Moving aquarium

[mlee0332]

I am rearranging the room and need to know the best way to do it. I will have to throw out all of the water drained out as I have no way to salavage it. I could save up to 20gs, out of 29 so it wont be too dramatic. The rest is waste.

How would you suggest?

 

[Sky042]

Go to wal-mart buy a 144qt rubbermaid/sterilite storage bucket. Siphon the tank water into the bucket(if you have large rocks put them in as well as they hole the temperature) Net the fish when you get down to maybe 1/4 of the tank. put them in the storage container drain the rest of the water in till you're left with just substrate.

Move your tank. Slide or carry the container to the new location and pump the water back in. (I used a small rio sump pump) if you don't have a pump just use gallon kitchen pitcher.

 

[Angry_Platy]

I put my fish into my 10gal quar/tank, drained all the water (threw it all out), kept filter media wet and moved the tank. That was my 30gal.

For my 75gal (which I had to move 2 meters), I took all the rocks out, drained 90% of the water and moved the tank using furniture sliders. I didn't want to take those fish out since they are large african cichlids and loaches.

 

[Hels]

i guess it depends on how far you have to move it and what fish you have...

if its just a little move then i'd be temped to leave the fish in and drain as much as i could.... if its not such a little move then its prob best to take the fish out (bags/bucket) then empty the full tank...

it depends on how much help you've got to move it too!!!

 

[yvez9]

It depends on the size of the tank

my 5 gallon tanks i just had a betta in it, so i bagged it and emptied the tank

my 10 galon fry tank, i just emptied out the water save 2 or 3 gallons and left the fry in there. they all survived the 10 minute trip when i moved out last month!

 

[mlee0332]

It won't be a long move and I have only 3 white clouds, a guppy fry, and 3 afrocan dwarfs in a 29 gallon aquarium. I'd say only 25' at the most, and I plan to have 2 other people assist me.

 

[rdd1952]

This is a problem that I will be facing soon and I have been trying to figure out the best way to do it. I to someone at the LFS about draining all the water and just leave the substrate and plants in it. This is a 75 gallon tank and they said to be very careful that there wasn't even the slightest bump in sitting it down or the weight of the substrate could break the bottom glass on the tank. Definitely worth considering.

Here is what I have about decided on:

Purchase a length of steel pipe at Lowes.
Cut to lengths so that I have 4 or 5 pieces.
Drain as much water as necessary to make it light enough to lift.
If water is too low for angels, will use 16 gallon tub as temp for them.
Lift an end to get a piece of pipe under it.
Push and roll tank and stand together and add another piece of pipe.

I don't think I can use the furniture slide things because I will have to go from a tile floor to a carpeted floor (over the 1/2" rise where divider strip is located). Basically (if it works as planned), I would only have to lift it about 1" to 2" to get started and then roll it. I only need to move it about 10' and then will have to move it back later(putting new flooring down in that room where it is currently located).

 

[Ami]

I've moved several times since we had the fish - all several hours drive further south since the last time!

We have a special plastic billy can thingie (not so special - you get them from almost any camping store) that holds several gallons of water from the tank, plus the fish. I move them into that as last thing before we move, keeping the heater with thermostat and air pump in there with them until we actually leave.

The filter media goes in a sealed plastic tupperware box, with some tank water and the plants.

The tank then gets drained and fully emptied of substrate, which I usually tie up in several large industrial strength bin liners!

Once I get to the other end, the first thing I do is get the air and thermometer back in with the fish, set up the tank and move them back.

It's a pain in the backside I must admit though, especially trying to get the fish back in the tank!

 

[mlee0332]

Okay so I'll have to be REALLY careful... Right now it is on a coffee table and it is only about 1.5' off of the floor. I want to get a stand, and get rid of the table. I want to put the stand in the opening of my room, out of the way of everything to give myself more room b/c right now he room is really broken up and it seems smaller...

And the table makes cracking noises everytime a put a little weight on it and I just can picture it now... The leges snap and the tank roliing into the floor and the water rushing down the stairs and into the laundry room . I have a vivid imagination, and it will prolly happen to me I have bad luck!

Thanks for the advice, and keep it coming!

 

[LoachLover]

I'd bag the fish and drain the tank all the way.

 

[mlee0332]

I think that's what I'll do maybe... I dunno...

Keep 'em comin'!


Edit: How long can african dwarf frogs stay out of water? They are so hard to catch, I may drain it out completely and just bag fish, and leave them in there. What do you think?