Ramba Bamba Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 So I see on a lot of the live streams people asking how to move fish tanks when moving. We usually get an answer for someone moving half an hour or so away. What do you do if you have to move across the country or more than a day drive away? With a couple bigger fish tanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Fish Den Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 I would say you have a couple choices. First, sell or rehome the fish you have then just move the tanks and supplies and set it back up when you get moved and settled. If you want to take the fish with you, it is possible to move the fish using five gallon buckets, USB or battery air pumps, doing water changes in hotel rooms if staying overnight, get to new house, set up tank and add fish. Or leave the fish with a trusted friend, get to new house, set up a tank and then when your new tank is ready, have friend ship fish to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramba Bamba Posted January 5, 2021 Author Share Posted January 5, 2021 Oof I am not excited to do that. So my wife is in the military and moving is an inevitability. Thanks for the help tho! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaintoppufferkeeper Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Short opinion : I would get fish bags, fast the fish for 48 hours, bag them like I was shipping them to myself, and bring them and a temporary set up with me in a personal vehicle. Detailed: Depending on species and size of tanks I would try moving my fish family with me. Assuming the military movers will move the tanks with your household goods, I would prepare for the tanks to arrive in an unusable damaged condition in a worst case scenario. I bet there is a higher risk of busted silicone seams on a big glass tanks post moving to a new home but I have no personal experience on that. If moving the tanks with your household goods move, for a CONUS move, I would consider setting up a few temporary tanks out of something like Irene's video (below) on quick and easy quarantine tanks, My attempt would be to 1. Put the fish in those temporary tanks and then break down the big tanks for moving prep. 2. Run those temporary tanks with the fish in them until ready to move in a personal vehicle. 3. Keep those tanks with me along with filtration heat and food due to the possibility of a delay between when I arrive at the new place and when the military movers deliver a useable tank to me and it has cycled. 4. If I tried this I would fast the fish 48 hours before bagging them individually in fish bags and put those bags into cooler with Styrofoam peanuts layered throughout to insulate and probably a 72 hour heat pack on the inside top of the cooler. 5. I would put the cooler and empty temp tanks along with supplies in my vehicle and drive from the old place to the new place. 5.I would be reasonably willing to try a two or three day drive with my fish in this type of set up, essentially self shipping fish in my car. There would be the possibility that something could go wrong and I would loose some or possibly all of the fish. I think this may be tougher for any move outside of the Continental United States where you would probably want to make sure the species was allowed there and that you did not require some sort of import license to bring them in. I once considered getting a chinchilla in Schofield Barracks, Hawaii and got the license to do so; I know mammal pets also required a ridiculously long quarantine when they arrived as well. I imagine it is the same for almost all locations outside of the lower 48 but could theoretically be done for your fish family members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 it depends on how many fish, from how big of tanks, and how far/long they will be in transport. if we are talking 1 to 3 days, a good water tight cooler of sufficient size, with some form of battery operated air pump. i would also throw a few handfuls of substrate, and some plants from the tanks in there, so that i didnt lose 100% of the beneficial bacteria during the move. 5 gallon buckets with air pump would be my 2nd choice, but they wont keep the temp as stable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenFins Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 If you only have a few tanks heres what I would do: Get buckets, and put the fish in them. Get a battery powerd air pump or the usb nano air pump from aquarium co-op this will create oxygen for the fish in the buckets. You can plug the usb nano air pump into a battery pack or if your car has a "charging station for phone" Drill holes in the lid, and place the lid on the bucket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramba Bamba Posted January 5, 2021 Author Share Posted January 5, 2021 Those are some good ideas. I don’t feel as afraid of moving now. Hopefully it won’t be out the the states. Thanks guy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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