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There will come a time when you may need to move your fish tank decorations to a different aquarium. This could be for a variety of reasons, for example because the number of fish that you have has outgrown your current tank, or it could be that someone had given you some second hand aquarium decor that you would like to use. For whatever reason it is, you would need to follow some rules to ensure that the fish tank decor is safe to be used in your new tank.

Why All The Fuss About Transferring Aquarium Decor

Can't we just remove the fish tank ornaments from one tank and just drop it into the other? Why is there such a fuss or need to have proper preparation? The main reason is microbes.

You see, your fish tank decor has been soaking in the tank water for a very long time. Even with the best cleaning schedule, these ornaments are perfect surfaces for breeding bacteria and fungus. This is especially true for tank accessories that have detailed carvings and rough surfaces. The cracks and gaps between the details make it very hard to properly clean and will allow the perfect hideaway for these microbes.

Taking out the decoration from the old tank and putting it into the new one without any preparation will cause these microorganisms to be transferred into the new tank. With the conditions in the new tank being just right, it will cause a bacterial bloom that will be very unhealthy for your fish.

Furthermore, if you have new fish in the new aquarium that has not been accustomed to the microbes from the old tank, they will definitely fall ill and die. So preparation is necessary when transferring the aquarium decor.

But bacteria isn't the only worry here. There are also snails. While it is fairly easy to spot a snail sitting on one of the ornaments when you remove it from the water, their eggs are almost invisible to the naked eye. Without proper preparation, you would be introducing these snail eggs to the new tank and once they take hold of the tank, they are really hard to eliminate.

How To Properly Transfer Aquarium Ornaments

It really isn't that hard to transfer tank decor the right way. The key idea here is to properly sanitize the accessories and ensure there are no microbial transference. Here's what you need to do is steps:

  1. Remove the item from the old tank and give it a good rinse. You do this to dislodge any larger debris from it so that we can properly clean it later.

  2. Using a soft tooth brush, give the decor a good scrub. Keep in mind that the cracks and details of the ornament are ideal places for microbe colonies so give them a good scrub. Dip the decor in plain water from time to time to get rid of the stuff you scrubbed off. Do not use any form of soap or detergent for this, plain water is good enough. Soap and detergent will leave a chemical residue no matter how well you wash the item and this might poison the water later.

  3. After you have completely scrubbed the item, give it a final good rinse in plain water. Then air dry the items in bright sunlight. This is something I have always practiced each time I wash my tank decor. Sunlight has UV rays that will kill off any microorganisms that might still be on the ornament. Leave the in the sunlight for an hour or two.

Your fish tank decorations are now ready to be replaced into the new aquarium.

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Source by Timothy Kessler