ok well hopefully all goes well with the loan and whatever bankers do. i swear i could have built this house in the time it takes these assclowns to get their pencil pushin done. anyhow i bought a 135 used. 72 x 17x 24. anyhow its has a rena xp2 and a penn-plax cascade 700. ive never used these kinds b4 ive always had the whisper over the backs. actually when i was younger we only had underground ones. anyhow i have a 55 gallon full of africans mostly mbunas. also a 20 gallon full of 2 different fuelleborni fry about 35 total plus one pleco. lastly there is one 29 with 5 angel fish in it. the tank is still cycling i think. i ended u pwith those angels with the 135 bcuz my help thought he could keep them in a minnow bucket and in the chaos of moving the tank etc he told me that and well ya i had to get a tank set up cuz my africans werent gonna be real nice.


anyhow how do i go about this move. i want to get all the mbunas in the 135 and than eventually turn the 55 into a peacock tank. my question is what is the best way to go about this. do i do water changes on all my tanks and stick that water in the 135 with some of the old sponges and gravel so i have a start on the cycle? do i want to start from scratch? it took almost a month to cycle my 55 bcuz our water is HARD and ALKALINE. im told good luck keeping anything but cichlids with our water. plus keep in mind that the tank is probably the least of my worries. i have to fix a few door a roof leak gutters put up a railing fix a fence all just on the new house. so i need the easiest way to do this without killing my babies. plus i got the family to move and a full time job. im truly blessed but i need some ADVICE and anyone in SE wisconsin i cant pay well but im a great cook lol. please any ideas anything im truly stressin about this. ive always wanted a big tank and now i have one and i dont know how to do it. im hopin my step daughter can get some pics of my fish online later so u can see my boys and girls. thanks in advance

wow i posted this in the completely wrong place. anyone know how to move it to the correct spot?

I moved it over for you! Ok don't stress too much...moving the tanks is easy I have moved mine three times in three years...mostly across town moves. I have a 125,120,75,(2) 55, 29, 20, and a 3g and over a hundred species of fish. I will tell you it is a pain but fairly easy.

First get to the hardware store and buy 5-6 buckets. You are also going to need to stop off at Walmart and get a few 3-4 rubbermaid tubs i would get the 35g tubs that way you can fill them 1/4-1/2 full and they will weigh less than 100lbs. The buckets will be filled with your substrate (gravel or sand) and filled with tank water. This will keep your substrate wet and preserve some of the bacteria living in the substrate. The other buckets will be for your decor, plants, filter media these will have tank water to keep the media (sponges etc) wet so you don't loose bacteria. I used a duffle bag for my filters, heaters pumps etc....my canister filters stayed full of water and I just moved those.

The next step is filling your tubs 1/4 of the way with tank water. Once the tubs are full net the fish and put them in the tubs. For your smaller fish you can do buckets. I forgot to mention not to feed the fish for 24-48 hours before this process this will reduce the amount of ammonia and toxins that build up during the time they are in the tubs/buckets. Next empty the rest of the water from all the tanks completely it is no longer needed. remove all decor substrate as stated above. I would add some prime to the buckets for added surety. Now you are ready to load up the tanks the buckets fish and go to the new location.

Now I don't know if you intend to set the tanks up right away or not but I will give advise for both. If you don't intend to set the tanks up right away leave your fish in the tubs. Add your heater and filters to the tubs plug them in and keep them running....this will do two things....one keep the fish alive and two keep your bacteria alive till you can set up the tanks. You will also want to add some of your substrate to the tubs to keep the bacteria on the substrate alive. don't worry about the decor at this point there is not enough bacteria on it to worry too much about.

If you are going to set up the tanks right away do what I said above but start setting up the tanks. Add all new water to the tanks...make sure to test it to see if it matches closely to the water in the buckets. Temperature is going to be the main concern aside the pH and hardness. Move your filters and heaters over to the new tank as well as any substrate to jump start the cycle....you might see a mini cycle but doubtful anything noticeable. After you get everything set up substrate in rocks, plants etc...add your fish and enjoy...I would not feed them for another day or two.

I don't know if you have live plants but if you do keep them in a bucket with tanks water as well. I also forgot to tell you to make sure and use your dechlorinator I suggest Prime. Good luck and if there is anything I missed just ask or if someone else has anything please chime in.

ok first thaks for helpin the new guy i cant manage to even find the right place to put my questions. anyway i guess im lost a little. i want to get the 135 put in the spot where it is gonna stay(the only spot that makes sense). than i want to get that tank going well cycle started so eventually my mbunas can go in there and i can start doin what i want to do ie 4 o 5 males with the correct number of females and turn the 55 to a peacock tank. should i move the 55 and just set it back up how it is-your advice plus what ive heard is about right to move it across town- basically a big water change and all that but im movin the fish and the tanks too. some times i need to be told to relax i get all wound up and in the end the hardest thing was talkin myself out of freakin out

You can move them straight into the 135g just put your filters from the 55g on the 135g. No nee to cycle if you are using established filters and media. Move the fish in tubs/buckets and the tanks empty. I would leave the 55g empty till you get fish for it and move the mbuna to their new home when you move. It will be less stress on the fish and you instead of trying to move them twice.

well i thougt also bringing the gravel cuz it contains good bacteria also right? so the water out of the 55(probably 45 gallons or less due to the amount of slate) and hook up the filter from the 55 and ill be good to go? im gonna have to add like at least 80 gallons of h20 right out of the tap. so assume i this appraoch besides water conditioner for the new water i should be good to go? ill hook it all up and then check the water b4 i put my fish in it? im planning on using some of the h20 from the 30 and 20 also. sound right?

You can use all new water with no problem there is no good bacteria in the water column. Just a few hand fulls of gravel or if you want to use it all thats fine too. Put your filter from the 55g on and you will be good to go.

I know MC mentioned Rubbermaid in his post, but I want to stress that you get the name brand *Rubbermaid* ones.

I've tried a few of the other brands and they've been prone to cracking with water in them while moving them.