How to move a fish tank when moving house

When the time comes for you to move to another house, one of the things you’ll notice very early in the relocation process is that some household items are much more difficult to move than others.

For instance, moving clothes between two homes is fairly straightforward – clothes are not fragile in any way so you can’t possibly break them during the house moving process. Ultimately, the worst that could happen to your pieces of clothing is to wrinkle them – something that, in most cases, shouldn’t be a big deal.

Moving furniture to another home raises significantly the overall level of difficulty, especially when the furniture pieces are big and heavy – beds, dressers, couches, desks, tables, and so on. And yet, once you manage to disassemble the huge furniture items and protect well the detached pieces, then you shouldn’t have any major issues moving your furniture to the new home.

However, moving a fish tank to a new house presents the highest level of complexity during a house move. Not only are the fish tanks extremely breakable (they are made of glass, after all), but the aquarium fish inside them are super delicate and may not survive the move unless you know exactly what to do to guarantee their safety.

Read on to learn the safest way possible to move a fish tank with fish in it.

What to do with your fish when moving house

The very first task ahead of you is to decide what to do with your fish when moving house.

Naturally, you would love to keep each and every little fish you own and continue to enjoy them in your new house, together with their spacious fish tank.

And yet, to be selfish by only thinking of your needs is definitely the wrong approach here. The decision about what to do with your fish when you move should also be based on what’s best for your silent finned friends.

Take into consideration the fact that fish are very easily stressed when taken out of their familiar surroundings. The total lack of appetite exhibited by your dear pets while they are being moved from one house to another will be the least of your worries. Sadly enough, the survival rate of fish on the move is discouragingly low.

If you happen to be moving across town or to a neighboring state, then you might as well pull off the complicated mission of moving safely your fish to a new home. However, moving fish across the country to a new residence that is far away from your current home can easily prove fatal for the delicate little creatures.

This is why, after analyzing your specific relocation parameters, you must make the right decision when wondering what to do with your lovely fish. The major factor that should help you make the right call is the amount of time your fish will spend out of their living habitat – that is, out of the aquarium.

• Moving a fish tank short distance. When moving your aquarium only a short distance away (for example, across town or to a place that you can reach without a few hours’ drive with your car), then the chance of survival for your freshwater fish is much higher. Basically, this means that there shouldn’t be something that’s stopping you from taking your beautiful fish with you.
• Moving a fish tank long distance. When moving your aquarium to a place that’s pretty far from where you are now, then the chance of survival for your finned friends will be too low because they’ll have to stay alive for many, many hours in your car. Due to the higher risk, you’d be better off moving only the fish tank alone as a structural unit while you give away your fish to friends, colleagues, or neighbors who happen to have suitable aquariums for them.

Moving timeline: Interactive week by week moving checklist

How to move a fish tank to a new house: 20 steps

Here are the detailed steps that will show you the best way to transport a fish tank to a new house so that both the aquarium itself and your pet fish survive the move undamaged and unharmed respectively:

• Step 1. PREPARE the proper fish tank moving supplies in advance: a fishnet, a few 5-gallon plastic buckets, a siphon hose, furniture blankets, bubble wrap, wrapping paper, packing tape, and a few medium-sized cardboard boxes.
• Step 2. MINIMIZE your fish exposure time by leaving the job of disassembling your fish tank for last, right before you start your relocation trip. This way, you will ensure that your poor fish spend as little time as possible inside mobile containers and in bad water conditions.
• Step 3. MAKE sure the 5-gallon buckets are perfectly clean (preferably brand new), opaque in order to decrease the activeness of your fish and thus reduce their level of stress, and equipped with secure lids to prevent water splashes during the haul.
• Step 4. STOP feeding your fish roughly 24 hours prior to the day of the move. Don’t worry – aquarium fish in fish tanks can live without food for about a week so your pet friends should be fine. But why should you do it? The idea is to ensure that the water in the buckets stays waste-free during the house move.
• Step 5. DRAIN some of your fish tank water with the help of a siphon hose and pour it into two plastic buckets until they are two-thirds full. Don’t make the mistake of filling the buckets to the brim – if you do, then you’re very likely to spill some of the water during the move. Also, don’t mix aquarium water with tap water – your aquarium fish must be moved into their own old water to minimize the shock they are expected to experience.
• Step 6. CATCH your poor fish, one by one, with the fishnet and place them carefully into the moving receptacles. Too many fish or larger fish will usually mean that you have to divide your pet friends into several containers. Use a third bucket, if necessary. Count your fish as you’re transferring them into the moving containers to make sure you got all of them.
• Step 7. PLACE the lids over the plastic buckets and close them securely. Create small holes in the plastic lids to provide additional air for the fish. When moving larger fish over a long distance, then you should attach a battery-operated air pump to each bucket for an extra supply of oxygen during the trip.
• Step 8. DRAIN the remaining aquarium water into several 5-gallon plastic buckets with the purpose of saving as much original water from the fish tank as possible. Preferably, you’ll be able to move around 80% of the tank water with you. But why should you do this? You’re trying to minimize the stress for your lovely aquarium fish and transporting more of the tank water will mean you can use less tap water while you’re setting up the aquarium in the new home.
• Step 9. REMOVE all live plants from the fish tank and place them into one of the buckets that’s filled only with tank water. As you can guess, live plants will need water to make it to the new place.
• Step 10. TAKE OUT all decorative elements (rocks, sunken treasure chests, artificial plants, etc.) and aquarium accessories (heaters, chillers, pumps, filters, tubes, light fixtures, etc.). Pack all those items in packing paper first, then add an extra layer of bubble wrap for maximum protection. Place all protected fish tank decorations and accessories into a medium-sized cardboard box and label it correspondingly.
• Step 11. DRAIN all the remaining water from the tank as even small amounts of liquid inside it could cause its bottom to crack or even shatter. Also, remove any gravel that your fish aquarium may have and place it inside a suitable moving container – an empty bucket usually works great. Keep the gravel slightly wet so that the important bacteria in it can stay alive.
• Step 12. DRY OUT the fish tank using a clean towel or a number of disposable paper towels. Then, wrap the glass aquarium completely in bubble wrap, then add thick furniture blankets on top to protect the fragile glass structure during the move. Use packing tape to secure the blankets.
• Step 13. KEEP the fish tank as level as possible during the actual move because any instances of twisting or tilting could damage the sealant that keeps the glass sides together. Make sure you have a friend helping you carry the empty aquarium out of the home and load it into the vehicle.
• Step 14. REMEMBER that as you reach your new home, you should position the fish tank in its perfect spot – clean, level, firm, protected against direct sunlight, and close to convenient electrical outlets. This is your top priority because you’re trying to minimize the time your aquarium fish spends outside of their safe environment.
• Step 15. RETURN the gravel back to the tank bottom, set up the required aquarium accessories, fill the container about halfway with the original water from the buckets, and then place back the decorations carefully. Finally, add in the live plants.
• Step 16. NET your finned friends from their temporary mobile homes and release them extremely carefully into the readied tank.
• Step 17. TRANSFER any remaining water and top off the aquarium with de-chlorinated water, if needed. Wait at least an hour before turning on the tank heater so that the water temperature has had a chance to equalize properly.
• Step 18. PLUG IN the circulation pumps and filters. Then, turn on the light and leave it on for a few hours to speed up the acclimation period of your aquarium fish to the slightly different environment.
• Step 19. REFRAIN from feeding your fish for the first 24 hours after you’ve installed the fish tank in the new home. Some of your fish may not eat for a few days and that’s OK – usually, it’s a response to the stress they must be experiencing due to the change.
• Step 20. KEEP a watchful eye on your fish for the next several days. Keep checking if the aquarium equipment works as it’s supposed to work. Monitor the water temperature daily and make slight adjustments, if necessary.

If you have trouble moving your fish tank due to its large size, then hire professional movers to help you with the task. While moving companies are not allowed to transport pets, including fish, for safety reasons, they won’t mind packing and transporting the glass aquarium structure for you while you are busy moving your fish to the new residence.