# Moving out of state... how do I move my tanks/fish?



## aurical (Aug 9, 2007)

This summer I will be moving from NY to NC to start Grad school and need to know the best way to transport my fish/plants/aquariums ~12 hrs (not including time to breakdown/set up tank). 

Here is the situation... I have three tanks: 90g, ~30g acrylic hex, and 15g high. 
While I plan on drastically reducing my fish stock, there are several that I would like to bring with me if at all possible (1 Pearl Gourami, 2 german rams, 1 SAE, 1 farlowella, 2-3 endlers, 1 Betta, and depending on feasibility 8 columbian tetras and/or 4 pepper cories). The 90g is densely planted and has several high-light plants while the smaller tanks have a few common low-light plants. I would like to keep most of the plants as I imagine they should transport relatively easily. 

If anyone can share advice about how to safely move the tanks, equipment, and plants/livestock I would really appreciate it. I've never had to move this many tanks and certainly never such a far distance so I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. :eek5:


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## fishtastic (Apr 3, 2007)

I moved a 75g and 46bowfront from SW Florida to Chicago subs, I did that and came back 3 mos. later. Not a single fish or plant lost. My method(not guaranteed by any means) Involved using 3 of those rubbermaid trash cans(the Brute style ones) and an inverter and an air pump. I placed the plants in one, the fish in another and extra water in the third. I figured the more water I brought the better start up I would have. It all depends on what vehicle your moving with also. I had a large suv and it was absolutely packed front to back, I used a uhaul for all my household stuff.


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## fishscale (May 29, 2007)

It can be done, but it is a huge pain. If you go over to monsterfishkeepers, there is a thread about moving a 75g with a wolf fish 1000 miles.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Fill the fish bag full of O2... I wonder if LFS will let you pump your bags if they have O2. And put those fishes in a cooler..


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## helgymatt (Dec 7, 2007)

I have the same question...In a few months I'll be moving my 55, 29, and 20 gallon highly planted tanks only a couple blocks (Such a pain for such a short move!!!). Is it possible to try and move the tank by keeping the plants planted in the substrate (removing as much of the water as possible). I'm thinking this may be doable with the 20 and 29 but much more difficult with the 55. My concerns with the 55 are (1) that the weight would still be too much even with much of the water out and (2) that it would be hard to go down a flight of steps and not totally wash all the substrate to one end of the tank. Does anyone have any experience with this, or am I better off just pulling all the plants out and replanting them after the move? I.E....can I be careful enough to make this work? Its not that I don't want to have to replant everything, but I just don't want to have to wait for my HC, crypts, and slower growing plants to recover from all of this. 
Thanks,
Matt


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## helgymatt (Dec 7, 2007)

Would a wood frame (base) made from 2x4's with lips to hold the tank in place and handles to carry the tank easier work?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

fishtastic said:


> I moved a 75g and 46bowfront from SW Florida to Chicago subs, I did that and came back 3 mos. later. Not a single fish or plant lost. My method(not guaranteed by any means) Involved using 3 of those rubbermaid trash cans(the Brute style ones) and an inverter and an air pump. I placed the plants in one, the fish in another and extra water in the third. I figured the more water I brought the better start up I would have. It all depends on what vehicle your moving with also. I had a large suv and it was absolutely packed front to back, I used a uhaul for all my household stuff.


(Fishtastic- nice to meet someone else in Naples! If there's any chance you might be interested in a native plant seminar and collecting day up in Ft. Myers March 10 PM me and I'll put you in touch with the ppl organizing it!)

I've moved my 46gal halfway across the US a few times in UHauls- I've just made sure that it was set on a solid piece of MDF and placed it where it couldn't shift around yet nothing could rest on it. Tried to place it as close to an axle as possible for less bouncing. I've never been sure each time- but so far the thing has held up incredibly!

The fish I transported in buckets, but if I had it to do over again I would use plastic containers with LIDS and airholes (plus the airstones and battery-operated pump). I did have plastic plants in each of my buckets and think they helped keep down the stress levels and jumpers. I kept the buckets up front with me to monitor temp and overall keep an eye on them. I also made sure I had an extra empty bucket to make waterchanges a breeze.


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## crisrisl (Jan 16, 2007)

We moved all of our fish and tanks across town over the summer. Obviously, this is much easier than moving far away, because you can make many trips and make trips with just the tank and fish so that they are broken down and put back together all in one day. It took us almost all day, between bagging fish, draining tanks, pulling plants and all.

My suggestions would be to bag the fish really well, making sure they have nice clean water, some bag buddies, lots of air. Keep them in a fish box or cooler and try to keep the temperature as consistent as you can. If we can ship fish fine overnight or longer, a day in the bags won't be terrible. I think I've read of some people even just moving theirs in buckets, with battery powered heaters and airpumps, but that might be a bit more difficult. I don't believe any of your fish are too overly sensitive? Maybe the rams...

The plants, you can probably pack just like you would to ship, wet paper towels or newspaper, plastic bags. Again, if they can survive shipping, they should survive the move. Might be easier than trying to keep them fully submerged the whole time and move that much water, plus they won't have light anyway...It is probably most ideal to be able to move your tanks in a separate trip...but I have no idea if you are moving all at once or in several trips. Will the water there be very different from your water now?

Even if you can just get one tank up when you get there for the fish, or fill them with water, I would think they'd be ok. 

In response to moving a tank fully planted, I think it would be difficult to move depending on the weight of the substrate, plus all the water that is left in the substrate. I moved one 75 with substrate in it and all of the substrate ended up in one end going down the steps, so plants would get buried. But I guess if you were careful, it might work. I know some people have concerns about moving tanks when they're not empty and breaking the glass? I'm not sure, but it hasn't happened to me.


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## aurical (Aug 9, 2007)

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I like the idea of putting some plants in with the fish to reduce stress and it was a good point to ask about the change in water conditions. I don't know but now I'm going to try to find out. 

I talked with my boyfriend about the move some last night and we came up with a bit of a plan... I'm feeling a little better about it, but please feel free to make further suggestions! 

He mentioned ordering BreatherBags and bag buddies to move most of the fish. This would eliminate the need for a battery operated pump or trying to safely transport buckets/tubs of water in either of our tiny 2 door coupes. Most of our tanks (we have a 20H with a toad and an exo-terra XL with dart frogs in addition to the ones in the original post) will go in the truck but the acrylic and 15H will come in the car to help keep them safe. They can also house the fish temporarily when we get there. Depending on how many fish we end up bringing and how long it takes our stuff to arrive we might buy some big plastic tubs to use as additional holding tanks. 

The tanks going in the truck will be wrapped in cardboard / blankets / bubblewrap and very well secured. The 90g has ridiculously thick glass and has survived a few (albeit much shorter) moves already.


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## fishscale (May 29, 2007)

I've moved all my tanks before, it just becomes a mess to set back up with the substrate sloshing around. It's best to forget about your previous scape and start new. For my 10 g's, I just drained 3/4 of the water and lifted with my legs


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## icex (Dec 4, 2007)

You can also buy one of those apc power inverters from walmart, basicaly it plugs into your cig lighter (can't spell it) and then you can plug household stuff into it.. A airpump would run fine through it.


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