Moving tank around for house refurb

[Wills]

Hi not been around much recently as a bit deflated with my tank at the moment.

The root of this is that I have to move the tank around in about 6 weeks time (possibly a bit sooner) and my high tech set up is failing... I'm not sure how best to manage the movef in a way that is A good for the fish and B good for me. The tank will need to go in a room different to where it is but I'm not 100% where that is yet, it could either go in an awkward space in the next room but it would be on slightly shakey floorboards but it would be over joists (hopefully 2) or it could go in our garage though the room would be unheated and I'd be paying less attention to the tank as it wouldnt be in the house?

In terms of how I do it. I'm going to take the opportunity to move away from the high tech set up I have now and stop injecting Co2 and turn the lights down, doing this during the move I'm thinking set the lights at about 40%? Its a 66 watt LED light so that might still be too high?

I'll move the rocks over but will add a thin layer of sand while the tank is not in its actual place and I'll get a bunch of fake plants to avoid having to deal with that - my puffers need cover otherwise all hell wil break loose.

I think dismantling the tank and catching the fish will be the worst bit, the rasboras and shrimp might not be too bad but the puffers and gobies can burrow... Then removing the rocks and I supose shovelling out the soil? Then probably 2-3 weeks later put it back in place and set it back up in a more long term way?

What do you think? Is my plan ok, would you change anything? Or add anything?

Wills

 

[AbbeysDad]

I think you're on the right track. I'm not a fan of high tech as I'm a fishkeeper and I think high tech pushes plants for growth and is likely not the best for fish. In any case...
I think that since the move is temporary, I might house the fish in a bin and not re-setup the aquarium until it's time. You might setup a bare bottom 18g tote (perhaps one inside another for strength) with heater and filter. Clean the aquarium and set aside until you can set it back up in it's new/old permanent home. Regardless, if it temporarily goes in an unheated space, ensure you have enough heater capacity to maintain proper temperature. I'm not sure how cold it gets there, but it's fall here and going to get pretty cold!
Good luck and keep us posted,

 

[Wills]

I think you're on the right track. I'm not a fan of high tech as I'm a fishkeeper and I think high tech pushes plants for growth and is likely not the best for fish. In any case...
I think that since the move is temporary, I might house the fish in a bin and not re-setup the aquarium until it's time. You might setup a bare bottom 18g tote (perhaps one inside another for strength) with heater and filter. Clean the aquarium and set aside until you can set it back up in it's new/old permanent home. Regardless, if it temporarily goes in an unheated space, ensure you have enough heater capacity to maintain proper temperature. I'm not sure how cold it gets there, but it's fall here and going to get pretty cold!
Good luck and keep us posted,

Thats a good idea on a temporary container - only issue is I have an external filter so bit tough to set up on a temporary tub.

Its a really annoying spot in the house to have to move it from. We are getting the kitchen units sprayed and a new floor put down and the floor stretches through three rooms. It is only 100 litres though so its not the end of the world to move.

I think theres a few sides to the high tech side of things, for me its about a look, quality of equipment and then actual composition of the tank. Eg if you had an optiwhite tank with lilly pipes, external heater and 'designer' style lighting but no Co2 its still what I'd call high tech. I've just found that with a Co2 tank the line between success and failure is so fine if you slip up a bit its not just time and effort lost its so much money... I mean success and failure is just an algae bloom, my fish are all in a great place now but I think I can tick the boxes I want with some different approach.

Wills

 

[Salt]

....and my brother thinks I'm silly for wanting wheels on the stands for my tiny tanks...

I don't envy you having to move everything and I don't have any advice, but I'm really interested in how you're going to go about this and what changes you make

 

[Myraan]

If the tank is drilled and plumbed for the external couldn't you just get hold of some extra hosing and use the filter the same way with the tub as you would with a non drilled tank .and just baffle the flow as best you can if the volume is much smaller. You will want flow going through the filter either way for the health of the beneficial bacteria.