Moving a tank

[sdivell]

Hey guys,

So it looks like I might be moving at the end of september from my itty bitty 1bdrm apartment to a 3 bdrm house in the east end.

Now heres my question.  how do I move my tank without killing all my fish?

do i put the fish in a bucket with some tank water for the move?  my tank will probably need to be empty to be able to move it easily.

I'd like to take the opportunity of it being empty to paint the back of the tank black. Will I have enough time?

Thanks

[BigDaddy]

Platies, tetras and corys will all do just fine in a dark bucket for several days.  Use their tank water and put them aside somewhere while you drain the tank and move it.

Once it is set back up again, reintroduce the fish like you would any new fish you would bring home.

I emptied a 75 gallon for some re-aquascaping and my discus, rams, apistos, pencilfish and tetras all spent an entire weekend in buckets with no issues.

[sdivell]

a white bucket in the dark....does that count as a dark bucket?

[charlie]

I would, acquire a big rubbermaid container,  strap the filter ( tie wrap by punching 2 sml holes in the container above the waterline) inside the rubbermaid container also the heater, move fish & plants in buckets to new place & use the rubbermaid as a temp tank, this way you are preserving the bio filter that you just established in your new set up also keep your substrate wet in the tank. This worked for me a few yrs. ago.
Regards

[Crumpet]

When I made the big move here, I put my guys in a couple of rubbermaids with their tank water, cut a hole in the lids to accomodate battery-operated bubblers. I also stopped feeding them a few days in advance to lessen waste production. When I arrived, because the water was different from where we came from, I made small water changes over a few hours with new water to try to acclimate them slowly.  I kept everything from the tank wet with the original water-- filter sponges, gravel, ornaments -- inside a series of ziplocks, but the tank was totally emptied so as not to create stress on it.  Everybody made it, and were very happy to be in their tank when it was set up again. 

To do it again, I like Charlie's idea of strapping the filter inside the rubbermaid.  If it was only a matter of driving across town, I'd also get the tank all set up ahead of time to lessen the time fish would have to spend in buckets/rubbermaids/styrofoam coolers, because when moving house, so much happens that it's hard to get to the fish right away sometimes.

Good luck with the move and congratulations on your new home!

[sas]

I would, acquire a big rubbermaid container,  strap the filter ( tie wrap by punching 2 sml holes in the container above the waterline) inside the rubbermaid container also the heater, move fish & plants in buckets to new place & use the rubbermaid as a temp tank, this way you are preserving the bio filter that you just established in your new set up also keep your substrate wet in the tank. This worked for me a few yrs. ago.
Regards

We used this method also when upgrading....... just watch the size of the rubbermaid container. A large one filled with water starts to bow(sp) out on the sides. Nothing a few pieces of wood and clamps won't fix though.HTH

[Crumpet]

           We used this method also when upgrading....... just watch the size of the rubbermaid container. A large one filled with water starts to bow(sp) out on the sides. Nothing a few pieces of wood and clamps won't fix though.HTH

Good point, Sue!  When I used a rubbermaid as a temporary tank, I used bungee cords to prevent the bowing.  Wood would probably have been better, though

[sdivell]

I think i'll just use a bucket as the fish should only be out of the tank for a day.. I could empty it, move it, paint it and get it back and running again in 1 day.  I have a week to move my apartment as I get the house a week before my lease runs out.

[BigDaddy]

My rubbermaids held a little over 20 gallons of water.  They bowed a fair bit, but I didn't bother re-inforcing and all was fine.  Mind you.. they never moved from the floor so that has to be taken into consideration.

[hamstercaster]

Rubbermaid buckets work well... depending on how many fish you have and what type of fish you have.  I recently had to relocate my fishies for a weekend, the time I bought a new tank as my 55 started leaking and I did have two casualties directly related to the rubbermaid adventure.  They had way less room to go about and practically nowhere to hide and they got their aggression out way more than in the 55 and I lost a female lithobate and BN pleco with this whole event.  So if you do have many fish, may I suggest you use 2 or more rubbermaid bins in order for them to have a bit more room to move about.  This should also cause a bit less stress to the fish IMO.  But I'm only speaking of one personal experience, others seem to have lived through it without any casualties it seems