The Puffer Forum

I'm going to try and keep all my tanks. I have the space, now we'll see if I can afford the electric bills on my own

Anyway, I haven't moved a fish tank in many, many years. What pointers can you share with me? Any cool tricks or shortcuts? I'm bringing Tater first, tomorrow, hopefully. And if that goes well and my back holds out I'll move the bowfront with the irrubesco next.

Empty the tank completely when moving, especially if they are larger tanks. Carrying tanks with too much weight can cause twisting and breaking.

Keep the filter media wet during transport. Best to place it in a bucket of tank water to keep the good bacteria alive.

Make sure any buckets or boxes being used to transport fish, rocks, sand, etc are clean with no contaminants. Seems like a no-brainer but I heard of one person who used a plastic bucket that used to contain laundry soap. Clean but dead fish.

Transport as much of the tank water as possible and make sure the temperature is up to normal before landing the fish. Land the fish the same as in bringing new ones home...slowly acclimating them to any temperature difference.

Place the tanks on styrofoam during transport and ensure the surface they are lying on is level and flat. Any twisting can break silicone seams and/or glass.

When transporting fish,...do not place too many in each bucket to ensure they will have enough oxygen (especially larger fish). If necessary you can pick up a battery powered air pump for cheap at LFS.

Keep a good lid on all transport buckets. Some fish get very jumpy when in transport, especially larger ones.

Be very careful when transporting all-glass tanks. It is very easy to damage tank edges and corners when picking up or putting down.

Go thru all of the steps you will be taking in your head,...ahead of time... so that you are prepared for all aspects of the break-down, transport, and re-set-up. This way you wont have to rush...that's where accidents happen.

Choose the spots for the new set-ups ahead of time, make sure there are enough electrical outlets, and check the floor for level so the tank isn't tilting to one side.

HTH...and good luck.

Excellent, thanks so much to both of you! I didn't know that article was in the Library. I'm always amazed at the wealth of info in there - and I thought I'd browsed it pretty thoroughly!

Im about to undergo the same thing, and im terrified of screwing up lol