Move a Tank

Hope everyone's doing great today!

So... I will be moving everything to another house, about only 10 minutes away, and my 5 gallon tank is coming along. Currently the residents are a betta, 2 adfs, and 2 snails. Since there's no way they're going to move it with the whole tank filled, I am planning to drain the water to about 1-2 inch so the beneficial bacteria in the gravel stays alive. I have a spare 1 gallon tank (i'm going to start using it as a shrimp tank after the move) and 0.25 tank that I can use to put the betta and frogs separately so they don't have to be more stressed with the tight space.

I have two questions:

1: Is there anything else I should do to preserve the bacteria in my tank (I can't really have the water higher, because I still feel like it's better to have a lighter acrylic tank than a heavier one), and
2: Which tank should I put the frogs and fish in separately? (the snails will just go in the bigger one.)

Thanks in advance!

 

I would say it’ll be fine hopefully, it’ll stay moist and it’s only around a 20 minute thing probably, regarding the fish maybe just transport them in cups/bags I hope I could help this is my first reply lol

 

Just drain it down to about 20% with everything still in it put it on a table or have your stand ready at the new place and move it just like that. Add the 80% of water with a full volume of water conditioner and i'm sure everything will be fine.

 

I'd remove everything from the tank and put the content in a 5 gallon pail or two 5 gallon pail to reduce weight. The issue is that tanks are not made to support weight on the bottom glass panel. Now a 5 gallon tank is pretty small and the panel isn't that large so it might be fine but I'd still play it safe...

 

Recently moved a 120 gal from SC to Florida. We emptied it and rebuilt once we arrived. The fish were transported using a couple of large coolers with holes drilled in the top and fisherman's battery operated aerator/bubbler inserted to maintain oxygen exchange.

You'll have it much easier than we did, but recommend error on the side of caution. I'd probably break it down, put fish in a 5 gal bucket of the tank water. You can probably get away with the substrate especially if it's something soft like sand.

 

Thanks for all the replies!

I would say it’ll be fine hopefully, it’ll stay moist and it’s only around a 20 minute thing probably, regarding the fish maybe just transport them in cups/bags I hope I could help this is my first reply lol

Yes. The house is only about 10 minutes away, so it'll probably be less than 20 minutes. Your response was great!

Just drain it down to about 20% with everything still in it put it on a table or have your stand ready at the new place and move it just like that. Add the 80% of water with a full volume of water conditioner and i'm sure everything will be fine.

I think I'll just drain it to 10-25% and move it, and use a divider for the 1 gallon to divide the fish and frogs. We'll move the stand the same day, so it'll definitely be ready before the tank arrives. I'll put in the normal conditioner, and probably some quick start and stress coat. It'll probably be fine.

I'd remove everything from the tank and put the content in a 5 gallon pail or two 5 gallon pail to reduce weight. The issue is that tanks are not made to support weight on the bottom glass panel. Now a 5 gallon tank is pretty small and the panel isn't that large so it might be fine but I'd still play it safe...

Yes. I understand what you're saying. The water will probably only be about 5-10 pounds, and the decor is mostly live plants, so it won't be too heavy. I think since it's only a small 5-gal, I don't think it'll be that easy for it to break. I'll definitely keep it in mind, though, as I move it.

Recently moved a 120 gal from SC to Florida. We emptied it and rebuilt once we arrived. The fish were transported using a couple of large coolers with holes drilled in the top and fisherman's battery operated aerator/bubbler inserted to maintain oxygen exchange.

You'll have it much easier than we did, but recommend error on the side of caution. I'd probably break it down, put fish in a 5 gal bucket of the tank water. You can probably get away with the substrate especially if it's something soft like sand.

Wow... I can't imagine transporting a 120 gal. The tank itself would probably take more than 1 person to lift! Yes, I'll be putting the fish in a separate, smaller tank. I definitely can't compare to you, since I'll only be traveling for about 10 minutes to the house (yes, it's very close).

Thanks again for the advice! Hopefully everything will go smoothly. I'll update you guys after I move everything in and get everything set up.

 

We moved yesterday! The fish didn't seem too stressed, despite having to stay in there for about an hour more than expected due to me stupidly forgetting the conditioner. I acclimated slowly with the new pH and temperature. After that, though, the water quality seemed okay and the betta's fins perked up again after being clamped in the one gallon for so long. Today everyone seemed like their normal self. Thanks for all your help!