[shev]

hello and welcome to the site.

first off, boo-hiss for trying to kill the rapheal catfish. but glad to see you gave it away. the new owner hopefully knew enough to acclimate the catfish so it wouldnt go into shock. they are pretty hardy, not surprised it didnt die.

1. alrighty, if I were you I'd keep the substrate in a seperate bucket with all other decorations of yours, and the filter cartiges. oh, and keep the bucket filled with water. this will hold the precious helpful nitrifying bacteria. you can use vinegar to remove the calcium deposits on the filter and glass.

2. dunno

3. sure, white vinegar works well for removing the white crud. but I doubt the bacteria will live through the trip of moving the tank since it will dry out. you will probably have enough bacteria in the substrate and filter cartriges to pretty much skip the cycling process. so clean the tank squeeky clean. I use boiling water, watch out for breaking the glass if you do that.

4. I'd take the tank yourself. 29 gallons isnt too large, but the movers will probably break it.

when you set up the tank, put in your new substrate and put the old substrate in a big bowl or saucer or something and put it in the tank. then put the filter cartiges in your new or old filters. make sure your gravel didnt dry out, or ran out of oxygen, then the bacteria will have died.