moving an aquarium

[Mark Gilmore <gilmore at ee_ucla.edu>]

Hi All,

Its been a very long time since I posted, but I have been lurking...

In about 6 weeks I'll be moving from Los Angeles to Albuquerque, NM, and I 
plan on taking my 75 gal plant tank with me.  As such, I'm looking for 
advice on how to best move the aquarium.

I'll be renting a U-Haul truck for the tank and my houseplants.  Its a 
12-14 hr drive, and it will be cold (maybe below freezing) going through 
northern AZ and NM.  Here's my present plan:  The day before the drive I'll 
remove the fish to two 5 gal. buckets.  This is no small task in a densely 
planted tank, of course.  I plan to remove the plants at one end of the 
tank, and herd the fish (one by one) to that end for capture.  All fish are 
small: tetras, barbs, gouramis, siamese algea eaters, ottocinclus, corys, 
and farlowellas.  I fear this may take half a day.  For the drive, I plan 
to insulate the buckets with styrofoam, and aerate them w/ battery-powered 
airstones.  They will travel in the front of the truck w/ the heat on.

I'm planning to leave the rest of the plants in tact.  I'll drain the water 
in the tank down to the gravel, and save it in 5 gal jugs.  I'll cover the 
open tank top w/ plastic to keep moisture in.  The tank will be placed in 
the truck on top of plywood and insulation (maybe cheap sleeping pads for 
camping) to keep heat in the bottom.  Then I'll wrap the top and sides in 
blankets, secure the whole package, and drive to NM as fast as possible.

Upon arrival, I'll reassemble to tank, add the saved water, let the 
temperature stabilize, then return the fish.

Does anyone have any constructive comments on this plan?  Or perhaps better 
ideas?  Or has anyone experienced pitfalls when moving long distance they 
can advise me on?

Thanks for any help.

Regards,
Mark Gilmore
Los Angeles

PS - Anyone know of a good aquarium store(s) in Albuquerque?