Moving House

[Rorie]

So currently i have 10 tanks set up in my rented apartment. I am moving to a new house, where i plan to have a fish shed etc. I have moved previously when i only had my 90L. That was fine - take out water, take out fish, carry to the car, 10 mins up the road, and do the reverse...

But now i have 10 tanks and this place is maybe an hour away! My big issue is my 5 foot planted aquarium. No question about it, everything is going to be taken out - all the substrate etc - as the glass alone takes 4 people to lift!! So the time it takes to get all the fish out, the substrate, the plants, dismantle all the equipment, move it all, drive there, then rebuild it all, i am thinking i need to plan to have my fish out of the tank for a couple days! So whats the best way to do this?!

My breeding tanks shouldnt be so hard - there are bare, so can just get as many storage containers for water as i can and empty them all, pack up fish etc, then chuck them back it.

The other day i got 5 new discus. young discus, about 3 inches in size. The move, only 30 mins, killed one discus! Hence i am worried about moving so many....

Thanks.

 

[saz326]

congrats on the moving plans.

We are moving house (get keys on the 29th hopfully!) soon so my fiance has bought me a second tank. We will be setting this new one up in the new housie and then will be moving things over as we do various painting/decorating trips. It gives us a week to be out of our rented place plus allows tanks so settle with a few fish and cycled media before the rest of the troop start to join them.

Sadly the new tank (second hand) is smaller than my other... he wouldnt let me go bigger!

..Before he bought the second tank my plan was to buy some of those big plastic tubs, put some mini filters in them (like those airdriven activated carbon ones) and my spare heaters, and keep the fish temporarilyt housed in them while the move etc was underway. These tubs can then be reused for storing all the household goodies. And as most come with lids there is no rish of fish jumping etc.

Bear in mind that whatever you do, the setup in the new house will take a fair while to get up to temperature.

Good luck

 

[ZoddyZod]

Is there anyway you could move these to a temporary home before you move, then get them later? I would say moving all 10 in one day is going to be incredibly difficult an time consuming!

When I moved recently, I took my tank to my parents 1 week prior to the move so that I avoided the additional stress and hassle on moving day. Sure, I had to move the tank twice, but there was no way I could've sorted that out, and moved all the furniture etc. on the same timeframe.

I know you have 10 tanks and i's a lot to ask, but maybe someone you know has a garage where you could set them up for a week, or even a couple of days? Might make your moving day a lot less stressful.

 

[minnnt]

Are you friendly with your LFS? Ask them to house them for you for 2-3 days whilst you get the tanks back up and running.

 

[Tizer]

I dunno about you but pets have always taken priority in a house move for me, normally the cat would get locked in a bedroom until everything was done.

Personally i would buy a large plastic dustbin or storage container, 90 litre or more, then take it to the new house when you have the keys, fill it with water add a heater or two, then plug in your external filters and set them running. Go back , bag up your fish, empty the tank and bring it to the new house with your fish. Chuck your fish into the dustbin and unload the vans then deal with the fish at the end of the day when you are done, or the morning after.

 

[CezzaXV]

How much time do you have between moving in and having to be out? Would it be at all possible to move one or two tanks a day over several days?

 

[Rorie]

Moving different tanks on different days shouldnt be a big problem - its mainly the 360L. I will need it fishless for a couple days i think, so was just unsure about hte stress i'd be putting the fish under by putting them in containers etc for a couple days while i prep the tank?

My LFS....i'd be lucky if any were alive when i picked them up again! They are really rubbish!

I have a few friends up here who breed. But moving fish from tank to tank surely is not good?