Rob14

I would like to move my 20 gal. aquarium and was looking for advice. My plan was to fill a 5 gal. tank with established water from the 20 gal. and place the fish in there short term. I can move the other 15 gallons via a few 5 gallon buckets and use the same water to fill the tank once it is moved to the new location.

Does it sound like a workable plan or does someone else have a better solution?

namehater

i dont see any problem with that. while your making your move i would take your filter floss out of your filters and let them float in one of the buckets of water (i wouldnt put that water in the new tank tho). doing so will help retain your beneficial bacteria

Lucy

Sounds good to me, as long as your tank is cycled. You wouldn't want to use the old water if ammonia or nitrites are present.
The substrate is going to make the tank pretty heavy, so be careful.
Good luck....moving a tank can be a pain.

Beth1965

Do you have a second person to help physically move the tank?
I'm pretty sure u'll need it unless your HULK?

peacemaker92

Hi Rob and WELCOME TO FISHLORE!

Will you be moving it to another floor or is it in a different room but same floor? Be careful when moving the water. Especially the tank if you have your substrate in it. It can be very heavy. I've heard of some members here who moved a tank and needed about 5-7 people to carry a 55 gal. So be careful and Good luck!

namehater

seriously??

Rob14

the tank has cycled so I am hoping to use the same water again once the tank is relocated a a few rooms away. I am sure once all the water is out, it will be an easy move.

Thanks for the replies and advice

eiginh

LOL

A gallon of h20 = 8 lbs!

remember to keep the media wet

Tavel

agreed...where would they even stand!?

My brother and I could move the 75 gallon by ourselves...but couldn't deal with the weight shift on the stairs. The gravel and water slides to the bottom guy...the tank already weighs 100lbs so the extra 100lbs of gravel and water made the bottom guy very unhappy!

We found 3 people was needed to move it safely on stairs, 2 on the bottom and one on the top...and a couple people to hold doors. lol.

Back on topic...why not just put the fish in one of your buckets? You can save the "fish bucket" for last and gently pour them back into the (almost full) tank to minimize handling with the net.

Ottos might suck onto the walls, but they'll let go soon enough ;-D

peacemaker92

That's what he/she said. I don't even know if the tank was half filled or even emptied. haha