How do you move a saltwater tank when moving to a new house?
Coconut
I have a 125 gallon saltwater fish tank with 10 fish. I’m hopefully moving to a new house sometime this year but have no idea how to move my tank along with my fish? I invested a lot of money in this new hobby of mine and cannot afford to lose any fish or have anything happen to the tank! HELP!!!
This would be a local move.
I have a 125 gallon saltwater fish tank with 10 fish. I’m hopefully moving to a new house sometime this year but have no idea how to move my tank along with my fish? I invested a lot of money in this new hobby of mine and cannot afford to lose any fish or have anything happen to the tank! HELP!!!
This would be a local move.
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A local move is a breeze however there are a few things to take in account. The key here is to stress the fish out as little as possible and also try to keep 75% of the tank water to avoid having to cycle or any nitrate spikes that could potentially kill your fish. What you can do is (boy a 120 gallon is bigger than a 75 so this might be tough) go to your LFS (local fish store) and ask them if they have any containers that you could use to transport the water in. Most likely they’ll have a drum that you could borrow or purchase. You could try your luck and buy some large containers from Home Depot however I am always concerned with chemicals in those things. Your fish on the other hand could live in a container on a temporary basis (very very temporary like a day or less) provided the water has a heater and some type of filteration or airation provided. My suggestion is move the tank first or last. Get the tank over to the new house, set it up asap then drop your fish in. If you can move the water and get the fish back in the tank ASAP it’s really no different than doing a routine cleaning or overhaul on your tank at home.
I think the biggest pain will be moving that water. Unfortunately that is the most critical element if you want to reintroduce yor fish immediately, and you absolutely need about 75% of it.. I get that number from practicing 25% water changes. Think about how those fish get here…. they are shipped however they are immediately put into a completely cycled system.
Best advice is to go to a good/trusted (not Petco) LFS and get their opinion. They get asked this question all the time and they might even do it for you.
PS, as long as you keep the substrate and live rocks wet they should be fine for a local move as well.
PSS Don’t forget to acclimate your fish since there will most likely be a water temp change.
Good Luck!