How to pack an aquarium for transport

There will come a time in life when you will need to pack an aquarium for transport. When you are preparing a tank for your new fish, you probably are not thinking about how you are going to move it. Fish are still pets even if they don’t run around like dogs or cats. Therefore, when you are going to relocate, the same goes for your fish. The problem with transporting fish is that they require to be water all the time. Additionally, often time people don’t have one fish, rather a couple of them or even more than dozen.  However, you can’t leave even one of them behind. For this reason, you can use these tips from Master Moving Guide to pack your aquarium like a pro. 

Preparation is the first step when you need to pack an aquarium for transport 

Packing an aquarium belongs to the same category of difficulty as moving a piano. You should do good preparation before actual packing. The first step is to get the right packing supplies. You need to get the following.

• Buckets or plastic bags or containers for fish – to transport your fishes during the move. 
• Fishnet – every fish owner has a fishnet in their belongings 
• Siphon hose – to remove water from the tank 
• Buckets for plants – plants also need water during the move 
• Regular packing supplies- moving boxes, air-filled plastic padding, packing paper 

When moving fish from the tank to plastic bags or containers, you should use the water from the original tank. Try moving them in the last possible moment to minimize the stress, but to have enough time to clean the tank. You can skip feeding your fish for 12 or 24h before the move to keep tank water cleaner. 

How to prepare your tank for the move? 

When moving with an aquarium, it’s good to have moving insurance as many things from an aquarium, like the tank and decorations are fragile. When you transport your fishes into containers, you should do the same for tank plants. Siphon out the remaining water, and put it in sealable containers for later use. The next step is to clean and dry the decoration from the tank and pack them in packing paper if they are fragile. 

Any reliable long-distance movers will tell you that labeling your boxes is important. This also goes for your aquarium supplies. It’s important to keep everything labeled so you can faster and easier put the aquarium back in your new place. 

How to pack the actual tank for the move? 

Packing a tank is the most difficult part when you need to pack an aquarium for transport. To keep the fragile tank protected during the move, you should put a foam board of the right size at the bottom of the tank. The rest of the tank fill with towels or packing paper. The sides of the tank should be wrapped with air-filled plastic padding and placed in a moving box. Add foam board in between the tank and moving box. It’s important to find the right size of the moving box to fit the tank and insolation without room to tank move around.