Moving house, big tanks

[Stella]

I have signed up for a new flat! Very exciting, am utterly sick of the tenants upstairs here, and the new place has (amongst many other excellent features) a small backyard so I can grow wrigglers for my fishies!

Now, I have done the whole move-house-plus-fishtank before, so I know the process.

I was wondering what tips people have for moving several large tanks (two 4ft, one 3ft, one 2ft)

I looked through the archives and most were on moving little tanks, though there was an excellent tip of getting a couple of 100lt tubs from the Wharehouse, setting it up at the new house and putting hte fish and filter in that, that way you have a bit more leeway in time to get the tank properly sorted before the fish go in. Seemed very sensible!

I have also allowed a couple of days crossover between the new and old flats, so I can move my furniture one day and tanks the next, and another day to spare.

Any other tips that really worked for you that wouldn't immediately come to mind?

Or what about what really didn't work.... like a friend of mine who was moving the tank at 11pm after a hard day's moving and dropped it on the driveway....

[David R]

How far have you got to drive?

The big plastic tub thing is a good idea, keep the fish happy and filters running while you move the tank. IMO it would be good [if the drive isnt too far) to move them one at a time so you're not so stressed. Make sure you've got more than enough buckets and plastic containers for moving the water, and a heap of towels just in case...

[Simian]

I have moved 3 footers with some fish still in em a couple of times, a bit sloshy with 6 inches of water in them, but thats what towels are for.

[Stella]

hehehe according to wises.co.nz, 1.3km, 3mins driving time, two corners (excluding the driveways)

Yes I think moving one at a time sounds safest. And it would be terrible if I mixed the rocks for each tank up

Am wondering about the mudfish.... they are in a 90x30cm tank, 6mm glass sides, 10mm glass base. The substrate is a good 10cm of peat and leaves. This makes it VERY hard to catch the fish as it all stirs up and turns the water into a thick soup.

Being mudfish they can cope with being out of the water. I am now contemplating siphoning out almost all the water (excavating one corner so I can drain as much as possible) then carry the tank complete with peat, leaves and fish.

As long as I add water within a month or two they should be fine.... :lol:

Any comments/ideas on this?

[supasi]

When are you moving Stella

If Im free I may be able to lend a hand. Depends on work etc.

I have plenty of buckets and containers to move fish in

[Stella]

Wow, thanks for the offer! But coming from Wanganui seems a little extreme... you don't have to have a reason to come visit me and my fish!

I will probably be moving the tanks on Tuesday the 6th of January. I have one strong fishy person helping me

Just calculated it is 0.3km closer to my favourite pub :roll: :lol:

[Navarre]

Hi Stella,

Plese be warned that even tho some of those tubs and stuff can have a volume of water in them...they dont hold that volume when you try to carry it.

Does that make sense...ie a 100l tub wont lift 100l of water as the bottom sides might give way.

I use a big drum, pump water in and out and use its fitted lid to contain the slosh

HTH

Navarre

[supasi]

Wow, thanks for the offer! But coming from Wanganui seems a little extreme... you don't have to have a reason to come visit me and my fish!

Extreme!!!! I travel to Palmy just to buy a fish sometimes.

[henward]

moving tanks lik that is not tooo difficult.

what you gotta do is hav ea tub or spare tank at the site, bring our fish there first wiht some spare filters.

then you can take your time to move one tank at a time

3 to 4 people shoul be enough to carry tanks safely i think.

you may use the old water too if you have the containers for them. if not then you may have to take your time more.

if you can use 50% o the old water, then its like doing a water change. a big one when you move.

im dreading moving my 6 foot, and 2 8 foots:S

[Stella]

Navarre: Good point about the tubs not being strong enough to carry full. Will bucket everything to them.

Supasi: Most people would opt to be miles out of town when a person is moving, rather than offer to drive an hour in order to help them move! :lol:

Henward: I suggest you never, ever move, ever again!

Need to start getting tanks spruced up so I will transfer the least muck over to cloud up the water when I refill them...

[Bilbo]

I have a stack of plastic jerry cans you can borrow for moving water. most are 20ltrs. I think I have about 20 or so of them

[Caryl]

I use these 30L barrels. I got them from a paint shop (Resene's I think). They get paint dye from Italy in them. All I had to do was rinse them out. They cost me $10 each. This was a few years ago so I don't know if they are still available. The handles on the side are great and very strong so you can fill them to the top with no problems as the plastic is rigid. The lids are airtight so even if they fall over they don't leak 8)

[David R]

I have a stack of plastic jerry cans you can borrow for moving water. most are 20ltrs. I think I have about 20 or so of them

They're the best thing to use for transporting the water, anything bigger is too heavy. Although when you're dealing with big fish you don't have a choice, last time I moved I had three 1/2-3/4 full 60L bins with a 14" ornate, 18" fire eel and a 10" (but tall) siamese tiger, they were bloody heavy!

[Foxglove]

I remember from the AW article on the Aquarium Bus that they used semi-inflated plastic bags in the tanks to keep the water from sloshing round when driving. The water level had to be lowered of course.

Could be a good tip for the mudfish at least.

Good luck!

:bounce: yay for being closer to the pub! Less stagger time... :lol:

[richms]

The wheely storeres at te warewhare are not good for liquid. I have had 2 60 liter ones let go on the base around some of the ribs and subsequently leaking out.

The guys at peroplas said that it was not made for liquid and the literage was just to let you know how much would fit in them.

[Stella]

Foxglove, the mudfish are not going to be traveling with any free water. The joys of having fish that can linger out of the water for a couple of months without dying

Good idea though, I might try it when transporting buckets of fish in cars, as often happens when catching new ones from the stream. I feel so guilty every time we go around a corner and it all sloshes...

Richms, I guess the wheeley ones mean the weight would be focused on a couple of points, causing cracking.

[Stella]

Well, all moved in now. Moved the furniture etc on monday and the tanks on tuesday, finished up cleaning on wednesday and finally I get to loiter around the new place today!

The trick with the mudfish tank worked really well. COuldn't get as much water out as I wanted, but it worked fine. There was about 10cm of water, leaves and muck on the bottom of the 3ft tank. We moved the tank onto a plank of wood to strengthen the base and carried it fine. The muddies were wriggling about as we carried it, right as rain! The water boatmen that they still haven't eaten are merrily chirruping beside me as I type...

The 4ft kokopu tank was a small mission. Very hard to carry. The 4ft riffle tank also had its own set of issues, but is sorted now. The fish were all caught easily and waited patiently in their buckets, with the exception of a shortjaw kokopu who bounced out and was promptly bounced back in (and the lid secured)

Sadly I think the new house is hotter than the last (or it is particularly stinking hot today), but thankfully the fish are mostly in the colder room.

SO finally it is mostly over, and it is a good feeling. I have a hell of a lot more room and it will be much easier having people over to look at the fish (and see me!)

As always, anyone who is interested in visiting is most welcome