Joys of moving, just need some thoughts from you guys

[Michelle1980]

I have a 75 gallon that I will be setting up in a month. I am putting my gold fish in there from a 55 gallon. I have a few questions for you all, thanks in advanced.

I will be moving in a month then setting up the tank 75 gallon. Should I attempt to bring as much water from the old tank or go ahead and add new water as long as it has been treated and the temp is the same? Should I leave the old filter cartages in there or put in new ones? I just changed them Saturday. Also I’m going from plain old aquarium gravel to pea stone. I know I need to rinse it well; it won’t hurt the gold fish right?

Now on to the 55 gallon. I’m gonna scrub it clean and then transfer all the fish I have in a 40 gallon in there. I have fancy guppies, mollies, platys, corys, tetras and some silver dollars. Same questions as above: Keep the old water; I want to put pea stone in there too, should I change the filter cartages?

I will be moving 5 minutes away. So I plan on loading the gold fish, who are rather large in buckets and then the smaller fish in the 40 in zip lock bags and put them in a Styrofoam cooler, every one will be treated with a dose of stress coat before and after the move.

Is there anything I should worry about? I’m moving the fish on a Friday and the movers are coming Saturday morning. I want the tanks up and running before we actually move. I read somewhere then when you empty a tank to re add water slowly. I plan on getting a hose, attaching it to the bathroom sink and filly both tanks. Moving the fish is more stress full then the move it’s self.

[kamanut]

Ah yes moving...lol.

I just switched college dorms, so I had to move my 20 gal long, my 15 gal, a 10 gal, and a 58 gal! Here's what I did--not sure if it's right or not, but it worked for me.

The 58 gal was/is currently in cycling, so that was sort of a pain to move it--I saved 20 gallons of water (not sure if it did anything), then threw the rest of the water away. I kept all the plants and rocks under water during the move, and threw the fish in a bucket with the plants and stuff. Then once I got everything set up, I threw in the 20 gals. and added all the plants/decorations and got the temp right...then put the fish in.

For my smaller tanks, I kept more of the water, since they were cycled (not the 10, so I just threw all the water out of that one), and again, I just kept the plants and other media under water and threw the fish in a bucket and traipsed them over to my new dorm. I didn't lose any fish--hooray!

I'm sure there's a better way to do it than what I did, but I was low on money and time, and it was the best I could do. Have fun moving--it took me 4 hours to move/re-setup the 58 gal. alone!

[Obsidian]

Keep your substrate moist, the bacteria are in there not in the water. Don't change the filter media, the bacteria are in there as well. Make sure there is enoiugh air in the bags when you transport, set the tanks back up (don't clean decorations or anything, as there is also bacteria on those) and go about your business

Watch the tanks for mini cycles and change water accordingly. Make sure the tanks are empty when you move them, otherwise they may come loose at a seem.

[emc7]

Keep the catridges, check water (pH, hardness) if its similar don't move the old stuff. Don't use ziplocs-order fish bags or beg from LFS (ziplocs always leak). Put old gravel in a sock and set on top of new for a few weeks to seed. Watch the temp. of hose water (better to use cold and use your heaters, than to have to cool it with ice).