I'm new to the site and kinda sorta new to the Oscar - here's the story.... my boyfriend has had the fish for a looooooooooooooooooooooong time. He's huge and in a huge tank - we are moving in together and we need to move the fish. HOW THE H E DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS DO WE DO THAT? LOL We are at a complete loss as to where to even start... please help!

I would allow yourself quite a few hours to do the move. First of all, what type of filtration have you got? What you could do is get yourself quite a large reciprocal, fill it full of tank water and put the Oscar in it and run the filter on it. Then move your tank to the new location, fill it up with water making sure you use a water conditioner. If you can save as much of the original water as possible, that would be good. Trying get loads of water bottles. You don't have to get the tank completely setup, you can arrange things properly wants the Oscar is in the tank. And Oscar will be perfectly okay in a large reciprocal with the filter running on it for quite a few hours, plenty of time to move your tank and get it setup. Just remember when you fill the tank up, check the water temperature of both the tank water, and the water in the reciprocal, you don't want it too far apart temperature wise.

The very worst thing you could do is turn your filter off and leave it after a few hours, if you do this, you will have to cycle the tank all over again. You must keep the filter running at all times. Do not use Water, use existing tank water.

I think this is probably the best way of doing it

I done this a yr ago and yes it takes time (hours) and I only moved 12 miles. 1st, get some large water storage containers... I used old type plastic dustbins and garden water butts (B&Q)... I run 2 pumps a few wks before the move. Then emptyed 50gallons of the tank water and filled the water butt in back of van... took the water to new house with 1 pump and set it up( pump was unpluged about 30mins).. went back and got fish and put them in dustbins(half full) with tank water and drove real slow to new house.(Rope bins down as they will spill and tape lids on with duck tape.)..I put fish in 50gallon butt in new house that had heater and pump running, went back again for more water and tank.. took all to new house and set it up.. As its been pointed out make sure pumps are running as much as poss .. take at least half your tank water... make sure its the same temperture as that the fish are in... treat any new water with tapsafe..level new tank before you fill...CHECK WATER CONDITIONS EVRYDAY OVER NEXT FEW WKS. GoodLuck

If you are moving not too far, say an hour or 2 drive, it is not difficult to move
Remove all decor, lights heater etc and the lid so all you have left is the fish, the tank, and filters
Remove some tank water into the container you have for moving your fish in. Put the fish in it
Take the filter off but keep it full of tank water for the whole journey
Save as much tank water as you can
Dismantle the tank

Move it to new home

The just reassemble in the opposite order

If you are traveling a long distance then you need to keep the filters running on the container with the fish in, and if it is really long then you might need the heater running too

the most inmportant things to remember are

-level your tank fill it half way and recheck it for level

-make sure your water is treated to remove clorine and is at the same temp as the water in your container holding your fish

-check your water parameters for the few days for ammonia or nitrite spikes

-save as much of your old tank water as you can