moving a 55gal tank

[ostrichkiller]

hey all i might be moving (only about 30 min away from present location) and i have a 55 gal fresh water tank with about 20 small fish in it. what would be the safest way to move the fish and tank and not lose too much. i realize i would have to take a bunch of the water out but should i leave them and some water in the tank they are in now or get a small plastic tank just for the move or what???

 

[Allivymar]

Grab a bunch of cheap big plastic containers and a battery operated aerator. Put tank water, aerator and the fish in one. Put some tank water, the decor and filters in another. You want to keep the filters and decor wet, else the bacteria may start to die off (I wouldn't worry about 02 for that stuff; won't be a prob in 30 mins time, although you you'll want the O2 exchange for the fish).

Don't move the tank with water or stuff in it; one sharp turn or stop and the tank could break. You also don't want to move the fish with the decor for the same type of reasons; something may wind up smooshing a fish.

 

[shawmutt]

Allivymar beat me to the punch again!!

I would go to home depot and get 6 5-gallon buckets with lids, this will allow you to carry 25 gallons of water in 5 buckets. In the sixth, put the gravel in and top off with tank water and filter media. Don't let the gravel or filter media dry out! This should be keep a healthy bacteria level in the new tank. The three times I moved my tank from place to place (a 30 gallon so I used 3 buckets), I just put the fish in the buckets, the larger water volume helps keep the water temp stable and the darkness keeps down the stress. Basically the same thing Alli said.

 

[Terry]

Nothing to say, you two have covered this one.

 

[BillyZ]

there's actualy an article here written to cover this exact situation: Articles Section

 

[shawmutt]

Good article Billy The only reason I suggest home depot buckets instead of rubbermaid containers is because ime the buckets' snap on lids are really tight. One move was an hour away, and one of the buckets tipped over in transit. I didn't realize it until we got there, but the bucket didn't leak!

 

[Scottw68TN]

They make good wet dry tanks too! And good for water changes. And storing the tons of decor, nets, rocks that didn't look right in the tank but you want to save it somewhere because next week it will be perfect for the corner of the tank,cleaning gravel, and sand in etc. etc. etc.

 

[Scottw68TN]

This post is to see what happens when I post 50

 

[William]

5gal buckets are great all around aquarium tools.

Big enough to store fish for water changes, perfect size as a quarenteen vessel for a few fish, storage, transport..ectect