Tank movement and canister questions

[Luma21]

Okay so when I originally bought my 60 gallon tank it came with a stand that doesn't have much room. I decided to go with a hang-on-the-back filter and I've gotten sick of that thing.
No canister filters can fit inside of this cabinet so I've decided to build my own cabinet which I will start doing tomorrow by getting the materials. I've watched plenty of videos and I think I've got it down, doesn't seem to hard.
When I have it built in going to move my tank to the other side of my room to the newly built stand. I'm going to take out as much decor as possible and take out maybe 50-70% of the water depending on how heavy it seems for my dad, my brother and I to move about 10 feet across the room. Is that okay procedure for moving the tank?
My next question is when I get the canister filter up and running should I keep the hang on the back filter on for a couple weeks for the bacteria to stay there for a bit while the canister pumps and builds up bacteria also? If not what should I do? I've never owned a canister filter before but I've done my research. I'm going to the pet store to buy an Eheim, is that a good brand? Because that's all they sell and they seem legit. Any other tips you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Also, when I do the move should I take the fish out and put them in five gallon buckets for less stress with the move? Or should I leave them since it's such a short distance.

Thanks everyone for the help!


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[FWFishTanks]

Eheim is a good brand. As for the hob, keep it on for at least a couple weeks to establish bacteria in the canister. Or you can put the hob media in your canister for a few weeks and remove the hob. As long as you hold the aquarium by the base, your moving plan sounds good to me.

 

[Luma21]

Thanks for the quick reply! Here's a picture of the small cabinet my tank came with


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[44Paps44]

amazon likely will be 1/3 cheaper than your lfs for the Eheim.

 

[NigelK8485]

Put the fish in buckets, then move the tank. That'll allow you to take out more water and cause less stress. Plus if anything does go wrong such as someone dropping it, silicone giving out, etc. you'll already have the fish in a bucket.


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[ScotJudd]

Eheim are a good make and I feel canister filters are by far the easiest to manage and maintain.
Try to have taps at the bottom of your pipes, just above the canister, if the canister doesn't have them built in.
Also, the pipes need cleaning or the flow rate will reduce over time. Best done at each filter maintenance as it stops a build up of debris. Once through with a pipe cleaner brush and letting the dirty water wash into a bucket is fine.
After maintenance, 10 minutes or more, check for leaks from seals or joints. I stand my canisters on kitchen roll paper which shows quickly if a small leak is present. Not being pessimistic but I lost 10 gal of water because I didn't check properly. I was not popular!
Note that the manufactures flow rates are based on brand new filters with no debris and with clean tubes. A working filter will probable only pump 50% just before cleaning is due. Don't buy a filter just on the limit of the water flow you ultimately want, go a bit bigger.
Hope that's of some help - just based on a few years experience.



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[Luma21]

Yeah thanks for the help guys. I wound up buying the Eheim Classic 350 which is meant for like 92 gallon tanks or something and it's for a 60 gallon so that should be good hopefully.
How exactly do you clean these filters? And do you clean them as often as HOB filters?


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[NigelK8485]

Eheim actually rates their canisters with media in.

Just clean it like once a month. Same as hang on backs, turn it off, pull out media and wash in old tank water then put it back together.


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[Luma21]

Alright cool! I'll try to post some pics later next week when the build is done with everything running. Thanks for the help everyone!


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[irdajoh]

I kept my hob on for a good month before moving to my canister full time. But I haven't opened it to clean once. It's been running since late December. Guess I should clean it next maintenance day. o:

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[Luma21]

I kept my hob on for a good month before moving to my canister full time. But I haven't opened it to clean once. It's been running since late December. Guess I should clean it next maintenance day. o:

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Your HOB or canister filter?? And I actually just started the fish tank build yesterday! Should be done in a week or so, maybe more because of priming and painting.


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[Luma21]

Fish tank stand* lol


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[irdajoh]

I had the HoB and the canister going together for a month, then just canister. Witches my hob to a quarantine tank. I need to clean the canister though.

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[Luma21]

How exactly do you clean it? Just take out all the mesh and stuff and just wash it in fish tank water? And what about the other media like the balls and the rings?


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[irdajoh]

Mine has bio balls, I'd leave those alone aswell as rings. And the carbon bags. The mesh and or foam padding needs to be rinsed of debris in tank water. Just a few swishes back and forth should do.

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[Luma21]

Okay cool, sounds easy enough!


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[irdajoh]

Make sure the power head is off and locked so there isn't an accidents with water. A lot of people will say canisters are leaky and such but it's user error 90% of the time, I learned this the hard way haha

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[Luma21]

Yeah i bought mine still needs to be taken out and cleaned. But I'm waiting to build my stand and move my tank first before I do anything. And I'm gonna put it in a small tray or bucket of some kind. Here's what I bought... It's for a 60 gallon tall


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[Luma21]

I'm going to be making a new thread showing the build all the way up to the completion


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[irdajoh]

The bucket is a great idea, I did that when I started mine haha. I'll be sure to look for it!

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