Moving House

[Richard James Patrick]

I'm going to be moving home shortly, I'm moving out of a town apartment to a cottage in the country with a huge garden. I'll be living the good life as I'm planning on getting some dogs, a cat, chickens, maybe even sheep some day, well that's the plan anyway.

So I've got to move my tank soon too, it's a well planted 180ltr Juwel with guppies, platys, mollies and 2 dwarf gouramis. I'd appreciate any advice on the best way to do this. It's about a 45min drive to the cottage from where I live now.

Thanks in advance.

 

[chelbel]

I can't help but good luck

 

[Meds081603]

drain all but an inch of water to keep your filters floating in, or drain all water and put your filters in a bucket of tank water. put your fish in buckets or tupperware containers of tank water. move the tank and fish then replace them. 45 minutes is close enough that you should have no issues. I'd probably fast the fish the day before the move just to keep the waste down while they are being moved.

 

[SJ2K]

Personly id suggest using bags instead of plastic containers (ask at your LFS for some), drain most of the water and just leave the media and fish bags in the tank

Good luck

 

[theotheragentm]

That drive is not bad at all. I just helped my friend move his fish with a shorter drive, but the principal is the same. Hopefully you have one or two people and a mini van with the seats down to take the ride.

Don't feed them two days prior to the move. Do a water change at this time too, gravel vacuuming at the time. This will keep the bioload down, so when the fish are moved, they are less likely to suffer from any bioload effects as they will be packed into the buckets.

Take out all the decorations in the tank that you can get out easily to lighten the lift.

Get a couple 5-gallon buckets. You can put all your fish into two buckets. Filling half way should work for the amount of fish you'll have. While you're rounding up the fish, you might want a spare heater to keep the water warm in the two buckets while you're working on the tank. It's not recommended for an extended period of time, but for the move, it's just fine. Think about how they're shipped to fish stores in the first place. They've had worse.

Anything you can't catch, leave in the tank and lift with whatever water is still easy enough to lift with a pair of people.

Try to keep the decorations and filter in tank water also if you are able to do so. This will keep the bacteria culture alive so you don't see a cycle when you set up the tank again.

When you get to the new location, start filling up the tank and bringing it up to temperature making sure to add a dechlorinator as to not kill off any bacteria in the substrate. I would try to leave the bucket water in the buckets and take just fish if possible.

Good luck and ask if you have any more questions.

 

[Richard James Patrick]

cheers.

 

[Richard James Patrick]

Thanks for that. What do you think is the best course of action with the plants rooted in the gravel. Are they best removed and replanted later. Also the tank substrate is two and a half inches of gravel which obviously weighs quite a bit, do you think it will be okay to remove this during the move.

 

[theotheragentm]

I lifted a 40-gallon with much less substrate, but we left about two gallons of water in the tank for the few fish we couldn't catch. A 35-gallon should not be too heavy for two people to lift, even with all the gravel in there. I would pull the plants and put them in with the fish. Although it would be very little, it helps calm the fish by giving them some cover and helping slightly with bioload while in the buckets. I was able to use rolling carts, lifting only onto the cart and off the cart. Even so, you should be okay with the weights I specified.

 

[Tolak]

Aquariums are designed to be structurally stable in a static position. Moving them with water or substrate weakens the frame and seams. These things have a way of going out at the worst time, a slow leak would be a lucky thing, a blown seam or side makes a big mess.

Move the tank empty, unless you are putting it some place where getting a lot of water on the floor wouldn't be a big deal. I got a 72 gallon for free that someone moved with substrate & a few inches of water, and fish. It has a cracked center brace that I had reinforced, and it stays in the basement which has a floor drain.

This topic should be helpful; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=129060

 

[Richard James Patrick]

Yeah, I don't think it's worth the risk of lifting the tank with the gravel in.
Thanks for that advice and link.

 

[theotheragentm]

Yeah, it really depends on how you're carrying it, but I won't argue against emptying it out. It's just a lot more work.

 

[Tolak]

You really have to make the decision for yourself. Is it worth the work of emptying it out now, or are you better off dealing with it if it decides to empty itself later?

 

[LadyAphrodite]

You really have to make the decision for yourself. Is it worth the work of emptying it out now, or are you better off dealing with it if it decides to empty itself later?

When I moved my 40 gal tank, we moved the base and tank together so that the weight of the tank was supported evenly on all sides by the base. It still had all the substrate (about 30ish pounds of flourite/gravel) and some water about 1-2 gallons. Heavy, but no problems whatsoever afterwards.

Now I just have to figure out how to move it on a 3 day trip in 8 months.