Unexpected move - what would you do?

[Janelle]

What would you do or recommend?  I set up my 1st planted tank back in March - It's a 75gal planted tank w/ rocks and driftwood.  The tank has finally hit its stride, the plants are growing wonderfully, the water balance is great, and the algae is finally in check.  

We are unexpectedly having to move 3 hrs away AND! we are temporarily moving into our 5th wheel for a few months.  We will eventually be moving into a rental until we can find another home to purchase or until we can build a house.  My thought was that if we get a rental I would just put the tank in the garage (we live in CA so I don't have to manage freezing temps) - is that a terrible idea?  I doubt any landlord would allow a 75gal tank inside the home...right??

I can move the tank to my parents home, and have them manage it on a basic level, and I would have to come down once a month for more in-depth maintenance.

If I decide to tear down the tank...I have not stocked the tank with my long term choice in fish so I don't have much attachment to the fish, but I'm struggling with loosing all the time invested in the balance of the tank, bacteria and healthy plants.  What do you suggest?  What would you do?

Here are the details of the tank:
Substrate - Eco Complete & Fluval Stratum
Filtration - Fluval 407 and coop sponge filters.
Plants - Jungle Val, CRYPTOCORYNE WENDTII 'GREEN', & Anubis petite
Livestock - 6 nerite snails, 10 amano shrimp, 5 otocinclus, 7 siamese algae eater, 10 ember tetra, 9 sword tails, 3 sterbai corys, & 1 bala shark that is being re-homed as he is too big for this tank.

[lefty o]

placed in the garage or at your parents would likely work out fine.

[Gator]

@Janelle; If there is no possibility that someone will back into your tank or mistake the gas pedal for the brake pedal in your parents' garage if your tank is set up there, by all means set it up in your parents' garage. If there's any possibility that this may happen, your best bet may be to buy a plastic tub large enough to put your rocks and driftwood in and cover them with your aquarium water to keep the nitrifying bacteria alive. Seal the lid to the tub with duct tape so the water doesn't evaporate too much.  

Take all of your gravel and place it in several 5-gallon buckets and cover the gravel with about 3 inches of aquarium water to keep the nitrifying bacteria alive in these also. Any sponge filters or bio-filters from your Fluval 407 can go into the tub with your rocks and driftwood, if there is room, if not, you'll need another bucket. You'd be surprised at how long the nitrifying bacteria will live even if there is no water flow.

I'm one of 162 people that live in my building, I'm one of five that has aquariums, and we're allowed to have 75 G tanks in our small apartments. If you have to go the rental route, ask if you're allowed to have aquariums without paying a pet deposit and listen very closely to the answer. If there is no mention of maximum size, then you're probably allowed to set up your 75, but you have to ask. If the rental property has concrete floors as we have here, I see no reason why you couldn't, but if the rental property has wooden floors, probably not.

Beautiful tank, good luck in moving and getting resettled.

Sincerely

Gator

 

 

[Janelle]

@GatorThanks for your thoughts!  

Do you have any idea about how long you could keep rocks, driftwood and substrate in sealed containers?  I'm wondering if there is a point where if stored too long its gross and unsalvageable.  🤔

 

[Guppysnail]

If you plan on taking the tank down for storage just dry everything out. Spread your substrate flat in cookie sheets or a tarp to dry. It would be better as you don’t want bad bacteria growing. Relocating tank in my experiences moving tanks they lose that sweet spot balance for me so for less work on your part and with not being with the tank to maintain it for small needs on a consistent basis it is probably going to be easier to store it if need be. 

Edited December 12, 2021 by Guppysnail

[Flumpweesel]

To my mind the fewer moves for the tank the better so if parents are willing I'd store it there until I bought my final house. And probably strip it for dry storage to save issues.

They are hard work to move around and odds are you'll not preserve the cycle and you'll probably move to different  tap water so a restart is kinda inevitable

[Gator]

@Janelle; I've got a bio-filter from a HOB filter I took down about 10 years ago, I saved the bio-filter because I thought at the time that I might replace the filter with an identical HOB filter and I could reuse the bio-filter so that I wouldn't have to cycle a new filter, but I chose to go with a canister filter instead. I used the bio-filter to jump-start the bio filtration in the canister filter and then placed the bio-filter back in the bucket where it has been since. I've taken it out from time to time, rinsed it off and I've always put it back in the bucket, and the beneficial bacteria always grows back, or I wouldn't have to rinse it off from time to time. 

The beneficial bacteria on your rocks, wood, gravel, and bio-filters will look grungy after a while and I don't know how long it will take to do this, but it rinses off easily under running water. The gravel will pretty much rinse itself as you're taking it out of the buckets. The Eco Complete came with water in the bag when you bought it.

When you're finally settled in and have reset your tank, you'll be able to add new fish after a week instead of waiting four weeks for the tank to recycle itself as you would have to do if you allowed everything to dry out. It's entirely up to you, a tub full of rocks, wood, and water would be heavy, but it's something to consider.  

Sincerely

Gator