Moving rack of two 55 gallon tanks across town

All,

Im moving in the coming weeks within downtown DC and need to get my rack housing 2 55 gallon tanks (one with pair of JDs, one with Mbuna) over safely. I've read some blog posts, but was wondering if anyone has some good tips. How much water do I actually need to save and transport over. I know that getting all water out prior to move is important, but do I need to scoop out all of my PFS as well? Any and all tips are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

David

Hey David,

I've actually gotten quite good at moving my tanks over the past two years. I attend college up in New York so I move my tanks every 5 months or so (and will actually be moving again on Sunday).

My method is to individually bag each fish and place them in an insulated cooler. You can try asking your LFS, Petco, or Petsmart for a box. They usually have a couple in the storage room they can give you from when they receive shipments. You can also ask for some fish bags too.

Then just drain the tanks and load them up. When you get to your new place set it up as usual (don't forget dechlor ). Then just acclimate them and you're good to go. It's just like doing a major waterchange.

A method I experimented with on my last trip with my mbuna tank is I didn't bag everyone. I just put them all in my cooler and I had two battery operated airstones helping with surface adgitation. This worked (no casualties) but I need to get a more waterproof container. I had the cooler only filled up to about halfway but any bump still got me soaked (I was soaked 10 seconds into my trip after pulling out of the driveway at my house in New York).

I would keep the Jack D's separate from the mbunas though. If you want to do the second method then I suggest bagging the Jack D's and just letting them float.
I have a 55 gallon mbuna tank and a 10 gallon betta community. I let the mbuna free roam and bagged the neons together and another bag for the betta. It kept the fish safe from temperature fluctuations and allowed me to easily monitor their health.

Let me know if you have any more questions.


I did a video on my youtube channel of transporting fish but it's very outdated. I guess that means I should do another one with this move to really show what I've learned over the past two years.

Pretty good advice above. With a move across town, you could put the fish in a bucket assuming that you are going to set up the tank as soon as you get to the new house.

Also, don't feed for a few days prior to the move to reduce waste during the move.


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Fantastic advice, thanks guys. Not travelling very far at all. More specifically, How much water should I try to save for transport? Should I be filling several 5g buckets for each tank to transport? Also, in physically moving the tank, do I need to scoop out all of the pool filter sand before moving? Thanks again.

David

No reason to transport water in my opinion. Keep your filter media wet and you should be good to go. I've set up new tanks with an existing filter and never had a problem with the fish. The beneficial bacteria is in your filters and on the surfaces of the aquarium, not in the water column.

I try not to move tanks with water in them to prevent leaks/uneven forces on the seals. Leave just enough water to keep the sand wet as long as you can pick up the tank and you should be fine.

No need to save water. I would scoop out the sand and put it in a plastic bag (which will keep it moist as well). Wet sand can actually be pretty heavy.

I would probably bag all the fish as I would worry about water sloshing around in buckets driving them around. I would probably bag all my filter media as well (probably with a little bit of tank water) keep all that moist as well. The rest of the decorations I probably wouldn't worry about, too hard to keep rocks, wood, etc wet.

All good advice from previous posts. I use 5gal buckets with lids that I got from a large home improvement store. I got two tops that came with airstones to keep bait alive from a sporting goods store. The tops have a lid and holes that the airstone hose will go through into the water. I do go a little farther by having a converter that I plug into my car's power port that allows me to plug in small heater for cold days to keep water temps constant. This is optional if the time fram is not to long and is most likely for my own piece of mind. I strap the bucket in place in the back of my station wagon or in the foot well between the rear and front seat to avoid movement. Combined with the lid and not moving, I don't get any type of water loss or splashes. I have another separate 5 gal bucket with lid to put my pfs in with enough water to keep it most (and the same for my rocks).

I only move completely empty tanks which is why I find the 5 gal buckets ideal since they can hold a lot of either fish, rocks, sand and equipment. Since I use multiple buckets, it allows me to move everything at once to limit time and stress on fish being in the buckets.

I have good luck with this set up with picking up fish at the summer picnic and at the September meeting as well as moving my entire tank to a location with power during the derecho storm in June 2012.

On removing the substrate that's up to you. I have never removed the substrate on my moves but it would make the tanks easier to move. I've put my 55g on the second floor of my house with the substrate still inside of it but if you're moving a 110 or larger you'll either need more than two people or some other method (if you have stairs).

Like Jon Clark said just be sure to keep the filter media wet. The majority of the bacteria colony is not in the water column and grows on the physical structures in the tank (and primarily in the filter media of your filter). By keeping the filter media wet you're allowing the bacteria colony to repopulate itself more easily once the tank is set up again.

There really isn't a need to save water.

I remember that at least one of those tanks is a plate glass tank. Pretty heavy on its own. I don't think leaving the wet sand in it would be a good idea.

When are you moving, I might be able to help.

Just wanted to re-up this thread for last minute advice. Moving the two 55s this weekend. Just wanted to get a verification on something. I plan on putting the mbuna and JDs in two separate buckets and siphoning all the water out. I have a decent amount of PFS in both tanks (at least 2-3 inches covering the bottom). Does everyone agree that I should scoop out as much of the sand as I can before moving the tanks? Any other tips or comments are greatly appreciated.

David

I would get the PFS out, simply because it will make the tanks very heavy and thus much more difficult to move.

Watch out for mbuna in the rocks or decorations.

I agree with Matt that taking most of the Pfs out will make life easier.

If you have a jd pair separate buckets might be a good idea.


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Removing the sand is all about how light you want to make the tanks. If you have a strong friend helping with the move, I'd leave it in. Just me, though.

I'd split the fish into as many buckets as you can. Good luck.

Gotcha. But is leaving the sand in a danger to the tank sealant?

dankdabe said:

Gotcha. But is leaving the sand in a danger to the tank sealant?

Click to expand...

Only your back


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One pointer to add... Put a trashbag inside the buckets with fish. Large fish especially scratch their eyes on the bucket plastic and get nasty infections. The trash bag helps protect them during the ride.

Thanks All!