moving a fish tank

fishinadish

ive just aquired a tank its about 5ftx 2ft xabout 2 ft not measured it yet but when i get chance i will

the tank is fully stocked and i have to move the tank and all the fish from its current location what would be the best way to do this and cause minimal disturbance to the fish and filter/bacteria colony

at the moment the tank is stcoked mainly with guppies and 3 x loaches i was told there is a Kuhli Loach in there somewhere also id like to keep the stock as this was my friends tank that has now sadly passed away

Angel079

Best you can do in that case (I done this many times its super easy really).
Get several clean buckets; ideally with lid. Add current tank water in them and split the fish up into it and toss possible plants in the buckets with them.
Drain the whole tank.
Have a extra bucket where you can put either the whole filter in to or at least the filter pads & bio wheels (whatever it has) the filter is THE most important thing as this houses all your necessary bacteria.
At your home: Set up tank where you want it fill with new tap water (use conditioner!)
Hook up the filter asap when you have the tank filled up and get it running, do not wash it; if its needs a lil cleaning only do it in the tank water bucket you have there but do not wash too much (washing out the needed bacteria)
If the water parameters are the same net fish into tank; if they're not the same drip acclimate the fish and then move them in.
If there's plants involved plant them as you like.

And done
To be on the safe side, check your water parameters for the next few days just to make sure you hadn't caused a new mini cycle there.

JohnnyD44

First Off, sorry to hear about your friend.

Easiest way to do it:
Get a couple of 5 gallon buckets...you could probably get away with only 3 of them...drain the tank into those three buckets....use one bucket and put all the filter media there is, in that bucket. Thats the most important part is that your filter media stay wet....

next, scoop your fish into the remaining two buckets.....drain the rest of the tank..you can put the gravel in another bucket, if your keeping it...transport your buckets with fish, gravel and filter media to your house....get the tank setup where you want it....add the gravel if you kept it...then fill with water(making sure to use a water conditioner) then dump in your fish...re-assemble the filter with the filter media in the bucket.

Should be good to go...maybe monitor the water parameters for the next couple of days

fishinadish

forgot to mention this tank has an external filter so after i empty the tank shou7ld i just remove the media from inside the filter and add to some of the tank water i remove or just leave the filter full if possible

JohnnyD44

double post Angel!! and quite the same too!! haha

JohnnyD44

fill a bucket with tank water and put all whatever filter media you have in the bucket...as stated above, it's the most crucial part to keeping your bacteria colonized

fishinadish

would it also be a good idea to reduce the number of guppies in the tank i know they breed like crazy ive got a 4ft tank at the moment i could home some in also my sister has a tank to home a few too just to try keep some space for some othe fish not sure if there is swordtails still in this tank i know there was 4 in the tank at one point

JohnnyD44

it depends on the sex of the guppies..if it's a group of all males, or a group of all females...it won't matter because they can't breed unless mixed, obiviously! haha do you know if they are male or female? you could always give all the females to your sister and keep the males for yourself....or vise-versa

Angel079

Sorry Johnny..didn't mean to post at the same time.

You mean a external filter like a Canister? or like a Hang on back? If its a canister just put it & its hoses in a bucket (so it won't leak all over your car) if its a HOB then add it in a bucket with water.

I'd also split the Guppy's up male-female so you don't deal with a heck load of fry there (either to someone you know or your fish store etc).

fishinadish

the guppies are mixed male female to what ratio i havent got a clue :/

the filter is a canister first time ive used one i use a fluval internal atm

also got chance to measure this tank today its 5ft x2ft x2ft which by the calculator online makes it 149 us gal seems an odd amount either that or i cant measure most probably the later of the 2