Moving House

[henry1245]

Hi All,

I'm moving house next week and wasn't sure how best to move the tank.
Its a 29G, i'm only moving about 5 mins down the road (but not close enough to walk!)

I was thinking of draining 80% of the water and putting fish and filter in a bucket with tank water. Then putting the tank (and gravel) in the back of a van, then getting it set up immediately at the new house (should take no longer than 1hr so will the water temperature still be ok?).

Is this the best way or is there another more suitable way?

Many Thanks!
H.

 

[paulace2372]

Well... I too am faced with this dilemma in around a month or so! I will tell you what I had planned and maybe we could glean some ideas from each other!?

I had planned to stop feeding 3 days before the move - this will reduce the amount of ammonia being produced by the fish during the move as they will not poo as much. Like you, I was going to drain most of the water into containers and transport it to the new place. My fish will be in a couple of separate salt containers but I would be careful using just any old bucket - maybe go to your LFS and they would be kind enough to give or sell you some of their bags for a small charge as this will make acclimating them easier when you get moved as the stress factor will already be high. Save a small amount of tank water and submerge your filter in that. As for moving the tank - careful with the lift as the weight of the gravel and any water left in there may put pressure on the seals of the tank. I usually try and treat the move like a slightly larger water change with an interlude of a tank relocation and so far I have had no losses at all! Hopefully this helps a bit mate!

 

[henry1245]

The bucket I was going to use is the one I use exclusively for water changes so should be safe. Didn't think about the wright of the gravel!

 

[Pleco11771]

^^^^Same here!!!! In about 2 weeks I'm going to have to move my 20 gallon like 7 minutes away, except one of my fish is a male betta and I'm going to have to separate him. I'm pretty sure the 3 of us can come up with something

 

[mfdrookie516]

Try moving a 150, 125, 40b, 20l, and 10 lol. just drain it, the substrate won't dry out in the time it'll take to get from point a to point b... assuming it's really only 5 mins away.

 

[henry1245]

Thanks, I'm hoping i'm making it out to be more complicated than it really is!

I think as long as the substrate is covered in water (about 2" should do it) and two of us lift it carefully, the seals should be ok (if it can hold 90L of water, i'm sure it can hold 2" and be moved safely).

My male betta is going in with the rest of the fish, i just hop they all get along in a 10L bucket for an hour or so whilst I move and refill the tank!

I'll let you know on Friday how it goes!

 

[Pleco11771]

Thanks, I'm hoping i'm making it out to be more complicated than it really is!

I think as long as the substrate is covered in water (about 2" should do it) and two of us lift it carefully, the seals should be ok (if it can hold 90L of water, i'm sure it can hold 2" and be moved safely).

My male betta is going in with the rest of the fish, i just hop they all get along in a 10L bucket for an hour or so whilst I move and refill the tank!

I'll let you know on Friday how it goes!

Once I'm done moving my betta I'm probably going to put him in the betta cup he came in just without the top and float him in the bucket once I get to the house

 

[henry1245]

Why are you separating the betta?

 

[Sal37]

i am going to follow on this as i have to move in 5 weeks time, again not a great distance, but am having to redecorate current house to let. luckily have been given another tank which is set up in a room(not needing decorating!)ive added water from the original tank to this as i have donw a water change and added some cycling treatment to the water. how long before i can move some of the fish over, as i want to redo the original tank and make it the first thing i move, i wont clean out the pump and i am going to move the tank with the gravel intact and wetand save as much water as i can and again use this cycling treatment. any sugestions and help, guidance gratefully recieved

 

[paulace2372]

I'm moving a reef and a FOWLR tank, both set up in the past year and like a dumbass my wife wants us to move!!! I have set up loads of reef tanks in the past and moved a fair few aswel, just never moved one of my own! gonna be a huge operation!

 

[cinnamaldehyde]

I just moved and wasn't able to take my tanks with me, but I did re-home the tanks and was successful moving them - here's my suggestion:

I took the fish out and placed them in a bucket with their old water, all their plants, a battery powered pump, and a lid, and also saved about 75% of the old water to be transported in buckets. We slid the tank (55gal) onto a piece of really thick (2") plywood, as I was nervous about lifting the tank with the gravel and some water still in it. Once it was on the wood, it was super easy to manipulate and move around. About 4 hours later fish were back in their tank with their old water and a bit of new - a couple of my roselines lost their pink colour, but after a few hours they perked right back up.

Anyway, for any sized tank, I'd recommend sliding it onto something (very sturdy) that is easier to carry than the edges of the tank.

 

[Pleco11771]

Why are you separating the betta?

Just in case because in the bucket I'm not going to take chances with the tight quarters with my betta plus if he is in the cup or protected from the current I can crank the air pump for the other fish

 

[henry1245]

I sucessfully moved.

I bought a large 60L tub from the hardware store and filled this half full (30L) with tank water, filter and fish.

Then moved the tank with about an inch of water in then bottom (just enough to cover the gravel).

Once in my new home, I filled the tank most of the way with water from the tap (and adjusted the temp using kettle water) and trated it with dechlorinator, then added the fish with most of the old tank water.

3 days later and the fish are all still fine!

 

[Ausfish]

When I moved my 55g 2 hours away I bought to 60l tubs and two cheap internal filters as well(they ran in the established tank for a month to cycle). Filled both buckets half full and added the fish with some rock/driftwood and a heater and filter each. They sat in the corner until I had the tank in the new house set up. I had some additional buckets of tank water as I believe the more established water the better.

When that was all set up I drove the fish to their new home and slowly acclimated them. Zero casualties and all happy days.

I definitely wouldn't leave any water or gravel in the tank. Yes it can hold a lot of water, but you have to remember that's when it sits still. Any stress on the seal and you might tear the silicone a little. Believe me, having to re-silicone the whole tank isn't worth it as your fish will be living in a bucket for at least a week!