EAU!!! I WANT TO MOVE MY FISH TANK 3MILES DOWN THE ROAD & NEED HELP WORKING OUT THE BEST WAY!!!

[lucysmam]

sorry for caps I pressed the caps lock thing on my phone & cba to go back & change.

I want to move my big tank literally 3 miles down the road....what's going to be the easiest way?

I'm thinking it needs to be last on the van, first off & in position. Buckets lined with bin bags for fishes & as much water as I can....seems a tad simple though....what am I missing?

I moved mine 5 hours away. when to fish shop and got the big polystyrene box that they get fish delivered in. filled it with tank water. put fish in. put lid on.
emptied tank. bagged up plants. drove 5 hours, lifting the lid on polystyrene box occasionally.

tank was first thing I set up.
not one of my fish died- they infact gave birth during drive. so I ended up with another 20 odd fish!!

Main thing is keeping the filter wet, so sling that in a bucket of tank water.

If you do that, and as much of the tank ornamentation, you needn't keep as much tank water. Fresh water with tank safe treatment is fine if you keep bacteria in filter and on ornaments happy.

How big is it and how big are the fish? I'd be tempted to get a couple of plastic storage boxes with lids rather than using bags if you've got big fish. Small fish will be OK in a bag.

Yes, definitely keep the filter wet and keep a flow of water over it. You'll need a battery powered air pump for this, most aquatic stores sell them or try ebay. If you're using a storage box for the fish then I'd get an air pump for that too.

Take out any rocks or big bits of wood from the tank in case they move around and crack the glass.

Save some of the water if you can, those big buckets that you use for beer making will do (as long as it hasn't been used for making beer!)

Moving a tank is pretty simple if you plan well ahead and get it done as quickly as possible.

They're only little; neon tetra, silver tip tetra, dwarf rainbows and boeseman rainbows. Biggest fish in there is a six ish inch pleco. Tank is 190L.

Will the big lumps of wood be ok wrapped in bags?

Am nipping to town at the weekend so will pop in lfs then for a battery operated pump to keep the filter going

God I'm nervous about moving them!

How big a tank, and is it freshwater or marine?

Can you fit it in your car so it doesn't need to wait for the van? If it goes in the van, ensure movers are content with and insured for it and whether water will be allowed in the van and in what containers, or if you need your own in a car.

Make sure there is electricity on at the new house!

For my 150 litre tank I had plants and fish and filters in one bucket, ornaments in a bag, gravel in two buckets (heavy!!), and a dustbin with about 40 litres of water which was the most the movers would take, and about another 10 in bottles. Difficulty getting fish out near the end of the move and then all the gravel out, but the movers took it, then we had to drive immediately with them to new house leaving cleaner behind.

In new house, got cabinet and tank in place, plugged in, put gravel in, then the water I had, then added fish, then over a day added more warm water, with filters and pump added once enough water in, no light until next day. Took a few days for silt to settle but fish were fine. If I did it again I'd get a separate man & van.