Moving an aquarium can be a rigorous task. In fact, it has to meticulous to ensure the safety of your fish and belongings. Fish can’t be removed from their habitat, placed in a plastic bag, and put back into new water once you arrive at your new home. While some species may survive, most won’t. To ensure your fishy friends, expensive aquarium and accessories survive the bumps of transportation and the process of moving, follow this guide on how to properly move an aquarium.
Prepare for The Move
Moving an aquarium and all of its contents take a lot of preparation. Create a checklist of everything that needs to arrive at your new house. When packing, be sure to label the moving box with a high priority number and clearly state what’s inside so you can unpack and get your fish back in their habitat as soon as possible.
You may also want to contact a pet store or friend to look after your fish if you anticipate the move to take longer than a day.
Lastly, make sure the aquarium and accessories are the last thing you pack, last thing you load into the moving truck and the first thing you unpack.
Transporting the Aquarium and Its Contents
Remove everything from the aquarium. From plants to gravel, filters, and decoration, everything should be removed. However, it’s important to place them in bags or a bucket that also has some tank water in it to keep the bacteria alive that will essentially keep your fish alive once in the aquarium in your new house.
For fragile and expensive parts of the aquarium, such as the pump, heater and other accessories, use proper packing materials that will protect such fragile items.
And never move the aquarium with things in it, even if you’ve packed them. Leave the aquarium completely empty during transportation to deter it from cracking and causing leaks, which could be detrimental to your fish.
Setting Up the Aquarium Upon Arrival
As mentioned previously, the aquarium and your fish should be the first thing you take care of once you arrive at your new house. However, this needs to be done carefully and properly, as your fish won’t survive if their new home is new to them.
Start by carefully returning the rocks and decorations into the tank. Using the tank water you reserved, start filling the aquarium up. You can set up the filter, heater and pump after that.
Then, you can return the live plants and items stored in tank water as well.
Now, if you transported your fish in bags, you have to let the bags float on the tank water prior to releasing them into it. This will help balance the temperature, so your fish can adjust properly.
If you stored them in a bucket, they can be put in as the water hasn’t changed. When topping up your aquarium, it should be done in very small amounts spaced out throughout a couple of days.
In no time, your fish will feel at home and will be swimming around like nothing ever happened. However, if any of these steps are underestimated or skipped, it could be very harmful to your fish, plant life, and aquarium. So, protect their habitat and lives by carefully going through each step of moving an aquarium.
