FishProfiles.com Message Forums

well one fish tank, and stand 25 g about two foot long i think.

I want to move it from one end of the room to the other - new furniture have been planning for weeks how EVERY thing will fit in. it has to move unfortunately.

what is the best way to move the tank? I don't want to weaken the seals or damage it. and I am moving it by myself. (small weak pathethic female type)

Also I think I might have trouble making it level? before I have always put card and paper under the stand, is there a better way?


And what should I do with the Fish? buckets? bags in my thirty five?

i think because at the same time I will be changing the backing and redoing the plants(this could all go horribly wrong)they maybe out for at least a couple of hours?(they are mostly mollies)

thanks

GFG





_______________________________________
Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
Harvey S. Firestone

Hi,
First, you will want to drain the tank down to the gravel.
That will minimize the weight. You can keep the water in
clean buckets and pour it back in when the tank is
relocated and leveled. To properly level the tank you
would want to use shim stock from a hardware store. Shim
stock is a bunch of wedge shaped pieces of wood that you
tap between the bottom of the stand and the floor and then
snap off what sticks out.

For the plants, you have two choices, stick 'em in one of
the buckets of old water, or put a stopper in the sink
and float them in some water.

For the fish, you could bag them and set them off to one
side, perhaps in the sink with the plants, or put them in
the buckets of water with an airstone. It all depends upon
how long it will take to drain the tank, move and level the
tank, and then readd the water. They would be fine in
bags from the pet store a couple in a bag for a an hour or
two.

That tank will be near 50 pounds or slightly more, even
with the water drained down to the surface of the gravel.
When I'm moving a tank I scrape a pit in the gravel down to
the bottom glass and drain the water right down to the
bottom glass.

Get a neighbor or two (guys) brother, dad, etc, and have
them move the tank off the stand and onto a counter, then
move the stand and level it and then move the tank from
the counter back onto the stand. Bribe the guys with
some soda and a couple of pizzas. You'd be surprised what
guys will do for food! If you are a good cook, perhaps
a dinner might be in order. Just don't try to do it
yourself. Tanks weigh over 10 pounds/gallon by the time
you add water and gravel. 20-30 pounds of gravel, and then
a gallon or two of water (the gravel is wet) could give you
like 46 pounds, drained.

Lastly, a warning.
Mollies are a brackish water fish. You should not keep
them with other freshwater fish. You should keep them
only with other brackish or saltwater fish. To have the
water salty enough to keep the mollies happy, you could
easily kill freshwater fish.

Hope this helps...
Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Wow thanks Frank, you always write such good replies.

Except for the guys(really there isn't anyone). I may be able to persuade a mate to come help, maybe I should just take out the sand? I shall follow your instructions, it won't happen for a few weeks yet furniture has yet to be delivered.....

(I have some salt in my tank about 1 teaspoon per gallon, the other fish in there are a false flying fox, two silver tip tetras and one danio(i know they should both be in groups of six - tank left overs from a mate) and three baby platies. I wonder if they could cope with more salt?)

Also what is the best way to attach backing? so there are no wrinkles or bumpy bits? some one used olive oil? does that work?

and in the lid of my tank the lights have white plastic behind them. Would I reflect more light if I put tin foil(shiny side no wrinkles) on it?

Thanks

GFG



Last edited by goldfishgeek at 13-Sep-2005 17:53

_______________________________________
Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
Harvey S. Firestone

goldfishgeek

If it not too late go a buy two good sized plastic rubbish bins. I have kept one large one ready for the unexpected,
and several large buckets.
Drain as Frank stated add plants and with the second bin add the gravel with a little water.

This requires two heaters and two air stones and if possible keep the filter going other wise you could end up with a mini cycle at completion.

Also add some stress coat to the bins and certainly when returning the fish. You also should add a Bio Booster to ensure the good bacteria is restablished this migh have to be done every day for at least one week.

Dont feed on the day of shifting or the day after and certainly turn the light off this will help in reducing the stress.

I think you can see us old blokes have done this before correct Frank?

Keith

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/profile.asp?userid=6741" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link] for my tank info

[link=My Betta desk top tank]http://photobucket.com/albums/b209/keithgh/" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]

[link=Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.]http://www.fishprofiles.com" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]




Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Just remember to remove all the water, so that it will be much more easy to move &amp; you don't have water swinging from one end to another.


http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/s8xi5heh/my_photos
http://www.geocities.com/s8xi5heh/classic_blue.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buzaqq/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

I usually go with plastic storage containers. You can scoop out part of the gravel and set it in the bottom. I got four 22g plastic storage containers that were around 1' tall. Drained pretty much all my 90g and set the filters on the sides of the containers. I put my 2 heaters each in a different container and added the fish to those 2 containers along with the filters. The fish were like that for over 12hrs without any problems and I didn't have to start over cycling the tank.