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Hey guys,
I need to relocate my tank in a few months temporarily, what is this best way to do this? any hints, tips or suggestion would be great!!
SAM

how big is the tank? there are special considerations for different-sized tanks, especially large ones. Also what size are the fish?

Last edited by superlion at 05-Feb-2005 14:22

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Its a 20 long, with corys (schwartzi and trillineatus) 1 dwarf gourami, and some tetras! need any other info
?
Sam

How far are you moving the tank?


If it were me and I wasn't moving it very far (say a short drive across town). I would just remove all the ornament/plants, take the filter and hood off, lower the water level to about 4 inches deep, seal the top with a trash bag and a large rubber band or tape, insulate it with a blanket to prevent temperature change and move it on over to its new location. Atleast that's how I moved my hospital tank to the office to keep an eye on the sick ones while at work.

Last edited by militarysnake at 05-Feb-2005 16:49

Snake has the right idea. However, the tank is small enough to stabilize the seams by placing it on a board. Carefully shift the tank, if possible, to a single board that will support the entire base of the aquarium. The danger of moving a tank with water, gravel and hardscape in the tank is that you will torque the seams.

In any cased, the tank is small enough to break down completely with gravel in one or two 5 gallon buckets. In any case, be sure to place the fish into one or two separate containers. The 5 gallon pails from the big box hardware stores will be fine.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

My husband and I just moved across the country and we took each of the fish and put them in their own container. We got some containers at Wal-Mart. We put only their water in the container to start with and then did a &#188; water change every night with bottled water (adding Clour Out) and made sure they stayed warm the whole time. It was difficult because we moved from Phx, AZ to Rock Rapids, Iowa (little bitty town in northwestern Iowa) so the temperature changed a lot. It was a lot of work but they all survived and are doing great!

Ok here is my two cents:

Ok moved my tanks too often and have had really good luck each time.

Go to your local donut shop (we have tons around here), first thing in the morning, and ask them for their empty buckets, with lids are better!!! Scoop out gravel into one or more as needed, and add some of the fishy water into the buckets (2 might be easiest to lift and haul).
You will want to keep as much of your current tank water as possible try for 50%.

Depending on the length of the trip to move the fish, go to the dollar store or such and get a couple of big rubbermade or such buckets with good lids, drain more water into these and put fish into them. You will want ones that are dark, less stress on the fish this way. (be sure to clean all of these buckets really well before using them) Doing it this way you won't need the lfs to care for them, you can take them with you, easier in my opinion, and less stressful it would seem on the fish

Run to Wal-Mart and go into the sports department, and in the fishing goods area (fishing as in poles and such) they will have what they call bubble boxes. The cheaper ones are the ones I own ($5.95, i beleive). Get some D batteries, it requires 2 D batteries for each box, and I usually get about 2.5 days out of each set of batteries. (I've used one for just my 29 gallon, and 1 on my 55 gallon when we loose electricity, and haven't lost anyone yet)

Then pack them up and go...don't feed them the day of the trip, and skip your weekly water changes that week, and the next as you will have to add some of the new local water i'm sure to the tank.

Best of luck, Heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle