PWC. But there's no danger to the fish putting them in dirty bio water, as long as your NHO's are good.

 

[squirrilah fish]

Could use a battery powered air pump and run a air stone to the tote to keep oxygen going. You can do a 100% water change in this process. The filter is the one with the bb.
What about moving the tank?
hopefully, you move it with the fish and set it up at the new place quickly.
including fill it up, put Prime, get the filter and heaters going. and then put the fish back in. Good luck.

The movement of the car should give enough surface vibration to get the O2. But not a bad Idea if you have an air stone to throw it in while your taking the tank down.

 

[adkjoe]

I have a power inverter in my jeep so I can easily plug in an air-stone. I was actually going to leave about 15% of the tank water in the tank when I move it so its not a complete drain. With that plus the water in the tote I think everything should be good.

 

[squirrilah fish]

I have a power inverter in my jeep so I can easily plug in an air-stone. I was actually going to leave about 15% of the tank water in the tank when I move it so its not a complete drain. With that plus the water in the tote I think everything should be good.

I don't think you'll need to do that with the power inverter, the movement of the car should really cause enough surface vibration to keep them oxygenated. I'd also take the water down to the gravel, leaving that much water in your just going to slosh around the junk in the gravel , and then you'll have really dirty water when you refill it.

 

[squirrilah fish]

It wouldn't be a bad idea to plug in the heater though, if you can keep the temperature close to constant for them, they'll like that.

 

[adkjoe]

I don't think you'll need to do that with the power inverter, the movement of the car should really cause enough surface vibration to keep them oxygenated. I'd also take the water down to the gravel, leaving that much water in your just going to slosh around the junk in the gravel , and then you'll have really dirty water when you refill it.

Good point. Thanks for all the advice. It's a pain to move a tank. If worst comes to worst I can airate it by hand