Clairepriest
New Member
I'm moving house over the bank holiday and I could do with some tips for transferring my fish and water?
Moving House
- Thread starter Clairepriest
- Start date
pack all ur fish with several bags from local fish store you can ask them to give u some when u go there buying some fish food they will give it to u. And pack the fish up and leave large amount of space in bags for oxygen and sail it put them in to a plastic bucket during transport. For the tank take out all the water. If ur tank is big then I guess u might how to remove the sand/gravel into several clean bucket alone with every thing inside ur tank to ur new home. And once settle set up everything asap. Remember tho keep some of ur main tank water with u to keep ur filter's bacteria alive by adding some water to ur filter every 20minutes. And once things r set up. Lets it run for awhile and also remember the observe ur fish inside the bag as oxygen might be gone low and add airstone for a while on each bag until u see ur water is fine again. But usually with aged gravel and filter ur tank will establish pretty fast. Good luck 
How long of a move? You may want to take at least half of the tank water with if you are moving to an area with different water parameters, test your current water supply & the water where you are moving to.
Tanks are not designed to be moved with anything in them, remove water, all substrate & decorations. It's easier to catch fish when you remove 3/4 of the water.
There is a tank where I work where they decided it would be easier to move it with the gravel, a couple inches of water, & the fish still in it. It now has a nice crack in the top cross brace. I'm glad it's in the office, as I work in the shop, some day there is going to be 72 gallons of water on the floor.
The best way to move fish is with the bags, 1/3 water, 2/3 air. Packing them in coolers is best for transport, it helps retain the temperature. This is the method I use for fish I sell to shops or at auctions, funny how the cooler never comes back empty from auctions, just different bags. Larger fish do well in just the cooler with tank water, smaller fish do better in the bags because of the softness of the plastic. You could just use a clean bucket, place a towel over the top to prevent the fish from jumping & to keep out light. Fish are calmer in the dark. Do not feed the fish for at least 24 hours before bagging, they produce less waste that way.
Fish can be in bags for longer than you think, I've bought fish that were bagged for at least 12 hours, they did fine. If you are worried about a long trip, take a small piece, around 1/2" cube, of filter media & add it to each bag. The motion of the water while moving will circulate some of the water through the media, helping to prevent ammo from building up.
Putting the substrate, decos, & media in a bucket of tank water will keep the bacteria alive for quite a while. If it's a long move, swish the media every hour or so, once again the motion of the water from moving is usually enough.
Make sure the top of the stand is level when you put it where you want it. Shim the legs to level it. Put the tank on, fill it half way, & check level again, drain & adjust the shims if necessary. Sometimes floors settle with the weight of a tank, especially a larger one. If it is a larger tank, place it on an outside wall, or near a support beam, across the floor joists. If it is on a concrete slab floor, you can just level the stand & fill the tank.
Good luck with the move, get back to us to tell us how it went!
Tolak
Tanks are not designed to be moved with anything in them, remove water, all substrate & decorations. It's easier to catch fish when you remove 3/4 of the water.
There is a tank where I work where they decided it would be easier to move it with the gravel, a couple inches of water, & the fish still in it. It now has a nice crack in the top cross brace. I'm glad it's in the office, as I work in the shop, some day there is going to be 72 gallons of water on the floor.
The best way to move fish is with the bags, 1/3 water, 2/3 air. Packing them in coolers is best for transport, it helps retain the temperature. This is the method I use for fish I sell to shops or at auctions, funny how the cooler never comes back empty from auctions, just different bags. Larger fish do well in just the cooler with tank water, smaller fish do better in the bags because of the softness of the plastic. You could just use a clean bucket, place a towel over the top to prevent the fish from jumping & to keep out light. Fish are calmer in the dark. Do not feed the fish for at least 24 hours before bagging, they produce less waste that way.
Fish can be in bags for longer than you think, I've bought fish that were bagged for at least 12 hours, they did fine. If you are worried about a long trip, take a small piece, around 1/2" cube, of filter media & add it to each bag. The motion of the water while moving will circulate some of the water through the media, helping to prevent ammo from building up.
Putting the substrate, decos, & media in a bucket of tank water will keep the bacteria alive for quite a while. If it's a long move, swish the media every hour or so, once again the motion of the water from moving is usually enough.
Make sure the top of the stand is level when you put it where you want it. Shim the legs to level it. Put the tank on, fill it half way, & check level again, drain & adjust the shims if necessary. Sometimes floors settle with the weight of a tank, especially a larger one. If it is a larger tank, place it on an outside wall, or near a support beam, across the floor joists. If it is on a concrete slab floor, you can just level the stand & fill the tank.
Good luck with the move, get back to us to tell us how it went!
Tolak
fatguppy
Fish Crazy
I recently moved up to a bigger tank and transferred all media from the old one to ensure that the tank was cycled. Even with all this done we still experienced a mini-cycle about a week later so had to do a few water changes to keep parameters right. So just a word of warning - keep checking those parameters even after the fish are re-installed.
I don't envy you the worry of moving with those fish mind - hope it all goes well!
PS I just have this mental picture of all these removal men hurtling round your new house, everyone totally stressed out telling them where to put the new furniture and you playing with the fish tank!!!! You'll be popular!!!!!
I don't envy you the worry of moving with those fish mind - hope it all goes well!
PS I just have this mental picture of all these removal men hurtling round your new house, everyone totally stressed out telling them where to put the new furniture and you playing with the fish tank!!!! You'll be popular!!!!!
Clairepriest
New Member
Well I moved ok. Nearly cracked the tank though. It's so heavy and 'slippery when wet' that when we put it on the back of the truck it slipped off my fingers but it hasn't leaked all week. We took nearly all the water with us plus I had a fresh batch waiting at the new place. All seem ok. Water params are good but I'll keep a look out for spikes. All in all it probably took us 2 hours to empty, move and refill the tank. Took all night for the filter to clear the water though after moving all the gravel. Eurgh!
Thanks for all your help. Great tip about not feeding.
Thanks for all your help. Great tip about not feeding.
Similar threads
Most reactions
-
334 -
259 -
216 -
200 -
177 -
175 -
147 -
145 -
135 -
123 -
112 -
104 -
97 -
81 -
78