Moving advise ?

[jonathan]

My apt lease is up and I don't plan to stay. I was wondering if you had any moving advise. I'm concerned about keeping my bio filter alive and little things like keeping a sloped substrate from flattening. Anything else very welcomed.

Thank you

[Rich Guano]

Originally Posted by jonathan

little things like keeping a sloped substrate from flattening

Just how big a tank is it? livestock? Are you willing to uproot the plants?

If I had to do it, I would fill in the low lying areas of the tank with bags of sand to shore up the sloped area.

[jonathan]

luckily only 29 gallons, and no live stock.

It would suck to uproot plants

[thebuddha]

im moving my 29g at the end of the month as well, luckily only a few blocks.

Im planning on getting a large cooler or sterlite bin which ill put the fish and majority of the water in. your lucky you dont have livestock. im going to take out as much water as possible.


Im going to get some kind of thick wood board to put the tank on, so the glass doesnt flex and bust from all of the sand/hardscape/plants im leaving in the tank. im going to use some 2x4s as handles.


what's the slope like? i didnt really see it as an issue....hmm..

[rk923]

I have moved a 29g 3 times. Just drain as much water out as you can and it will be fine. I moved it with 60lbs of substrate in it, no need for extra support. Not sure how far your move is but 5 gallon buckets with trash bags in them works good. Just tie it off at the top so it doesn't spill.

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[thebuddha]

Originally Posted by rk923

Just drain as much water out as you can and it will be fine. I moved it with 60lbs of substrate in it, no need for extra support.

you (and im guessing a friend) just grabbed each side and picked it up and moved it? then did you just set in the back of a truck? that sounds so risky... i wanted the wooden boards since i have to carry it down a flight of stairs, but i dont want to do more work then i need to.

ps. not trying to hijack!

[latchdan]

I just moved my 37 gallon, same foot print as a 29 but a bit taller. I got 3 5 gallon buckets with lids, you can get lids at OSH or Home depot I'm sure. 1 bucket I put all my pants 1 i put my fish (2 angels and a SAE) and 1 bucket just water. I was planning on running my canister in a bucket but it just turned out to be a huge hassle. I brought the tank/stand first. Filled the tank half way up, added the heater. Then went and got the fish/plants and extra water planted the plants added the extra water waited till water was around 78 and put the fish in with the 5 gallon of water.

All in all it went well, I broke my R.G reactor so I'm building a Cerges reactor instead. All fish survived took about 6 hours from when I took the fish/plants out till I put everything back together. I'm not sure how long a filter can go without be on but I really had no choice.

I also drained my tank all the way till the substrate. It was still pretty heavy but me and another could carry it upstairs without a problem. I also left some plants planted (some crypts).

[latchdan]

Originally Posted by thebuddha

you (and im guessing a friend) just grabbed each side and picked it up and moved it? then did you just set in the back of a truck? that sounds so risky... i wanted the wooden boards since i have to carry it down a flight of stairs, but i dont want to do more work then i need to.

ps. not trying to hijack!

We just grabbed the sides of the tank and moved it as well. We put it in the back of a truck with some moving blankets and it was fine.

[jonathan]

Originally Posted by thebuddha

what's the slope like? i didnt really see it as an issue....hmm..

Heavy in the back , maybe 5 or 6 inches and 2 inches up front. I live on the 4th floor of a walk up. I have no choice but to use thw stairs. Its going to be hard to keep a slope going down. I'm worried about the angle if it takes two people to carry.

[babydragons]

Since there is no live stock in the tank do they still need to save the waterk

[rk923]

Originally Posted by thebuddha

you (and im guessing a friend) just grabbed each side and picked it up and moved it? then did you just set in the back of a truck? that sounds so risky... i wanted the wooden boards since i have to carry it down a flight of stairs, but i dont want to do more work then i need to.

ps. not trying to hijack!

Yes we did, we put it in the back of my honda accord. worked fine. I was just saying that you didn't need a board for extra support.

[thelub]

You're going to have to do some rescaping. Thats just the fact of the matter.

That being said, get as much water out as you can to lighten the load and it should be good. Your substrate won't be as fluid when the tank is drained and should travel without much movement.

Depending on how far you're traveling your filter media should be OK. Try to move the filter full of water if at all possible to reduce the loss of bacteria in the media. *edit* I just realized that you don't have any livestock. This will make the trip MUCH easier.