Reef Tank Moving Help!

[dabgood21]

Does anybody have experience in relocating a Reef Tank? I have a 46 Bow and 10 gal Sump that I need to drive to the D.C. area in a few weeks. I've never had to make such a crazy move before and have some ideas of what I'd like to do but I'd love to hear some suggestions.

The actual drive will take me between 4-5 hours. I assume taking down the tank, etc... will hopefully only take me about 1 hr. I'll have to do this over a weekend and I'm thinking about driving at night to avoid traffic.
I have a variety of corals to pack up: Softies, LPS, SPS, anemone.
Fish: Pair or GB Clowns, Sixline wrasse, and Red Scooter Blenny.
Misc: Live Sand, Live Rock, Serpent Starfish, snails, hermits.

I plan on saving as much water as I can since I will be setting up and using the same tank. I estimate I'll need around 6-8 5 gallon containers to transport the water.

Thanks for any suggestions you may have! :Lurking:

 

[DevIouS]

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav3i6/Moving.htm

 

[Timbo]

Dude, good luck with that one. I would say make sure those lids are tight on the water and you should be good.

 

[Awibrandy]

Sounds like you have it all well planned. Pack the corals individually. I would also put the sand in buckets with some water. Try to keep the lr wet. If you plan to move the fish in buckets be sure to have some battery operated air pumps, and extra batteries.
Have a tank to place your livestock in seperate from your sand & lr in your new place, as I believe you will have a small cycle.
Once all your parameters level off you can place everything back in. My Best Wishes with your move, and the new place.

 

[inline6]

Wow, I would rig up a power inverter hooked up to a powerhead for water flow if you are planning to transport any fish or inverts. Also a nice big cooler should help along with some heating packs.

Best of luck with the move.

 

[masterswimmer]

We receive and ship coral and fish all the time. How do you think they get from the Pacific to our facilities? Ideally you'd want to bag each fish/coral individually with oxygen. Since it's not feasible to use oxygen, just use oversized bags with 1/3 water and 2/3 air. DO NOT BLOW INTO THE BAG. Just quickly grasp the top part of the bag and twist, fold over the twist, then rubberband it. Place all the bags of livestock into a cooler (styrofoam box works great or even a Coleman type cooler). As long as it's completely dark and temp is stable you'll reduce stress on the animals.

Keep LR and LS wet if possible. It'll help shorten the cycle in your new place.

Have lots of fresh made (over 24 hrs) saltwater mixed. Do lots of water changes the first couple of weeks.

Good luck with your move.

Russ

 

[lfsmarineguy]

What Master said. It's not as big of a deal as you would think. Heat packs aren't necessary unless you keep your car at subarctic temperatures. Over sized bags and don't second guess what Master said about the 1/3 2/3s fish breathe oxygen not water. Dark styro and you shouldn't have any problems. If you end up using buckets just get a few battery air pumps (they're great for blackouts anyway) and drop them through holes in the bucket lids. Good luck and don't sweat it too much.

 

[prattreef]

All of the above advise is sound, and I second the use of battery driven air pumps. I would have as much set up on th other end in advance as possible and make up considerably more water than you think you need.