Moving house

[Retired Viking]

I would dim the lights or even turn them off to help relax your fish. I do that when I add new fish to my tanks. Glad it sounds like the move worked out for you.

 

[Guyb93]

Glad for your sake that it is at least over! Any lessons learned that you want to share?

The only lesson I can even try and bring from that was I honestly should of got them in the tank faster I could of put the in a quarter full but didn’t would of taken me 10-15 mins to get a quarter full but just left it till i could do it all and buy more than one tub lol I think the tub was large enough to how many fish I have but I do forget me electric blue acara are cichlids and they have definitely been fighting in the tub lots of war wound lost scales so gonna be doing lost of water changes next few days , honestly 500l is just a nightmare I wish I didn’t get the tabk till I moved as I knew o was moving but I think a few beers are in order and maybe a few prawny treats for the gang lol

 

[Guyb93]

I would dim the lights or even turn them off to help relax your fish. I do that when I add new fish to my tanks. Glad it sounds like the move worked out for you.

I had them on a real pale blue for a hour then there off now they haven’t had much light today but gonna try get them back to routine soon

 

[mcordelia]

thanks @Guyb93 , I might be looking at moving some cichlids in the next month or so (depending on if this tank I have my eyes on buying works out or not). I was originally thinking one larger sterilite tub, but didn't think about the aggression component so maybe buying some smaller tubs so that each fish can have their own is a better approach. Is the water at the new place similar to the water at your old place? are you running into any issues with changing parameters?

 

[Guyb93]

thanks @Guyb93 , I might be looking at moving some cichlids in the next month or so (depending on if this tank I have my eyes on buying works out or not). I was originally thinking one larger sterilite tub, but didn't think about the aggression component so maybe buying some smaller tubs so that each fish can have their own is a better approach. Is the water at the new place similar to the water at your old place? are you running into any issues with changing parameters?

Yeah multiple tubs I think would be better if you can keep multiple tubs oxygenated and warm Which I couldn’t really, I didn’t think about aggression with to be honest because everyone is so peaceful in the tank but they have loads of room to not bother each other but I can imagine them all in the tub trying to claim the space , my fault non are injured badly no frayed fins it’s manly on there faces , the water is the same , I only moved 2 miles away the test I did shows slight difference but for the better I’d say just off looking at the colours my ph is 6.5 down from 7 and Gh is around 120ppm down from 160ppm but this may all change in a few days once the fish have had chance to make a mess in my lovely new water lol it’s made me want to up my water changes I normally do 30% weekly but after doing a refill of the tank I might start aiming for 70-80 % weekly sound bad but fish seem to like clean water ahahahah

 

[Discus_phil]

Glad all went well for you! When I moved the discus I had to move them to a spare tank I had set up, move the big tank to a friends, set it up and then head back to pick the fish up. It was a bit cramped in the spare tank but it seemed the most logical way and it was only a few hours that they spent in there. Lots of driving and stress but they all survived.

 

[kwi]

I might start aiming for 70-80 % weekly

Sounds good, and I know most here would agree.

 

[Guyb93]

[/QUOTE]

Glad all went well for you! When I moved the discus I had to move them to a spare tank I had set up, move the big tank to a friends, set it up and then head back to pick the fish up. It was a bit cramped in the spare tank but it seemed the most logical way and it was only a few hours that they spent in there. Lots of driving and stress but they all survived.

I think if my stock were discus they probably would be dead lol luckily my fish are hardy enough that amateur movers like me get away with it lol

 

[Discus_phil]

I think if my stock were discus they probably would be dead lol luckily my fish are hardy enough that amateur movers like me get away with it lol
[/QUOTE]
Well my discus are still at my friends until my new tank arrives- seemed pointless to keep moving them around when they’re in safe hands , the tanks been on order for a few weeks now since we moved in, I’m worried he’s got attached and won’t want to give them back he’s even got them spawning so said he can keep any fry...

 

[DAnCSF]

Hello MCordia,

So I got my replacement tank, but I knew that the tank would be operational/cycled when I went to pick it up, so I set up buckets of dechlorinated water ready to go when I came home. This was for rinsing the tank and the rocks/sand/plants that came with the tank. Arriving at the house I worked with the owner to empty the tank of all the fish, (3 danios, cory and 2 loaches), Sand, filters and rock. Took an hour and half. Drove home, did a simple rinse of the tank with my buckets of dechlorinated water. Then set the tank back up adding the old sand and rocks and adding the dechlorinated water. Then I spent the next 3 days gravel washing the sand using the buckets of dechlorinated water. I never used water straight from the tap. I always had buckets of dechlorinated water ready to go. Eventually when sand was clean enough, I added 1/2 tank of water, added my rocks, ran the filter and heated the water to 74 the tank os now at 3/4ths. Its pretty much ready to go.

It's all a bit of work, but thats because I wanted to keep the tank bacteria as live as possible. A new tank or a used tank cleaned with just untreated tap water would be faster to set up but then you have to wait for the bacteria to re-establish themselves. Part 2 will be moving a Dempsey and Salvini from their tanks into the 100. Part 3 is landscaping the two now empty tanks and dividing those community fish from a failed 55 into the vacated 40 and 29...jeeze this is like moving house!

 

[Retired Viking]

It is a lot of work moving you tanks, I had the same issues when my old 55 gallon had a leak again and I bought a new 55 replacement not long ago. Pretty much the whole weekend was spent on working that mess out and I had 20 gallons of water spilled in my living room to deal with. This hobby can be a lot of work at times

 

[DAnCSF]

Yup it's a bit of work but worth it in the end...luckily for me I didn't spill any water....at least not yet.

 

[mcordelia]

@DAnCSF Thanks for the details! Out of curiosity, why did you decide to wash the gravel and decorations again? were you concerned about some bugs coming from the previous owner, or was there algae that you wanted to remove?

In my case, I think it might be best to try and find a temporary home for the fish, since it seems like a tall order to be able to take down, move, drive, set up, and rescape a 125 gal tank within the span of a day (the drive is >1h for us too).

Thank goodness for this thread, otherwise I might have just gone for it, which would not have ended up well for me, nor maybe even for the fish....

 

[DAnCSF]

There was quite a bit of algae, but washing is a bit of a misnomer I guess a better term is rinse. The only decorations I got from the previous owner was several large rocks, they were just a simple rinse. After I put the sand back in there was quite a bit of organic mum so but adding water and stirring things up the mum will rise into the water column and eventually settle down on top of the sand. I then would siphon that layer of mum into buckets. Let the bucket water settle out and sip[hon the clean water back into the tank. Basically I did little sections of the tank at a time...Eventually I ended up with reasonably clean sand. If this was going to be a planted tank I wouldn't have gone through all the trouble since the mum would be a good organic source for the plants. Thank will evenually hold a T-Barb, Jack Dempsey, Common Pleco and a Salvioni Cichlid. This was certainly an experience. the take down was 1.5 hours, set up is a 3-4 day project.

 

[JenniferWarms]

There was quite a bit of algae, but washing is a bit of a misnomer I guess a better term is rinse. The only decorations I got from the previous owner was several large rocks, they were just a simple rinse. After I put the sand back in there was quite a bit of organic mum so but adding water and stirring things up the mum will rise into the water column and eventually settle down on top of the sand. I then would siphon that layer of mum into buckets. Let the bucket water settle out and sip[hon the clean water back into the tank. Basically I did little sections of the tank at a time...Eventually I ended up with reasonably clean sand. If this was going to be a planted tank I wouldn't have gone through all the trouble since the mum would be a good organic source for the plants. Thank will evenually hold a T-Barb, Jack Dempsey, Common Pleco and a Salvioni Cichlid. This was certainly an experience. the take down was 1.5 hours, set up is a 3-4 day project.

We are not under the usual time pressure of moving in one day so have a week or two to move a couple of miles down the road. We are going to hire a luton van for a weekend. We currently have 45 medium size boxes and shed loads of bubble wrap. Any tips for the packing or moving process when doing it yourself? Thanks