Moving an aquarium

[Labenator65000]

I have a loaded 55 gallon tank in my basement on a stand that is on the painted concrete floor. We're planning to put carpet down there, which means I'll need to move the tank out of the room for a couple of days while it is installed. Are there best practices for moving tanks?

 

[HeatherW]

I am getting ready to move my tank as well. getting a 90 gallon to go where the 20 gallon one is. now granted, the one I am moving is only 20 gallons, but I would be interested to hear what everyone has to say.

my thoughts were this. do a PWC of 50%. before adding the new water in move the tank. also, take out some more water and put that in buckets to add back in. might need to move the fish to buckets for a short time while moving the tank. other than that, I can't think of any more ideas.

 

[LyndaB]

You will have to empty just about all of the water from the 55 gallon prior to attempting to move it. If you leave the water in, there is a huge chance of stress fractures when you move it. Not worth the risk.

You could put any fish you have in there into a large plastic storage bin with heater and your filter, etc. They should be fine for a few days.

 

[Labenator65000]

Thanks LyndaB. That is exactly what I had planned.

 

[LyndaB]

I would absolutely drain the main tank and put your filter and heater in the temporary unit. I've done this countless times and the fish always come through fine. And because I empty the main tank completely, I've never suffered stress fractures. Even with just the substrate in the main tank, it's going to be fairly heavy, given the tank size.

I wouldn't worry about adding decor to the temp tank unless you have species that really require hiding spots.

 

[HeatherW]

How much do I need to drain from a 90 gallon? I was thinking more of weight and wasn't really focusing on stress fractures

 

[HeatherW]

Meant 20 gallon

 

[LyndaB]

Even a 20 gallon, I would follow the same routine.

 

[Malawi Freak]

A 20 gallon is light enough you can leave the fish and some water in. I always lowered the water to about an inch higher than he biggest fish. I've moved my 29 many times like this including when I moved houses.

My 125 how ever gets emptied and all rocks taken out. Darn thing is heavy enough with 150 lbs of substrate without water.

 

[meegosh]

Lynda provided some good instructions on what to do. Larger tanks you don't want to mess with. I did move a 30g long (3 foot) that was filled up halfway and had fish. I probably wouldn't do it again though as the fish were being sloshed all around. I only moved it a few feet so I figured it was worth a shot.