Moving fish tank to new house

[MaggstAa]

Hi, I have a 50 gallon freshwater aquarium full of goldfish and I am moving house and need to bring them with me. My deadline just got moved up very quickly so I only have a few days to figure it out. I have absolutely no idea where to begin the process so if anyone could give me a walk through I'd really appreciate it!! Just want to get everyone transported as safely as possible!!


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[Delapool]

Wow - sounds like some work there. Main thought would be if you have a large plastic box or something they can go into while you get the tank sorted out. Even maybe a battery powered air pump if it will take a bit of time to get all sorted and set back up.

[MaggstAa]

My main concern is transporting them. The new house is about an hour drive in the car, then there's the whole issue of getting them into and out of the transport vessel etc. I just want to make sure I do everything right and try not to shock them too terribly much and make sure they all survive the transition! Should I put them individually into bags and float them in a large container in the car?? Is there a way to pack them so the turbulence is cushioned a bit? The tank itself I'm not too concerned about but it's just them arriving safely.


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[Brookster123]

Easy.. just did it myself.. 5 gal bucket with lid, add tank water, filter media, 4x dose prime. Place bucket on floor of front seat, slide seat forward to secure bucket. You can even keep them warn with foot heater they'll be fine, a towel over the bucket for absolute darkness will ease the stress further.

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[MaggstAa]

Thanks a ton!! I have 10 fish though and they are rather large (about 5 inches or so), how small of a bucket is too small, and how long can they stay in there? (Considering the time it'll take to drive and set up the tank again.) and what should I put in the container? They can go without a filter for a few hours I guess (?), but should I get a battery powered air pump?


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[Brookster123]

Hmm, I wouldn't feed them for 48 hrs prior to move. Maybe 3 per 5 gal bucket, you could also use a larger cooler. A battery powered air pump would be good. If you already have aire pumps you can get an inverter at home depot to plug into to. (Come in handy for other things). With a prime dose they should be ok for a few hours. You can always set up a 20 gal tub at the new place and get it running to transfer them too once you've arrived. I did this with German blue rams and other delicate fish so i think those.big healthy Golds should hold their own. God speed sir

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[aseradyn]

I wouldn't think you'd need a bubbler; as long as the car is in motion, the surface of the water will be, too.

FWIW, I've moved (tropical) fish interstate using new 5-gal paint buckets, the kind with lids that create a water-tight seal, so the water doesn't slosh all over everything when I have to hit the brakes. I just popped the lid off whenever we were at a rest area or gas station so they got some fresh air. Never had any trouble, and the car stays dry.

[MaggstAa]

Thanks so much for the advice people!! We put them into two coolers in the car with half tank water and half fresh water and some conditioner, and periodically opened the lids for some fresh air and temperature control. The tank is placed and refilled, I haven't seen them since I left them at my brother-in-law's yesterday so hopefully they are still ok, need to check the water levels. BUT, much to my surprise, when I put them into the tank again, they had all lost nearly all of their color!! All white, and what color they have left is very lightened. I'm assuming this is from stress, but will the color come back??


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[Laeris]

It usually does. Horror story time! When I got my danios, I bought them on my lunch break. They were in my lap to keep warm for the five hours it took me to get home. They were terribly ghostly. Now they're fine, one of the males has quite vivid red markings where the others are more orange. Do your best, as you have been <3


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[Delapool]

Good luck on them bouncing back.