Relocating your aquarium

By Lori Mohr-Corrigan
Copyright 1999, Lori Mohr-Corrigan. Used with permission.

Moving an aquarium from one place to another is no easy task; in fact, it's so stressful to the marine life, experts highly recommend selling off your stock and replenishing once you've reached your destination. Even the best of situations will mean losing at least a few fish.

But if you're determined to uproot your entire collection (for very local moves only), keep in mind the following guidelines:

• Never move a tank with fish inside.
  
  
• Keep the filter running until the last minute; restart it first thing upon arrival.
  
  
• Retain some of the original tank water.
  
  
• Place fish in appropriate holding containers, such as sealed bags half-filled with air, or sealed buckets. Using oxygen instead of air will lengthen the available time but for no more than a couple of hours.
  
  
• Don't feed fish during the move.
  
  
• Always try to move the tank yourself, as opposed to a moving company, to ensure gentle handling.

For trips of more than one day, board your fish in a friend's tank or at a reputable pet store. Dealers can, for a fee, even package and ship them for you. If transporting by car, employ a battery-powered air pump and airstone. You'll then have to set up your aquarium as though it were brand new, which means establishing a quarantine period before reintroducing your present fish. It's also a good idea to add new, strong and healthy fish right away to initiate the nitrate cycle.