# Moving Tanks



## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

So I'm moving in a a little over a week and although my tanks aren't large, I have fish that can't be housed together, like the shrimps, betta and frogs. 

So since i'm still fairly new to the hobby and never had to move fish before, I thought I'd run my plan by you guys and get your input. 

For the 33 g I am putting all the fish into a 4 gal bucket with a spnge filter, they wont be in there for more then a couple hrs. I have 3 adult mollies, 3 juvi's, 3 bn plecos, 4 khulies, and about 20 various guppies, but almost all fry right now except for 3 adults.

I was hoping that the shrimp, crays, betta and frogs could go into indiviual ice cream buckets without and filtration until the tanks could be set back up.


I am hoping to actually upgrade my tanks when I move, but not sure if that is feasible right now with the costs involved in the move. We are hoping to get the crays into the 33 and get a bigger community tank like a 50ish, guppies are going to be going to a new home and hopefully a couple rams will be moving in.

So does that sound ok? The move isn't very far, it's just that my hubby and I are physically healthy right now and with everything else going on, not sure how fast we can get things set up for them, so it could be up to 3 hrs (max) for them to be in the buckets.

Thanks for your time and input.


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## Flygirl (Jul 23, 2011)

Sounds pretty good so far, and three hours isn't that long. I've done a number of much longer moves, and had very good results. 

I would also wrap the buckets with some towels/blankets to help insulate them and slow down the temp cooling. Keep the buckets in a warm place, away from cold drafts etc. Keeping the filter going will help insure you retain your biological load for the new place. I also used to pack 2-4 five gallon jugs with water from the old aquarium to dump into tank once it was in place. Never had any issues with cycling. Make sure the fish have a chance to equalize to the water temp in the tank before you put them in. 

Good luck with the move.


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## bettagirl (Apr 21, 2010)

Tazzy_toon said:


> So I'm moving in a a little over a week and although my tanks aren't large, I have fish that can't be housed together, like the shrimps, betta and frogs.
> 
> So since i'm still fairly new to the hobby and never had to move fish before, I thought I'd run my plan by you guys and get your input.
> 
> ...


I would be careful about the shrimp I lost a whole colony of them because they were left without filtration for 2 hours. How many do you have? Worse comes to worse you can put an airstone in the bucket with them.


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## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

That's what i'm worried about, I had a crash or something a while ago, don't know what happened but I lost a few so I've only got 7 and a few babies out of 12 adults. I was going to put them in a smaller container with a bunch of java moss. I may just integrate them right into the 33 planted when i move because i never have any trouble with the bigger tank.


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## neoh (Apr 22, 2010)

make sure you keep a lid on them! Fish who are frightened tend to jump. My last move i opened the lid of the cooler that housed my fish to add a filter in and left the room for no more than 15 minutes to move other things and when i came back their were 4 fish dried and stuck to the ground :|


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## Fishman21 (Apr 26, 2010)

watch for temperature drop at this time of the year. small volumes of water drop quickly. try and source a styro cooler box from somewhere.


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## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

Hmmm, good advice. thanks.

I was going to put lids on for the drive, but was going to take them off for air flow when i got to my destination. I will try to keep them out of a drafty area Maybe the kitchen with towels around them. I don't have any other way to heat them (especially in ice cream buckets)


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## Jasonator (Jul 12, 2011)

All sounds good. Only thing I would add is - Move them: Last out, first in.

Lemme know if you need a hand. (depending on when you move)


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

I've got a few styro fish coolers that you can have if you need them. PM me if you're interested. The other thing I would recommend is using the battery powered air pumps that King Ed's has. I use them all the time for transporting fish - just stick them in the bucket. They're about $12 each and worth every penny. You can use them in emergencies for your tanks as well.


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## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

Thanks for the offer, it's reallly appreciated, but it's a little far to go. Same with the King eds. I don't ever go out that way.



Elle said:


> I've got a few styro fish coolers that you can have if you need them. PM me if you're interested. The other thing I would recommend is using the battery powered air pumps that King Ed's has. I use them all the time for transporting fish - just stick them in the bucket. They're about $12 each and worth every penny. You can use them in emergencies for your tanks as well.


Thanks Jasonator for the offer of help. That's really kind of you. We should be ok though, we're hoping to have a bunch of young men from our church come to help, I'll make sure to have the more responsible of the group move the fish tanks. lol

What about the plants and decor, will it be safe to leave them in the tanks?


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

No worries, let me know if you change your mind. I wouldn't leave anything in the tanks. Too much chance of stuff sliding around and possibly cracking the tank while it's being moved. Look at it as a chance to give the tanks a really good clean before the fish go back in!


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## AndrewL (Aug 15, 2011)

You may find this practical fish keeping article useful - What should I do if I move house?

What should I do if I move house? | Features | Practical Fishkeeping

Cheers.


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## clairel (Apr 22, 2010)

ask your local fish store for a couple of 'shipping boxes'. Offer to return them after use. You can use plastic pop bottles filled with 'hot' water to help maintain temperature. Refill with 'hot' water as necessary. FYI, I found I only lost a degree or two per hour with the boxes open and a bottle floating. You would use less heat with the box lid on I am sure.


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## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

Thanks Andrew for the link, it was very helpful and Claire for the tip about the fish.

I was wondering if I could just use my cooler with a few towels inside to absorb the shock? I like the idea of a pop bottle with hot water for extra heat. I'm only moving a couple blocks away, but it's just figuring out where the tanks will go and getting them set up that will take time.


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## Jonney_boy (Apr 28, 2010)

Get the planning done ahead of time so you minimize the amount of time the fish have to spend in the buckets. Also keeping the filters running to ensure you don't end up with a cycle after the move is a good idea too.

In your case I would suggest 5 gal buckets. They are easy to carry, have a lid you can cover when they are in your car and are "big" enough to hold a reasonable amount of water. They also give you enough room to setup your filters temp as you get your stands and tanks in place.


What I would suggest is to pack the decorations, plants, co2 setup, lights etc first. Then the filters, then the fish. Keep the fish in the house and off the floor to help hold temp. Keep the buckets 80% full. The splashing around when you have them in your car will help aerate the water.

If you have extra heaters on hand, drop them in the bucket to keep the fish warm. pack tank and stand.... load everything into the car and move to the new location.

At the new place, if setup i going to take more than say 30-40 mins, grab your filters and temp setup them up on your buckets. This will keep the media alive (media is good for about 3-4 hours before it starts dying).. plug in your heaters.. now you have time to move your tanks and stand.

Again, planning is the key. As long as everything is well planned.. the move is not that bad.


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## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

well, all my planning went for naught. We choose to move them the next day, but time was limited, so they went into a few smallish buckets, then into a rubbermaid with the existing water so that the temp wouldn't change too drastically. They where in the bucket about an hr before I got the tanks set up and back into the tank. No real losses except that the hob filter button fell off and a couple fish got sucked up 

The seem to be settling in well and don't seem to be showing any signs of stress. Sad that I couldn't get my scape to be the same as it was before, but hopefully when the plants take root again it will look a bit better. 

Thanks for all the feedback, i did use a bit of everyones suggestions, but couldn't be as careful as I would have liked.


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## AnikaJay (Jan 28, 2012)

I know this is a little late but for future reference, in my experience working at a LFS you can use temporary hand heating packs. Tape them to the side of a bucket they last a good hour or so. Our fish stock came with tons during the winter.


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