Moving house and taking the fish too!

Anflex

Hey guys,

I am soon to be moving out of my parents house and into my own place. Now, obviosly I'm not going to leave my pride and joy behind (which is my fishtank) I'm going to take it all with me!

Now, I have quite a large tank and it is very very heavy.

Just wondering if anyone has any points/tips/ideas on what to do and what not to do when it comes to transporting a fish tank from one house to another.

I was thinking of putting the water into buckets or large containers as to ensure the tank has established water still when the tank is set up at the other end. I would put the fish into bags and transport with the actual tank itself just having the filter, plants, ornaments left in etc.

Any ideas on this or any general tips?

Please reply, I'd love to hear what you think.

willow

hi
leave nothing in the tank at all.
put gravel/sand into a container,and replace
substrate and decor when you have the tank in its position
on its stand.
you could wrap the fish bags in paper not only to keep them calm
but to help keep them warm,if ther is a fish mongers near to you
maybe try to see if they will give you a polly box
you can then keep the fish in the box together.
try and get the filter up and running ASAP,
and watch the water sats for a while to see how it is all
getting on.
good luck.

JouteiMike

Good points from Willow.

How large is the tank? The largest tank I have moved is 75 gallons, and I left all the gravel and just enough water to cover the gravel. Any tank that is larger I would do what willow suggested, and to remove everything from the tank, just to be safe. Multiple 5 gallon pails with a little water might be your best shot at moving the gravel. As for the filters, drain the chambers completely and submerge your media into a container or bucket of tank water, as well as the ornaments and plants. Try saving as much of the water as possible, like you said, it will be easier on the fish once they are place back into the aquarium. The actual aquarium should be the very last thing to move, and the very first to set up at your new location. Meaning if you have a stand, the stand and aquarium should be the last to pack, and then the stand should be the first thing to set up, followed by the aquarium.

How long is the trip?

herefishy

The largest tank I have EVER moved was a 300g. I removed everything. That tank was heavy enough empty. All of the gravel was placed into 5g plastic pails, rocks, also. I had some 25g plastic barrels into which I put about 200g of water. You will also need a heavy duty 2-wheel cart. The tank was moved by using a sheet of 3/4" plywood to support the weight. This was nailed to 2x4's which were used as handles. Good luck.