Aquariums: Does anyone have any advice (or words of encouragement) for someone needing to drain and move a fully stocked 75g to a new stand? Feeling overwhelmed and worried about my fish.
My current stand cannot be leveled out and I’m worried it’s going to explode. I am kicking myself for not having this issue resolved before I added fish in. I have no idea how we will catch 11 dwarf chain loaches in such a planted tank.
5g buckets will be your best friend. I moved my 40g like 4 times in 2 years (long story). The more buckets you have the easier it will be. Never lost a fish
Shazzam001 on
As with everything in life, one bit at a time, people do this all the time and you’ll be fine.
Get lots of buckets, move out plants and decorations first to make catching fish easier, empty out half or 2/3 of the water into buckets and catch the fish as you go, they’ll be fine in the buckets for a few hours.
Krissybear93 on
many buckets – use the same water when you re-set it up -nothing to worry about
EpisodeDad on
Would it not be possible to drain it 90%?
SmallOne312 on
You might be able to drain most of it but still leave a little bit for the fish, then pick it up and move it?
You can do it!!! Fish are resilient and the strong will definitely survive! Don’t be to hard on yourself if you lose a few souls. You have no idea what their age or health is currently, so it’ll be totally fine if some don’t make it back into the tank. I believe in you! You are a rockstar! You can do anything!
dragginrabbit on
Just moved from nj to nc and had an active 75g to move. Had 14 costae tetras and a bigger synodontis. Buckets for all plants and substrate(I had sand) and one 5g bucket with holes poked through the middle with a rechargeable air pump. They made it the whole way and a couple days after that. My fx6 motor broke during the move and I had to wait a day for a new one to come through Amazon. All the fish made it. Their coloring was highly washed out but it all came back a couple hours later.
izlib on
The first time I moved my tank, catching all the fish to store safely was such a huge nightmare and I was never confident I got them all.
This may have been a real bad idea, but what I did this last time I had to move my 55 was drain as much water out of it as I could while leaving enough for the fish to still be able to swim in shallow water. Lifted the tank off (with help, me and my wife did it alone, although if it were larger I’d probably want 2 more people). Set it down on a sturdy surface.
Moved my stand, then finished moving the tank. Then I put the water back in.
Easy, fast, and I would argue less stress for the fish than extracting them all.
Risky? Sure… Dropping the tank would have been a disaster.
ubernik on
I just moved my 55 gallon a couple weeks ago. Got a new apartment maybe 10 minutes from the other place but might as well have been on the other side of the world… It was not fun.
Here’s what I did:
-drained tank down to just have substrate covered in water
-saved as much water as I could (I bought about eight 5 gallon buckets)
-put the hardscape, plants, softscape in their own buckets
– had a buddy help us and it was still a bitch and a half. Must have still weighed a couple hundred pounds.
-definitely get about 4 or 5 buddies to help move the tank. 1 extra person for a 55 was tough (to the point my gf said we’re breaking it apart if we ever have to move out lol)… Still ended up putting the tank back-to-front on the stand. Couldn’t be bothered to turn it back around and just decided that was going to be the new front lol.
Good luck! It’s not going to be fun… But wishing the best!
Guzzlemyjuice on
Make sure your buckets etc are nice and clean
darkrhyes on
Plan, plan, plan, plan, do it.
MedoPo6969 on
Fish get shipped in a bag to foreign countries, your fish will be tine
13 Comments
5g buckets will be your best friend. I moved my 40g like 4 times in 2 years (long story). The more buckets you have the easier it will be. Never lost a fish
As with everything in life, one bit at a time, people do this all the time and you’ll be fine.
Get lots of buckets, move out plants and decorations first to make catching fish easier, empty out half or 2/3 of the water into buckets and catch the fish as you go, they’ll be fine in the buckets for a few hours.
many buckets – use the same water when you re-set it up -nothing to worry about
Would it not be possible to drain it 90%?
You might be able to drain most of it but still leave a little bit for the fish, then pick it up and move it?
These will be your best friend. [Helps A Lot](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CPP6P1ZS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)
You can do it!!! Fish are resilient and the strong will definitely survive! Don’t be to hard on yourself if you lose a few souls. You have no idea what their age or health is currently, so it’ll be totally fine if some don’t make it back into the tank. I believe in you! You are a rockstar! You can do anything!
Just moved from nj to nc and had an active 75g to move. Had 14 costae tetras and a bigger synodontis. Buckets for all plants and substrate(I had sand) and one 5g bucket with holes poked through the middle with a rechargeable air pump. They made it the whole way and a couple days after that. My fx6 motor broke during the move and I had to wait a day for a new one to come through Amazon. All the fish made it. Their coloring was highly washed out but it all came back a couple hours later.
The first time I moved my tank, catching all the fish to store safely was such a huge nightmare and I was never confident I got them all.
This may have been a real bad idea, but what I did this last time I had to move my 55 was drain as much water out of it as I could while leaving enough for the fish to still be able to swim in shallow water. Lifted the tank off (with help, me and my wife did it alone, although if it were larger I’d probably want 2 more people). Set it down on a sturdy surface.
Moved my stand, then finished moving the tank. Then I put the water back in.
Easy, fast, and I would argue less stress for the fish than extracting them all.
Risky? Sure… Dropping the tank would have been a disaster.
I just moved my 55 gallon a couple weeks ago. Got a new apartment maybe 10 minutes from the other place but might as well have been on the other side of the world… It was not fun.
Here’s what I did:
-drained tank down to just have substrate covered in water
-saved as much water as I could (I bought about eight 5 gallon buckets)
-put the hardscape, plants, softscape in their own buckets
– had a buddy help us and it was still a bitch and a half. Must have still weighed a couple hundred pounds.
-definitely get about 4 or 5 buddies to help move the tank. 1 extra person for a 55 was tough (to the point my gf said we’re breaking it apart if we ever have to move out lol)… Still ended up putting the tank back-to-front on the stand. Couldn’t be bothered to turn it back around and just decided that was going to be the new front lol.
Good luck! It’s not going to be fun… But wishing the best!
Make sure your buckets etc are nice and clean
Plan, plan, plan, plan, do it.
Fish get shipped in a bag to foreign countries, your fish will be tine