Moving a fish tank...?

Question

I'm going to be moving across town in a couple of months, and am not quite sure as to how to go about taking my fish tank with me. What do I do with my fish? Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

If you mean a freshwater tank, I would suggest you use an old cooler to move your fish. Fill it part way with tank water and net your fish over to it. If the move is fairly short, I would leave the gravel and such in the tank and keep the filter media wet by placing it in a bag of tank water. Once there, refill the tank with water of the right temperature, dechlorinate and start the filter. Once the tank has settled a few hours begin scooping water from the tank into the cooler and back again. Take a few hours to slowly mix the water from the tank into the cooler until they are basically the same and then you can net your fish into the tank.

MM

Answer 2

you didn't mention how large your tank is, if you have live plants inside or how many fish you have. if it's not a really big tank reduce the amount of water by 25% and cover the top of tank with plastic wrap to prevent spillage.When you're settle in add in the 25% back into tank. make sure you don't let the water temp go too warm or cloud over. I've lost fish that way years ago when I was moving. Or put them in plastic bags like you do when you get them from the pet store until you get to your new place. Also make sure you don't let the fish stay in the bags too long. Drain the rest of the water from the tank and make sure the tank is the first thing you take care of so the fish don't have to wait too long. Good Luck

Answer 3

Is it salt water? Well the last thing you pack when you leave and the first thing you unpack when you arrive will be the fish. ( unless you move them on a different day) You will have to find a small container for them and meanwhile drain the large tank ( hopefully someone can help you) Do you have hoses? I dont know what size you have but you may need more equipment to siphon the water out . Also try to have the new water at the right temperature when they arrive. I would say if possible do this the day before or after you move. Call a local aquarium store where you purchase supplies and ask some advice.

Answer 4

There's all kinds of good info already posted - I moved across town with brand new buckets with lids for my fish, and emptied the tank, moved it all at once.
The only thing I would like to add is the fish and tank should be the last thing moved, and the first thing set up. Make sure you measure where you put the tank before moving so you have enough room.
Just passing on lessons learned from my own mistakes...

Answer 5

well its a task for sure but you can do it without killing the fish because ive done it a few times already. I'll tell you how i did it and you can decided to do it that way or not.

First i drained most of the water from the tank but nto all, i left all the rockas and plants in there for the time being.

then i got a few clean buckets (you can get them from home depot) 5 gallon buckets work best. get one with a lid!! very important.

i removed all the rocks and put them in one bucket

filled the bucket that had a lid up with aquarium water, its way less of a shock if you can keep them in there own water and you wont need to float them to get them used to the temop because it came straight from the tank. (only go half way so it wont slosh)

i put some of the plants in that bucket ,letting them float around gives the fish a feeling of security rather then dumping them in a bucket with no hiding places.

catch all the fish and put them in there.

remove the rest of the water from the aquarium and get ALL the gravel out , put it in another bucket (dont wash the gravel!! they need the **** thats in it, try to keep it moist too )

this is a good oppourtunity to really wash the glass in the aquarium, normally you cant get in there that well. i would not suggest washing any of the rocks or filter parts ,again they need this slime and bacteria to be healthy and when you set up with all new water it will be very important to have as much **** as possable to speed along the tanks cycling.

you can put all the aquarium parts inside that aquarium to keep it all together and just move everything to the new location.

now just set it all up again and put the fish and the half bucket of water in. add new water as clse to the same temperature as you can, if it is a little warmer that is ok , colder will hurt them! add some dechlorinating drops to the water as well.

it will be rough on them but if you dont keep them in the bucket too long and you keep as much bacteria and slime in the rocks as you can they will pull through just fine.

good luck.

Answer 6

put each fish in separte ziploc bags with some water from the tanks with a little air at the top.....(do the same with crabs and snails and any other animals in the tank) oncethey are all in the bags.... remove any rock...plants other stuff out of the tank... bag the sand with some water to keep it wet (unless you are willin to buy more sand) empty the tank.... and remove all other objects (filters, lights, etc)

when resetting your tank up.....
put the tank with water and blance the water (with salt if its marine) put sand in..then rocks and plants and the filters and other.....put the fish in...
when putting the fish you must be careful... dip the bag in the water while lettin only some water in the bag at a time, do this until the bag is completly full. do this with each fish and other fish....

also a fish should not be in the bag for more than serveal hours

Answer 7

take some of the tank water and put it into buckets and then catch your fish and put them into the buckets then take the rest of the water out and put it into buckets and leave about 2 inches in the bottom of the tank and then move the tank move it last and get some friends to help you carry the buckets

Answer 8

i moved from Indiana to Texas with 2 fish and an African dwarf frog.

i just put the fish in some jars, and put the frog in a little container. (just put some hols on the top of the jars, and containers.

Answer 9

you want to get a cooler first and foremost to keep their temperature as even as possible. dump them individually into zip-lock bags with as much air as possible -- throw em in the cooler and zip across town. depending on the size of your aquarium you will probably have to empty it out to move it because they are heavy! just try to keep the gravel in water so you don't kill off your bacteria colonies.

Answer 10

when i moved i put all my fish in a plastic zip lock bag with water