Moving planted tanks

[Fishyfanatic]

What is the easiest way to move with a planted tank? I don't want to tare up roots, but I don't know if 25 lbs of sand plus water is good to move in a 10 gal tank. I have fish bags that I could put them in with some tank water, but will that tare up the roots by pulling out the plant? Or should I just leave them in the tank without water for the short 20 minute commute between houses? I will be taking out some sand for the move, but I will leave the sand around the plants (if that is the way to go).

 

[glstine]

FWIW I just moved a planted tank about 3 weeks ago. I drained tank water into A large bucket carefully removed the plants and stuck them in the bucket. Also netted the fish and put them in the bucket. I did however already have a new tank setup waiting for them. They were out of a tank for an hour or so. Plants and fish are all fine. Don't know if that's the best way or not but worked for me.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I plan to basically just drain out half the water into a bucket, net in the fish, put the sand into another bucket along with the decor, empty the tank, then just unplug and go. That's what I normally do when moving a tank, but I've never moved plants.

So basically you are just saying to swish the sand away from the plant roots and pull them out and put them in the bucket with the fish then just replant when I get to the new house?

When I get there the tank will be setup immediately. I will basically just walk in with the tank, dump in the sand, fill with dechlorinated water, turn on the heater and filter, reacclimate the fish while planting the plants, and turning everything on. I'm not worried about the temp of the water beacuse I'll be using a python hooked up to the kitchen sink so I can control the temp going into the tank.

I guess my main concern is trying not to damage the roots of the plants. I may just end up planting them in my 5 gal but I still dont' want to harm the roots.

 

[glstine]

Thats basically what I did except the tank was already set up. I would be a little leary of using hot tap water to regulate temperature due to mineral buildup (unless maybe it's a new house). At least were I live water heaters can get pretty nasty with buildup due to the hardness of our water.

 

[Guest]

For a 10 gallon tank with a 20 minute drive, I'd leave the plants where they are.
As long as you are ok with lifting a tank with the sand, plants, and a little water, I don't really see the need to disturb them. This will avoid root damage you are concerned about.
Move all the fish, decor, and water as you described above. Just leave enough water to keep the plants wet.

This method would be for tanks of 10 gallons or less. Anything bigger would be too heavy and awkward to move, and you'd likely end up breaking the tank! :x

 

[greenmaji]

yea, a 10 gallon couldnt weigh more than 150 pounds at worse completely full of everything.. if you drain it down pretty good then it should be moveable, less then 60 pounds or so depending on how deep your substrate is..

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I think I'm going to put the plants into the 5 gal tank. I have heard that Crypts don't fare well in sand. So hopefully they will flurish in the gravel. And then move the plant from the 5 gal into the 10. Is that going to be too much plant moving?

 

[greenmaji]

You might have a little water clarity issue but if you dont mind that then I would say you should be ok.. If you dont like cloudy water look into getting a DE filter or a micron filter that you can put DE into like the Magnum HOT or 350... I think you might have already gotten rid of your HOT.. if not you can get a micron cartrage and some DE and fix the cloudyness in a hurry...

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Why would I have cloudy water?

 

[An t-iasg]

I think greenmagi meant that you may have some cloudy water from stirring up the sand and removing the plant. Right?

Fishyfanatic, I thought about how you could keep your crypt in the tank with sand if you still wanted to. The show tank at the hatchery I go to has a plant substrate like Eco-Complete or Flourite around the sides and back of the tank. The area in front, shaped like a half-circle, is all sand. Now that the plants are all grown in, you can't even tell. I just happened to see it when it was newly-started. You could try a gravel area under the crypt if you wanted to leave it in the sandy tank. My crypts are just in regular Estes gravel, with a root tab.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I'm going to be stirring up the sand anyways because I'm taknig it out of the tank. Well, most of it anyways. I dont' want to break a tank during the move. Plus, pool filter sand doesn't cloud like other sands do. The 10 gal never did cloud when I first put the sand in the tank. I think I am just going to move the crypts to the 5 gal tank then move the other plant to the 10 gal. At this point, I am not really able to change anything with the tank. Its going to be really hectic this weekend with the move. We packed about 13 boxes already and that's only packing the upstairs (bedroom). Today I start with the downstairs. Ugh.

Thanks for all your advice guys. I really appreciate it. We'll see tomorrow how it all turned out.

 

[greenmaji]

I was actually refiring to the plant mulum and the cloudiness that it can make if stirred up.. People have posted of cloudy water problems after re-aquascaping just to find out that it is pretty much self correcting...