Moving a tank for decorating help

[Cromid]

Hey guys as the title suggests I’m going to be decorating my living room soon, but have been putting it off because I don’t know best how to move my 15gal long.
I’m getting a new floor and the room painted so it needs to be fully removed from the room and put in my office.
But.. it will eventually need to get put back into my living room again once it’s done.
I’m just alittle worried about where to start since it means moving it twice and I don’t want to stress the fish more than necessary.
ideally I’d do it all in one day so the fish aren’t too stressed out but doubt that’s feasible.
Il not do anything until I’m in a position to crack on with the work in the room, but it’d be good to have a plan so I’m not stressing myself or the fish out.

the tank is stocked with corys and harlequin rasboras aswell as about 20+ shrimp.
Any advice/tips would be really helpful!

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

You could do it in one day, especially with two people. Helps that it's a small tank!

First, set up where it's going to be put. Make sure the space is clear, and has available power sockets for filter/heater/airstone etc. You wanna be able to put everything back and get everything running again straight away.

When you're ready to move the tank;

Remove as much decor as you can first.

Turn off and remove heater, filter, airstone etc. Place filter or filter media at least in a bucket of tank water to keep it wet.

Have some fish only buckets ready, then syphon most of the water into those buckets. Catch and remove those fish and shrimp into the buckets, cover with a towel or something to prevent jumping.

If there's a thick layer of substrate, might need to remove some before shifting the tank. If not much substrate, just drain the water out completely, and move the tank between two people. Try to keep it level without tipping it to one side or another, so the glass panes don't shift in the silicone and potentially burst a leak sometime down the line.

Place tank where you need it, replace any substrate you removed, half fill with fresh, declorinated water temperature matched to the tanks usual temp. Replace filter, heater, airstone etc. Replace any plants and decor you removed.

If the water gets super messy due to substrate being stirred up, do a gravel vac and syphon, refill halfway with fresh/declorinated/temp matched water again, and repeat until it's reasonable clear. Then add some more of the old water back in. Move fish and shrimp back into their tank, replacing some of their water that was in the buckets, provided it hasn't cooled too much.

You can do all of this within an hour or two, if you prep properly! And as far as the fish etc go, it'll just be like you did a 50% water change, with some minor stress from being caught and moved.

If something goes wrong and it's taking longer than anticipated, chuck an airstone in the buckets to be sure the fish are okay. It also wouldn't hurt to fast them for a day or two prior to the move, so they're producing less ammonia while in the buckets. In the days before the move, gving the substrate a thorough gravel vac-ing so there's less debris to be stirred up also helps.

I've had to move two 15 gallons and a 12 gallon a few times, sometimes even from one side of the room to the other when I moved back to my folks house to care for them. Not ideal, but needs must sometimes! It didn't take long when prepped like this.

Since you'll be painting, be extra sure that the paint has fully dried and fumes dispersed before moving the tank back to the newly decorated room, since filters will suck paint fumes into the motor and into the water, and they can be very toxic.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Also, saw aquarium co op had an awesome video about catching fish without stressing them out too much, think it's really useful to share!

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Firstly, get at least 2-3 big buckets.

Fill one bucket with only water from your tank. This bucket will be for your shrimps and shrimplets.
Shrimps are more sensitive to water change. So, by reusing your 15 gallons tank water is the safest for the shrimps.

For the second bucket, you can fill with 2/3 of your tank water and 1/3 of fresh water(treated with anti-Chlorine). This will be for your Rasboras and Corydoras. Make sure the water level in the bucket is not too high as Rasboras are good jumpers. Same for the bucket with shrimps as they are also good jumpers.

You may have to drain the water in your tank to about 1/3 level of the tank before you can start catching the shrimps and fish.
Remove all the filters and only leave the substrate (sand or gravel) in the tank if they are not too heavy.
Remove the rocks and woods as it may be difficult to catch the shrimps with all the rocks, woods and decor around.

Move all the fish and shrimps to the two buckets.
Empty all the water from your 15 gallons tank or if you are afraid that some shrimps are still hiding among the substrate, probably you can leave a little water in the tank just to wet the substrate.

When you have moved all of them to your office, quickly refill the 15 gallons tank with freshwater(treated with Anti-Chlorine).
You have to slowly acclimatized your shrimps and fish to the new water.
Do you know how to acclimatize your shrimps and fish?
If not, I can explain it to you.

All the best.

 

[Slaphppy7]

What is the tank sitting on, presently?

I moved a 29G, across a large room, simply by draining the tank as much as possible, then slid the entire tank and stand into it's new position. (stand has those padded furniture floor protectors on the bottom).

Didn't remove anything from the tank, just filled back up with treated water.. Quick and easy, and the fish and shrimp were just fine.

 

[Fishiemang]

I moved my 38 gallon Bowfront with minimal work.

Here is what it takes for a small.tank like a 15 gallon.

2 people may be needed.
A way to remove water.
A way to replace water.

Drain 75%-80% of the water out. Leave just enough for the fish to swim in. In a tank that small, maybe leave the bottom 3-4 inches. Pick the tank up and move it. Do the spot you're redecorating first. Place tank back. Fill back up.

That tank size isn't.much at all. My 38 has way more fish and shrimp in it. Plants too. Heavy as the dickens. Moved it with 2 guys. Was still over 100 pounds when we lifted it. Yours will prolly be somewhere around 60 pounds when ready. Easy peasy.

 

[Cromid]

Thanks for all the help guys, here’s an image of my tank currently. It’s set on top of a sideboard unit. Ideally removing most the water and sliding it over to the new unit would be the easiest thing to do but just with getting new flooring laid down it’s be a nightmare to work that.
but that’s a great step by step guide on how to do it, il just have to make sure I take my time, do each step and not rush or stress.
And yeh I’ve drip acclimatised my shrimp before when I first purchased them so I should be good to redo that. Il never be able to catch them all though since a lot are juveniles after a recent breeding but the rasboras and cories are my main worry, especially with the rasboras being jumpers.
Thanks guys!

first step is to get everything I need then!

 

[Cromid]

 

[Naughts]

I have a storage chest with wheels, do you have something like that? I empty the tank then lift it down onto the chest and wheel it into another room, It's great for keeping the tank level and avoiding strain on the corners or edges of the tank. Easier too!

You need more buckets than you think (or one big clean wheelie bin) as you need to keep safe and wet the fish, plants, filter, maybe substrate if you remove some.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

View attachment 129782

Beautiful tank! Gorgeous scape. You'll wanna remove the big pieces of wood and stone, since heavy, but I can see not wanting to disturb the substrate, and I keep shrimp too, so I understand difficulty catching all the tiny ones!

If moving it with substrate and a tiny amount of water still in it for the shrimp, moving it onto a large piece of plywood or a cabinet on wheels would be good, just so there isn't too much strain on the tank as it's moved from one room to another, and it'll minimise stress on the shrimp. Then you can rebuild the tank in the other room and put the fish back.

If you're saving most of the water, I personally don't think you need to drip acclimate the shrimp, since it'll be mostly the same water. How large a water change do you usually do as routine maintenance? Because if you're saving 2/3 rds of the water, or even 50%, and your tank water is very close to your tap water, then it's no different than a routine water change. I usually do around 50% on my shrimp tank weekly, but I know some people prefer smaller changes for shrimp.

TIP! Take a ton of photos of the scape from all different directions before you move it. It'll help you rebuild it the way it was before, if you want it to look the same anyway, and aren't planning to re-scape.

 

[Cromid]

I have a storage chest with wheels, do you have something like that? I empty the tank then lift it down onto the chest and wheel it into another room, It's great for keeping the tank level and avoiding strain on the corners or edges of the tank. Easier too!

You need more buckets than you think (or one big clean wheelie bin) as you need to keep safe and wet the fish, plants, filter, maybe substrate if you remove some.

Beautiful tank! Gorgeous scape. You'll wanna remove the big pieces of wood and stone, since heavy, but I can see not wanting to disturb the substrate, and I keep shrimp too, so I understand difficulty catching all the tiny ones!

If moving it with substrate and a tiny amount of water still in it for the shrimp, moving it onto a large piece of plywood or a cabinet on wheels would be good, just so there isn't too much strain on the tank as it's moved from one room to another, and it'll minimise stress on the shrimp. Then you can rebuild the tank in the other room and put the fish back.

If you're saving most of the water, I personally don't think you need to drip acclimate the shrimp, since it'll be mostly the same water. How large a water change do you usually do as routine maintenance? Because if you're saving 2/3 rds of the water, or even 50%, and your tank water is very close to your tap water, then it's no different than a routine water change. I usually do around 50% on my shrimp tank weekly, but I know some people prefer smaller changes for shrimp.

TIP! Take a ton of photos of the scape from all different directions before you move it. It'll help you rebuild it the way it was before, if you want it to look the same anyway, and aren't planning to re-scape.

that is a perfect idea thanks guys! Il source some kind of dolly on wheels so I can carefully move it to the other room! Why didn’t I think of that ?
I’ve also ordered a 50l storage/bucket so I can put most of the water in too. I usually do around 30% water change so if I’m using the same water back in it shouldn’t be too much of a shock or change.
I used to do a 50% water change but a lot of my shrimp ended up dying when molting because of it. So since I dropped it down to 30, and avoided doing them as regularly I’ve had no issues. I’m currently overrun ?