Q. How can I move my aquarium?
A. Moving an aquarium can be quite an experience. It takes time and patience. The best way to move would be to plan a day and have a friend or two to help. Make sure you have some freshly mixed saltwater on hand because you will most likely need some. Also, make sure you have picked a place for the tank to go to keep you from having to move the tank again. You will need buckets, Rubbermaid or styrophome containers, plastic bags, siphon hose, gravel scoop, newspaper and towels.

First remove all the equipment like heaters, power heads, protein skimmer. Remove any dry goods or items they are not livestock and have them placed in the vehicle. This will shorten the period of time that the livestock will need to be in buckets or bags.

Remove most of the live rock and water out of the tank. Use the buckets to store water. You want to save as much clean water as you can to transport the fish and to top the tank off at the new location. Remove the live rock and wrap it in wet newspaper. Place the rock in a styrophome or Rubbermaid container. Keep the rock at room temperature.

Then catch your fish and critters out of the tank and place them in buckets. Make sure that you don’t put too many fish in one bucket or the ammonia level will get too high. Make sure the fish or corals you place in the buckets are compatible with each other. Keep the livestock at room temperature.

Remove the remaining rock. Throw the gravel away. Load the tank canopy and cabinet and move everything in one trip.

At the new location:

Add all the rock to the tank. Do not be very picky about how the rock looks at this time. The livestock is stressed out and it is more important to just get things running. The rock can be reworked a few days after the move.

Fill the tank with the saltwater you hauled from the old location. Top the tank off and get the equipment set back up and running. You will likely need some fresh saltwater on hand to complete the top off. Check the water temperature. Slowly acclimate the fish using a cup or siphon hose. After one hour of acclimation put the fish back in.

Add fresh substrate a few days after the move. If you have a particular fish or invertabre that need substrate you will need to add the substrate within a day.