What happens when you have to move your aquarium(s) to a new house?

What happens when you have to move your aquarium(s) to a new house/residence?

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Well you finally got your aquariums all set up the way you like them and the fish are all doing great, but now you have to move!!!  This can be a very scary prospect the first time you have to go through it.  However just like many other things it really is not too bad if you plan things out.  In the army they have a saying that I am quite fond of and use a lot in engineering.  Please excuse my use of a little slang here but it really doesn't work without the slightly bad word in it..lol  They call it the seven P's
Prior  
Proper  
Planning  
Prevents  
Piss  
Poor
Performance.

Well  I think you know where I am going with this, Planning, Planning, Planning thats the key.  So without further delay lets see what we might need.


Useful Items to have handy:
Ice packs
heat packs
Cooler to store spare ice packs
battery operated aeration pumps (and spare batteries).
Thermometer: One of these if affordable -Raytek RAYMT6 Mini Temp IR Thermometer -20F to 932F UVB -I happen to have one for my computer work but Ive found it very useful for this hobby as well..lol- Lets you spot check temps!!
Lots of labels (duct tape and a sharpie will do also. Just make sure you remove residue or don't tape anything that actually contacts water.
Masking tape - Great for marking off desired tank locations.
Ammo Chips or Purigen: Great for adding to fish transport containers
Nylon stockings: Great for making filter bags to hold ammo chips
Coleman 150 QT Heritage Marine Plus Cooler 5250B798 (or similar model) great for insulated fish transport container. Remember coolers are just as good at keeping temperatures stable as they are at keeping things cold. Ive even used them in the past as feeder tanks.
5 Gallon Plastic Buckets with lids and handles - Can get them at home depot or similar type hardware stores
Storage bins ( Tall enough to be half way full of water yet still have room from top to avoid excessive splashing yet also have room for fish.)
Plastic Fish baggies - Just in case you have any problems also good for plants.- You can usually buy a few from your LFS and sometimes they will just give them to you for free if you ask nicely.
Extension cords
A few bottles of Prime - renders ammonia harmless for several hours.
A bottle of Liquid B-Complex Dietary supplement - GNC has a nice one. - This boosts the immune system and helps fish cope with stress as well. Dosage is about 1 drop per gallon.

Do you need everything on the list above?  Most likely the answer is no but using your own common sense and depending on a few factors like: how important the survival of your fish are to you &
how far you have to travel before setting things back up again, you can decide on the ones you can leave out and the ones you absolutely must have.

Your main concerns are:
1) Logistics: Planning, Labling of : equipt., tanks, fish. What goes where and when?, Man/Woman Power

2) Temperature: stability is more important than a specific temperature, you can also pre aclimate fish to expected conditions in advance.

3) Aeration: Fish and Filter media.

4) Stress (Both yours and the fish)..lol: Plan, Plan, Plan & anticipate obstacles to your plans.

General concepts:

Do not feed the fish for at least 24-48 hours before moving . Especially if it will be a while before you get to set things back up again. Fish can go a few days without food and be just fine.  This will cut down on the waste they generate while in transit.  Less waste less pollution.

Fish go into 5 Gallon buckets with lids or coolers or Storage bins if it is a long trip you can use the battery powered air pumps on these containers.


Live plants should be bagged up in sealed bags with just enough tank water to keep them moist, or wrapped in moist newspaper.


Remove any 'biomedia'(Floss, filter pasd, bio balls, ceramic media..etc) and transport it separately from the filter, keeping it wet in tank water, to help preserve the bacteria- On long trips it would be good to aerate the container with your biomedia in it.

Always empty the tank completely. Never transport the tank with water or substrate in the bottom. Aquariums really arent meant to be moved with things in them it puts stresses in places they would not not normally be.  Even if the tank does not physically crack, the joints may be stressed enough to cause leaks when refilling.

If you really want to assure the fish move goes smooth I would recommend that the fish go on a separate trip.

If the above is not an option and you do it all in one trip you might try staggering the departure times, if that's not an option and you all have to leave at same time then organization and labeling become even more critical.

If you do it all in one trip or in two trips I would still recommend that you have enough people handy to make one or two people dedicated just for the fish. and if possible you just direct and assist as needed to get all things into their proper place. BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT FRIENDS MOVING AQUARIUMS - I have seen many accidents because most people don't know about the special concerns when moving an aquarium. I can not stress enough how important it is to remove all substrate and water completely. Place substrate in coolers or storage bins (Be careful most of the cheaper storage bins can handle the volume but not the weight) Then cover the gravel with just enough water to keep it moist (If the bacteria die on your substrate you can have a potential ammo spike when you set everything back up due to all the dead bacteria decaying). You can also pre mark out where everything goes so that when the fish and rigs arrive there is no confusion as to what goes where.

Remember the most important thing besides your fish is your Beneficial Bacteria - These microscopic organisms live in your substrate and on your decorations and most importantly in your filter media.  Make sure these things are kept moist (with tank water) and aerated.

So for the above reason the water from your aquarium is relatively useless except as packing material for your fish plants and substrate.  Once everyone is back in their proper tanks and all is set up properly make sure you test the water parameters frequently, feed very sparingly for about one week and don't add new fish for at least two weeks while everything levels out.

As someone who has done this often I feel your pain... Personally I have only moved long distances with tanks & fish 3 times. All the other occasions I have moved typically I buy all my tanks used so when I move I just buy new ones in the place I'm moving to. I sell off all of my tanks but not the equipment that is hard to replace. I stage everything for a pick up date that I am moving and make sure I make space allowances for the occasional person who doesn't come and pick up the item they promised to buy....lol Anyway when all is said and done I end up moving equipment and my most prized hard to replace fish only. And I have tanks already set up only needing fish and a filter. This method saves on manpower and often allows me to upgrade (Sometimes I find even better Creigs list deals in the area I'm moving to..lol)

Well I hope this helps and I wish you a  HAPPY MOVING DAY!!!  - Tanks