Moving with tanks

[lixx]

Hi all. I will be moving soon (March) and want some advice on moving the tanks. I haven't moved them before so all experinces welcome. I have 50g, 21g, 20g, 2x5.5g. I have heard to try and save all the water and bring it with to re-set up. Is that the best way? The drive is about 20-30mins to the new place. I have a month overlap to move, so it's no a rush job.

Thanks!

 

[Frank_the_Tank]

big plastic tubs and trash cans work good for moving tanks. Keep gravel and water in together in a container(s) and then fish in another container. Keep your filter wet. 20-30 minute trip isn't too bad. Set up everything again and keep checking levels incase of a mini-cycle.

 

[Minze]

I moved a 40 gallong a few motnhs ago. It was a 15 minute drive from one house to the next. I made the tank the last item to be moved (so it was the first item pulled into the new house)

I packed the fish up into a bunch of 5 gallon pain tubs from Home Depot. I sanitized them all with bleach and water then dechlorinated them before use.

I put all the silk plants into different buckets with the fish and had all the gravel in one bucket by itself (with water). I pulled the filter media out and put it into one of the buckets with fish as well. I hooked everything up in the new place. All in all the fish were out of the tank for about 3-4 hours total. The temperature was warm so temperature wasn't an issue. If it is cold, you will need to take that into account as well.

 

[Menagerie]

When we moved with our 30 and 80 gal tanks, taking the water was not an option. It was a long distance move, but it all worked out. The most important part is to keep the filter media and gravel moist. We did our move in -30*C temps, but the fish were in the car. I don't think you will have any problems

 

[Drake]

I moved my 55 gallon once. What I did was lower the water as much as possible (I kept the water I removed) then I had help to lift the tank onto a platform that had wheels so I could move it. Once I got it to my new home I poured the water back into it and all my cichlids seemed to be fine. I checked the ph levels and made sure none of the fish were acting strange. It was an easy way because I didn't have to scoop up the fish and put them in another container which would have caused more stress.

 

[Mazdaman]

I moved my 20gal last year. Not as big and the 55 or 80 but same concept. First I would ever move the tank itself with ANYTHING in it. The bottom of the tank isn't strong enough to hold any weight really. Just the water pushing outwards on the tank but not down. I would go with removing the gravel from the tank with some water and store in a container. I used plastic tubs for the gravel and decorations and another for the fish. My drive was only 5 min so temp wasn't an issue. Good luck.

 

[FishLover14]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=28

BillyZ wrote an excellent article on it here is the link.

 

[Sawdust]

At the bottom of a 75 gallon tank (20" deep) there is a pressure of about 0.72 pounds per square inch pushing down on the bottom, and out on the sides. This doesn't sound like much, but when you figure that the area of the bottom glass is 864 square inches, the pressure on the bottom of the tank is around 618 pounds total.

The bottom glass of the tank will not hold up very well under point loads, but does very well under distributed loads, such as water and gravel.

 

[KaiserFish]

I just moved a 10, 29, and 90 gallon tank 2 months ago when we relocated from our condo to our house. Alot of the above suggestions all worked for me...

First... take your time and don't rush.

We had LOTS of tubs/buckets (WITH LIDS!!!) for taking as much water with us, put the fish in the buckets, plants, rocks, wood, etc.. Everything stayed damp for the most part... my plants took a bit of a beating and died back a bit after settling into the tanks at the new house. The swords most of all. Bacopas' went black and had to be thrown out. Java ferns looked happier than ever...

Kept filters full of water as suggested. Removed as much of the gravel/sand as we could from the tanks. (we ran out of buckets! and double bagged trash bags were employed...)

Most of the fish survived. Lost a gourami, and 2 small angels, and one small bala.

Two months later, all plants are growing happily again after having alot of the dead stuff hacked away.

Oh and I don't know how coincidental it was, could simply have been the different water at the house from the condo, but I did have a huge green algae explosion on the glass a few weeks after the move. Its since been cleaned and hasnt come back. Adjustment/chemical realignment of some sorts?