Moving to a new home: how to move fish tank?

[lake_tuna]

So, next month, I will be moving to a house that is 90 miles away from my current apartment. I have a 20g long fish tank with 30 lbs of fluorite in it. My main concern is moving the tank itself.. can I leave the gravel in there and move the tank? Has anyone left the gravel inside the aquarium and drove to a new location? I'm guessing people don't advise that you do that because the glass might crack under the gravel load and moving vehicle.

Any inputs? I'd really hate to uproot all my plants!

 

[Mark Hewitt]

I wouldn't have thought leaving the gravel in there would make too much difference if the level isn't too high. I'd guess the problem is the sides of the tank etc.

But is there any reason why you can't just take the gravel out? It would do you better to take it out and keep it in a bucket for the journey. If you can keep it wet there's a chance of some of the bacteria surviving the trip.

Of course the critical thing is to keep your filter wet throughout.

 

[mgamer20o0]

what i would do is get 2 10 gallon tubs from walmart. put the fish/filter media in one and the substrate in the other. best to remove everything and start over.

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

id do as mgamer says and if your really concerned about the plants then I would just take a section around the plants and put it in a large enough container to hold the plants and substrate and transport it that way.

 

[lake_tuna]

what i would do is get 2 10 gallon tubs from walmart. put the fish/filter media in one and the substrate in the other. best to remove everything and start over.

Do these tubs have a lid? Also, if I were to put the fish in a container with a lid, can I seal them in for about 1.5 hrs to avoid water splashes in my car?

 

[Andrewz00]

yes the tubs have lids... and yes you can seal them in for a few hours...

i moved a 45 gal from Philadelphia to NYC (105 miles) just under 3hrs with traffic... took all the media/substrate/decor in one bucket covered in water... and all the fish in another with a small amount of gravel on the bottom...

got to the new place, set it up... added all the substrate/decor with the water then the fish with all the water... ended up moving just under 20 gal of the 45 gal... so basically just did a major water change... no problems..

moved it again a year after that, same method... every fish made every move!

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

Ill be moving my tanks soon and will be using a very similar method. Highly recommend it

 

[TCool]

I moved 160 miles and left all my gravel in my 55 gallon tank. If you empty the tank right before you leave (like I did) I don't think you'll have much of a problem with it drying out and bacteria dying.