Hi everyone,

Does anyone here have any experience in moving aquariums between homes? My wife and I are planning to move in the not too distant future and I was wanting to know what is the best way to move the aquarium with the least possible stress to the fish and with minimal time getting the tank set up at the new location again. Obviously it would be near impossible to move the tank with all the water in because it will be so heavy so can you save some of the water and use that? You would obviously want to avoid cycling the tank again because where do the fish stay while this is happening?

I want to set a new tank up as well but if it's gonna be a major hassle to move then I would rather wait.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks

__________________
45g pentagonal
4 Swordtails, 2 dwarf Gouramis, 5 Mollies, 1 Rainbow Shark, 6 Molly fry 6 zebra danios

88 gal Malawi tank
4 Yellow labs, 1 Baenshi, 2 Borleyis, 3 Trewavas, 2 Livingstonis, 1 Venustus, 2 Green Terrors

How far is the move? What size tank/s?

I think the move would be 20km (12 Mi) if we move to the area that we're thinking of. My two current tanks are 45gal pentagonal and 8 gal rectangular. The tank I want to get is probably about 70 gal. We will probably only move in about a year's time...

__________________
45g pentagonal
4 Swordtails, 2 dwarf Gouramis, 5 Mollies, 1 Rainbow Shark, 6 Molly fry 6 zebra danios

88 gal Malawi tank
4 Yellow labs, 1 Baenshi, 2 Borleyis, 3 Trewavas, 2 Livingstonis, 1 Venustus, 2 Green Terrors

I have moved several 10g over 1000 miles in winter.

What I recommend is you get storage bins (may have to brace the tops so they don't buckle). And drain the tanks into those bins with fish and plants. leave wet substrate and plants in tanks if you can carry them, otherwise put the plants and substrates in containers as well.

then move the tanks and stands and container to the new location and reverse the process.

immediately after setup get light on the tank and start any circulation. Both to help oxygenate the water. But don't add food for the first few days, as the fish adjust.

Should go rather smoothly as long as you know where you want the final location.


my .02

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

When I movede 1200 miles I bagged all my fish up.Fasted them for two days before.They were all bettas so the tanks were easy to move.I placed the substrate from the large tank in a bucket with a lid to keep it moist.

__________________
http://bountifulbettas.blogspot.com/

"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

For a short move like that, it's possible to just lower the water level in the tank as much as you need to in order for two people to be able to carry it, and leave everything in the tank (assuming there's enough water). I've done this a couple times with a 20 gallon, and a few times with a 10 gallon.

Once you take out however much water you're going to, if you can get a really sturdy (slightly wider and longer than the tank) board under the tank, that makes it much easier to carry (my tank just stays on its board permanently). And have two very strong, very careful people.

Not sure about the 45-gal (might still be too heavy), but this should definitely work for the 8-gal.

That's a great idea. I moved my 29 gallon by just draining most of the water out and carrying it and it was such a pain and still very heavy. The tub idea sounds like it would work alot better.

__________________

29g Tall FW: Many Swordtails: 1 lemon, 6-8 neon/pineapple, 1 Gold Tuxedo, ? fry; 1 Clown Pleco; 3 Otocinclus Cats, and MTS.
Planted: Amazon Swords.

The only place where success comes before work
is in the dictionary.