Moving

[Kflory]

We recently bought a new house (yay!!) how do I move my friends without completely tanking their cycle and starting over?? 

[Tony s]

Congratulations! How far away and how many gallons?

[SeverumKeeper]

I would move the tank by itself, either before or after everything else.

 

1) Drain tank water into at least 2 buckets. More depending on numbe and type of fish.

2) Put your filter media in one bucket.

3) Put your fish in the other bucket (multiple buckets depending on size and type of fish)

4) Dump the rest of the water. Remove large rocks but depending on the size of the tank and depth of substrate that can stay.

5) Move the tank, fill it up, plug in the filter, add your filter media. 

6) Drip acclimate the fish for temperature and water parameter differences before adding them in.

[Kflory]

On 4/26/2024 at 10:33 PM, Tony s said:

Congratulations! How far away and how many gallons?

About 15 minutes away. 20 gallons, 5 fish 

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

I moved a 30g when I moved about 5 min away. I used a cooler to transport the fish and put the filter media in there with it and had a co-op mini air pump going. Didn’t lose any fish but it was by far the most stressful part of the move and if I were to move again I would sell my fish first and start over.

[Tony s]

The thing to remember is water is heavy. The less actual water you move the better. Get a place set up and ready to go to before you start. 
 

for your bacteria, anything that dries out is going to lose the bacteria. So keep as much water on the substrate as you can. Maybe a gallon on the bottom or so. If that’s the hex tank from petsmart, it’s going to be a bit awkward to carry. So the less weight the better. I’d figure out a way to keep your filter media, either the cartridge or the sponge wet for sure. That’s where you can save the most bacteria. So. Yeah. Clean bucket would work good. For the fish. You could do a bucket. Or you could net them into a couple of gallon ziplock. With something sturdy underneath to support them. 
 

then when you’re ready. Take a dedicated trip and go. The fish will be fine in a bag for a few hours at least. So you have time. 
 

set and fill your tank trying to get a good temperature balance on the water. Restart the filter. Dechlorinate the water. Then, since your fish have been cooling off. Depending on the outside temperature. I would acclimate them to the tank water. But putting the bags in your tank for 15 minutes or more is sufficient. Very much less stress that way. It would be different if you had shrimp or sensitive fish. You would need to slowly acclimate them. You should be good though. Put them in and I might add a bit more bacteria to be safe. And monitor for a few weeks to make sure the cycle is okay 

 

good luck and enjoy your new home 

Edited April 27 by Tony s