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I'm going to be moving in a few weeks to a month and am looking into how to move my fishies and the tank. I think I've got how I'm going to the fish and plants and substrate move down. I saw on another link about the breathable fish bags that I will get for their transport. My question is for my filter. It's a fluval canister filter I think. Will it be fine to move as is or will I need to take the filter media out and put it in water?

Filter material requires a constant water flow to keep it alive. It will survive for an hr plus but not much longer. The same goes for the bacteria in your substrate.

How long do you think the tank will be pulled down until it is up and running again?

To give the tank I good kick start have a look at an Aust product called Aquasonic Bio-Culture. This will get you up and running quicker than most similar products.
It is naturally dearer and not the easiest to locate.
You might have to contact Aquasonic for assistance there.

Keith

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How far are you moving??? If its close by, same city, Just tear down tank last- drive to new place and set up first.

If its an hour away or further, invest in an adapter for the car/ truck... to run a filter off the cig lighter. Put filter in 5 gal bucket of tank water... and media will stay good. You can do the same with an airstone. 5 gal buckets are pretty sturdy well 1/2+ full sitting on the passanger floorboard.

Travled cross country with fish a couple times.

Gravel- unless your really close, rince it all really well, when you tear down.

Live plants- lay them in wet newspaper- roll up paper, and stick in gallon sized zip lock bags.

Fish- I personally dont like breather bags. Some people swear by them. Thats up to you.

For shorter distances- 3-5 gal buckets with their normal water works fine. poke a couple holes in the bucket lid.

for longer distances- I prefer regular poly bags- actually 6 X 20 in 2-3 mil bags. depending on species- 1/3-1/2 water, 2/3-1/2 air. Tied off well,doubled bagged to prevent leaks and corners that fish can get stuck in. laid on side. Put in a styro lined box or cooler to keep temp stable as possible.

I've shipped fish, and had fish shipped to me priority mail all over US,just like above- 2-4 days in transit...
All did fine.

Make sure you fast the fish for 1-2 days before transport so they can clean out well. Give them a good water change during that time. THen use 1/2 tank, 1/2 fresh dechlored water for transport water.

The drive depending on traffic is may 20-30 minutes away, we aren't moving to far away. Should I put an airstone in with the gravel as well so the bacteria don't die?

For a 20-30 min trip,id do the following

1- a couple days before mover- fast fash and do a good water change get CYCLE, or similar product

2- move everything else FIRST, while leaving tanks running

3- go back to get tanks n occupants

4- have 5 gal buckets w/ lids or saran wrap, or rubber made totes w/ lids or saran wrap ready

5- start draining tanks- put tank water in 5 gal buckets 3/4 full- add fish.cover.

6- finish draining tank doing a really thorogh gravel vacc
trash that water

7- keep enough water in tank to cover gravel, and have strong helpers to help you move tanks w/o twisting, dropping , ect... a piece of plywood to slide under tank helps keep it stable/ and keeps pressure off glass. Leave plants in tank- cover tank in saran wrap to keep plants moist .

8- put filter media in small container of water

9- set up at new house- treat with cycle- and you should be fine.

Thats a really short trip, I personally wouldnt bother with the adapters ect on that... its possible to tear down and reset up in less than an hour- with several helping hands.... just keep it all organized- keep everything together- and dont start untill its all in place, including help.

Depending on type of fish ( size)- and if you dont have several 5 gal buckets available- you can pick up cheap 3 gal styro coolers at the doller type stores to use for transport.

I've moved my fish and etc a few times all with out problems to bacteria and fish/inverts. Here is what you do:
give your tank a good gravel vac. Drain about 3-4 gallons into a bucket. Net fish into bucket and then place plants and/or soft filter material into the bucket with the fish (be careful not to overcrowd the bucket). You may need multiple buckets depending on fish size and/or amount of fish/media. Then scoop and gently rinse gravel and pack it into tupperware containers or another bucket. Do the same with rocks, wood, and decorations being careful of fragile pieces. Cover the materials with enough water to keep them moist and COVER. Get someone to help move the tank. Pack everything in the car and get going. This is how I moved my 29g tank about 3.5 hours away earlier this year and it made it totally fine.

IF your tank is highly stocked then I suggest (1) possibly not rinsing the gravel and (2) buying a bacteria supplement to help make sure you didn't upset the mini ecosystem you are running.

Best of Luck!
Ps Make sure you monitor your water well for a week or two after the move, you don't want anything to go awry when you think its A-OK.

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Ok I think I may have another problem arising. I think one of my Odessa Barbs is filling up with eggs. I am moving on Saturday. If she hasn't deposited her eggs by then is there any special thing I need to do to transport her so she don't get hurt or eggs break inside of her?

Egg-laden fish are not anymore fragile than normal fish. This is a sign of good health and is nothing to worry about.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Although we've never actually used them for our moves (4 in the past 4 years) I just thought I'd mention that you can get portable airstones from walmart. I had one just in case of power outages, they run on standard batteries and are sold in the fishing section. The fish will be fine in the breathable fish bags (they're soooo cooool) I'd worry more about the substrate.

For a half hour trip you should be good, lots of good ideas and pointers in the thread already.


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Moving the fish tank didn't go according to plan I thought the tank ended up with a leak and didn't have room for it. So what ended up happening is I got all the fish and plants in the 1 18 gallon bucket had it set up in the garage and put the filter on it. It was like that since Saturday. I'm hoping the other water that didn't have water flow is ok cause I put it in the tank along with the water the fish were in.

I haven't tested the water levels yet or anything and I'm not going to do a water change till maybe Monday to give the bacteria a chance to reestablish. So far it seems the fish are doing good they all have their color back.

Is there anything I need to keep an eye out for?

Sorry things didn't go to plan .

Expect a mini cycle to happen, try and supplement bacteria if you can. Do daily water tests for a week just to make sure you're aware of your numbers. I'd increase surface agitation if you can and cut back on how much you feed.

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Thanks Babel I still need to find my tests lol. I did add some type of bacteria to the water when I put the tank back together. All the fish seem to be doing great. Their colors are brighter than ever. I also didn't fill the tank up all the way cause I knew over half the water needed agitated from lack of oxygen so lots of water splashing all over right now lol.

The only problem I do have now is my kuli loaches went missing. I don't think they ended up in my filter and I never saw any pieces of them and I know they weren't in the gravel.

Well I just found my test kit and my readings are weird.

Nitrates- 0
Nitrites- 10
Ammonia- 0
PH- 6

Now I had the water in buckets most of the water didn't have any water movement for a week. The only bucket that I had my filter set up on was the bucket with my fish. I didn't do the weekly water change before the move. The fish and water were in the buckets for a week after the move.

How is it there is no ammonia? And the weird part how does my PH go from 7.4 down to 6? I still have not yet done a water change I am going to test my new water before I change any water.

sorry about the loaches, they might just be hiding real well.

It's possible that you missed the ammonia spike.

Drop in ph is a tank 'crash' right? Could be a result of the minicycle, that or the test reading is just off. If I come up with an unexpected result I'll usually redo the test.

If the new water is significantly different from your old water (ph wise mainly), do smaller water changes more frequently. Ie instead of doing a 2 gallon water change, to 4 half gallon water changes over two days time morning and night. Fish can adjust to changes within their range, the key is to do it slowly.


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Oh dear!! Mini cycle I did retest multiple times. Fingers crossed I don't screw things up trying to get it right.

Since you did add some bacteria and you've got the surface agitating as much as you can the fish may pull through.

Keep the feeding down to a minimum. And keep testing and watching the fish closely. If the numbers get too high or the fish are really gasping at the surface, do a small water change. You'll want to do as few water changes as possible till the minicycle cycles itself out. If you've got access to floating plants that you trust (duckweed, hornwort) they can help suck up the ammonia making a cycle less stressful on the fish.


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