Tips For Moving With A Fish Tank

Moving with a fish tank is different in many aspects from moving a birdcage, a hamster cage, or a regular piece of furniture. It requires planning, preparation, and know-how in order to keep the inhabitants of the fish tank healthy and avoid costly damages to the equipment. Here are our tips for relocating your fish to your new home.

How to prepare when moving with a fish tank

Moving with a fish tank requires a certain amount of preparation, especially since such tanks tend to be:

• breakable
• heavy
• involve living creatures as well as their habitat

For all of these reasons, you usually cannot transport the fish tank “as is”:

• You need to transport the fish and other aquarium inhabitants in a separate container to protect them during the move. You should fill the transport containers with the water out of the tank to provide the animals with the appropriate water quality during the move. After the move, return them to the fish tank with that particular water. This will help to reestablish the right water conditions (ph-value, etc.)
• In order to protect the tank from damage, you need to remove the water and gravel, as well as other content.

While we are specialists as far as your personal or office relocation is concerned, moving with a fish tank is a very specific challenge. We also recommend these two articles with a lot of great information about treating the water and maintaining the delicate balance within the fish tank:

• How to move an aquarium – Aqueon.com
• Can I Move a Partially Filled Aquarium? – TheSprucePets.com

If you are in any doubt about how to go about handling your particular fish and aquarium for the move, you might want to check back with your fellow fish enthusiasts. There are various aquarium-related online forums available where you can ask questions and read about other people’s experiences.

Transporting the tank

Once you have taken care of your fish and emptied the tank, the challenge is not over. Now you still need to safely transport a potentially very large and breakable piece of furniture. It is not only the glass walls you need to protect. You also need to make sure that the seals stay intact to prevent water leakage in your new place.

• This means you need to package the dry tank extremely well (bubble wrap, blankets, etc.).
• You also need to be careful when carrying it around to make sure it does not bump against door frames and other obstacles.
• When placing the tank into its new position, make sure that the new surface is solid enough to carry the heavy tank. Don’t underestimate the additional weight that will be added by the water.

If you want to be on the safe side regarding packaging and transport, let the professionals take care of it: Contact the experts at Brothers EZ Moving for a free moving quote and any further questions you might have.