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Moving House

roughyed

Member
Joined
21 Jan 2009
Messages
31
I'm possibly moving flats in a month or so, which raises questions of how I go about moving tanks and fish. Any tips or advice greatly received!

The good news is that I'm only moving within the same block, top floor to bottom. (bottom floor has concrete floors which opens up new tank ideas!!).
 
Tank is last thing out the house and first thing into the house as this shortens the time it is kept from power.

Save as much water as possible as new house water may be different although it shouldnt be too much of a problem for you.

bag the fish up and do not feed them 24hrs before the move, this means there will be less waste (and therefore ammonia) in the bag.

Keep the lights off for at least 12hours, this also minimises stress.

try to keep some fresh water going into the filter at least every hours (by fresh i mean old tank water which will be oxygenated) for the bacteria too survive.

Overall you shouldnt find too many problems due to it being a short move.

Good luck.
 
The first thing is to at least know where you're going to want your tank.

Since you're only moving a few floors you shouldn't need to worry about transport too much, I just hope you have a lift or you might end up setting up a pulley and weights system ;)

Keep as much of the water as you can since this will help reduce stress on the fish (if you're going up and down by lift then you could use water jerry cans or trug buckets on an old skateboard or sackbarrow).

Transport the fish in a dark container, you needn't bag them up for such a short journey, a bucket with a towel over the top will probably be fine.

If you need to empty the tank completely then try to keep the plants wet, again in a bucket would be ideal.

Essentially:
  • Start as early in the day as possible.
  • Catch fish/shrimp/snails and store in bucket(s) (easier said than done, 2 nets might be of help)
  • Remove filters
  • Drain tank into buckets/containers/what ever you have that's watertight. (catching the fish you missed as you go)
  • Pull out plants and store in bucket(s). (again rescuing any fauna on the way)
  • Remove hardscape (you don't need a bucket for this but it's easier to transport if you put it in something!)
  • Scoop out substrate into another bucket.
  • Move Tank
  • Set filter running on one of the buckets of tank water (I wouldn't advise the one with the fish in as the flow is too much)
  • replace substrate
  • replace hardscape
  • replace plants
  • replace water and top up, get filters up and running.
  • allow to settle
  • Re-introduce fish/shrimp/snails as if they were new.
  • Have a beer it's probably gone midnight by now ;)

Plus I echo everything Aaronnorth says!
 
Moving from Halifax to Cheltenham for me was a right pain. At least your not moving that far. But as Egmel has said, take everything out, I didn't (to save time) and it took me ages to get everything back to normal.

Tbh, next time I move, I'll sell my tank rather than move it as it was such a pain. Plus I'd like to remove my 180ltr tank for a few nano's and 60cms as they're much easier to move.
 
Egmel said:
[*]Catch fish/shrimp/snails and store in bucket(s) (easier said than done, 2 nets might be of help)

Much easier said than done. I am particularly rubbish at catching fish.

One net and an open plastic fish bag often works for me. Use the net to chase this fish into the bag.

Or build a trap. Tupperware box with food in and the lid 3/4 on. When the fish are in slowly put your hand in the tank and slide the lid completely closed.

he he... you could probably start a whole thread on ways to catch fish ;)
 
I had a nightmare the last time I moved! I couldn't catch half of my fish and we started way too late in the evening!

It's one of the things that has made me say that this time I'm not moving until I've actually bought somewhere, I'm not going through that curffuffle again just to move into another rented property which will probably be just as naff as where I am now!
 
Hi,
Personally I wouldn't worry about keeping any old water at all. As long as the water you put back in is clean and is at a decent temperature then it shouldn't matter at all. I do 90%-95% water changes all the time without any ill effect. Keeping old water is completely overrated and is an unnecessary bother which can result in a hernia. You should be able to do exactly the same as when you buy a fish from an LFS whose water is completely different from your own.

Cheers,
 
I never keep my old water. Because my tank is 100gals and it's just too much hassle.

I always set up a holding tank or two at the other end (with the filters from the big tank), a day in advance so it's the right temparature for the fish. Then I move the fish first.

Then once the move has gone ahead, I fill up the big tank first thing, leave it overnight to heat up, and put the fish/plants in the next day.
 
ceg4048 said:
Hi,
Personally I wouldn't worry about keeping any old water at all. As long as the water you put back in is clean and is at a decent temperature then it shouldn't matter at all. I do 90%-95% water changes all the time without any ill effect. Keeping old water is completely overrated and is an unnecessary bother which can result in a hernia. You should be able to do exactly the same as when you buy a fish from an LFS whose water is completely different from your own.

Cheers,

if the hardness is different then it could cause some major problems.

Thanks.
 
Thanks for all the advice all very helpfull.

The water should be the same as I'm staying in the same block.

I currently have 2 tanks and I was looking at moving all the fish into the bigger one anyway.

I am thinking of emptying the small one, set it up downstairs and move the fish into there, then move bigger tank and move them back. I should (hopefully!!) be able to do it over a few days to reduce any stress (for me and fish!).

Unfortunately there is no lift but 2 flights of stairs.
 
I moved my 100gal into a top floor flat (3rd floor with bends), using a rope, myself (small built but strong 5'1 girl), and my partner (thickset 5'10 man). I highly recommend the rope, it was a lifesaver! Doing it over a few days is definately the best way of doing things. You can take your time and hopefully make less mistakes.

Check your thermostats on your heaters when you move. I made this mistake once, and killed a lot of fishes when the temp went soaring into the 30s.
 
aaronnorth said:
ceg4048 said:
Hi,
Personally I wouldn't worry about keeping any old water at all. As long as the water you put back in is clean and is at a decent temperature then it shouldn't matter at all. I do 90%-95% water changes all the time without any ill effect. Keeping old water is completely overrated and is an unnecessary bother which can result in a hernia. You should be able to do exactly the same as when you buy a fish from an LFS whose water is completely different from your own.

Cheers,

if the hardness is different then it could cause some major problems.
GH difference is never really a problem. Carbonate difference can theoretically be problematic, due to salt imbalance, but in practice I've never seen it have an adverse effect. Some shops keep their fish in RO water and I take the fish home, warm them up by floating the bag and release them into high KH/GH water without issues. The real problem is stress due to transportation issues as well as their adjustment to high CO2 water which is much more difficult.

Cheers,
 
ceg4048 said:
aaronnorth said:
ceg4048 said:
Hi,
Personally I wouldn't worry about keeping any old water at all. As long as the water you put back in is clean and is at a decent temperature then it shouldn't matter at all. I do 90%-95% water changes all the time without any ill effect. Keeping old water is completely overrated and is an unnecessary bother which can result in a hernia. You should be able to do exactly the same as when you buy a fish from an LFS whose water is completely different from your own.

Cheers,

if the hardness is different then it could cause some major problems.
GH difference is never really a problem. Carbonate difference can theoretically be problematic, due to salt imbalance, but in practice I've never seen it have an adverse effect. Some shops keep their fish in RO water and I take the fish home, warm them up by floating the bag and release them into high KH/GH water without issues. The real problem is stress due to transportation issues as well as their adjustment to high CO2 water which is much more difficult.

Cheers,
So long as you acclimatise them gently then they should be fine across most changes of habitat. The advantage of taking water with you is that it's quicker and easier to acclimatise them and less stressful after a long journey.

I think it also depends on how sensitive your fish are; some travel and adapt more easily than others.
 
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