Moving Advice

[Jmifland]

I will be getting a 55 gallon aquarium at the end of this week and will be building a custom stand for it once I have actually aquired it and made the measurements. I plan on moving out with my girlfriend sometime in January or February of 2012.

I would really like to complete a fishless cycle and then add in the fish we have been looking at but I am not sure how stressful or difficult it is going to be to move a 55 gallon aquarium. I know that I could remove some of the water so that it doesn't weigh as much but should I wait until we have moved in to complete this process?

Five to Six months isn't too far and would give me time to get all the equipment ready. I have been wanting a fish tank for sometime now and I really want to get it started but if I have to wait I wouldn't mind. Please reply with any information or experiences that you may have with this sort of situation.

Thanks!

[bruinsbro1997]

IMO if it's a short move (not like a cross-the-country one) you'd be fine setting it up right now and moving six months later. For short distances when I'm moving the tank this week, I put the filter media in tank water and Ziploc them, put fish in bags I have saved from LFS, drain the water out of the tank, unplug everything and begin the move. You can do this for any move basically, most fish should be fine. Then when you get there just reset the tank and you'll be ready to go!

[LyndaB]

Good advice above. I also wanted to stress that you will have to empty the tank completely before moving. If you don't, you may get stress fractures and your tank will be prone to cracking. You'll just have to monitor your params carefully after refilling and restocking, watching for a mini-cycle.

As mentioned above, keep your filter media wet and you should be okay.

[Jmifland]

That is just what I wanted to hear! I would do the same thing with live plants as with the fish? Or could I remove them from the substrate and place them into a bucket of tank water?

[bruinsbro1997]

If they're live plants, just gently take them out of the substrate, place them in bags partially filled with tank water (just enough for the roots and bototm to be submerged) and you'd be fine.

[Jmifland]

Awesome! Thank you very much