Moving

[Tully1]

I'm hoping to get some opinions on moving my fish tank to a new home. I have a 60 gallon tank with Corydoras, guppies, rummies, a pleco and a snail. I'm moving to a new home 2 hours away.

I have access to our new apartment a month before moving day. Do you think it would be best to move the fish into a temporary smaller tank while moving the 60 gallon to give the water 30 days to breathe? Either way I'm planning on bringing as much of the original water as possible. (I'm planning on using water cooler jugs)

My second question is what do you think is the best way tor transport the fish? A tupperware with a battery operated airstone? Breather bags?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[ImACoolguy]

Make it the first or very last of your priority. With a tank like that and the distance you want as little down time as possible.

Fish can go in 5g bucket/s with battery airstones. And a heater if possible.

You don't need to keep ALL of the old water. Just keep your filter media wet in tank water to preserve the cycle then count it as a large water change. Make sure to match your tank temp with the bucket after the move so you don't shock the fish or just acclimate them.

Unless you got a truck I'd put all sand/gravel and decor in bags. If you have live plants you could put them with the fish. I believe this could also help reduce their stress of the move.


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS

 

[Tully1]

Thank-you for the response! Do you think it would be helpful to set up the tank in the new home a few weeks in advance? (And keep the fish in a smaller tank at my current home)

 

[PassengerTN]

When I got my used 55, it was an established running tank. Previous owner placed the livestock into buckets for me and drained the water until it was just above the substrate. My brother in law and I (carefully) carried the tank and put it in his truck bed. Got home, assembled, filled the tank with new (treated) water and placed the fish back in their home. We only had to go 30 minutes though.

As Caleb said, keep your filter media wet is a must. Keep the substrate wet too. These two hold most all of your beneficial bacteria. Do this with tank water only. No need to take as much old water with you, the water column itself doesn't hold enough bacteria to make a difference. Its attached to surfaces like filter media, substrate, and sometimes even decor haha.

5g bucket with lid and battery operated air pump (or power converter in car). The darkness will help with stress. Punch a few holes in the lid too.

 

[Fishguy1111]

Word of advice to test the water at the new place


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Mebbid]

Thank-you for the response! Do you think it would be helpful to set up the tank in the new home a few weeks in advance? (And keep the fish in a smaller tank at my current home)

Nope, it's a pointless exercise.

It probably wouldn't be a terrible idea to let the tank run for an hour or two with an airstone, but that's all I would bother with.

Just be sure to acclimate the fish slowly. Add water to the container they are in every 10 minutes or so for at least an hour to acclimate the fish to the new water source.

 

[Tully1]

Thank you all for the advice!