Tips on Moving 6 Gallon Reef

[DrCooper]

Hey everybody,
Need some advice on best method to move my 6 gallon nano and everything in it.
Living within this lil reef is:
small clownfish
small yellow watchman goby paired up with a pistol shrimp
2 pep. shrimp and bunch of snails and other inverts

I have 3 zoa frags and GSP along with 3 pieces of rock

My largest concern is the goby and pistol as I dont want to disturb the symbiotic relationship.


I have tons of buckets and am want to do this correctly. All advice is appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

 

[fishman1069]

How far are you moving it? It really shouldnt be too much of a hassel, if you can keep the water warm. I would bag the livestock, like its being sold or shipped, and place it in a cooler with heat packs. You will probably be able to save most of the water this way too. Then maybe use another styro cooler and place the rock in there. The biggest thing is to do it as quick as poss to avoid die off. So it all come back to thew first question, it really depends how far you are going and how long the tank will be broken down.

 

[DrCooper]

I am moving uptown and I plan to literally drive it uptown myself so no more then 30-45 minutes door to door.

 

[fishman1069]

You should be fine with just bucket then. I would get the car nice and warm and just put the stuff in buckets and drive it on up.I would use one bucket for rock , 1 for fish and inverts and another for your corals. I had a friend that moved a 45 gal reef and did it this way. He didnt have one death. I dont think the move will affect the relationship between the shrimp and goby. Once they get into there new home, they should join each other again. If your really nervouse about it, then you can go the bagging route, but I think its overkill for a short move like that. HTH Good luck with the move!

 

[skene]

put it all in buckets except for the sand and a little bit of water in the tank. That's how I moved my 6 gal previously.

 

[DrCooper]

thanks everyone! buckets sound easiest and most efficient as it will be a fast move.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

Pretty much for any small tank, buckets are the way to go. Much easier and for 6 gal it isn't going to take long at all. The only thing I would say is that you should bring a battery powered air pump with you for the unforeseen emergency or if they end up being longer in the buckets than expected. Things happen and you don't want to sit there after the fact wishing you had brought an air pump.

 

[tentacles]

I moved my 24g nano cube this way (with a few more buckets). Buckets with air pumps for the rock, bagged the fish (I was going a little further). Had a friend hold my corals while the tank got settled in, but you're moving way less coral than I was, so you should be fine just throwing them in a bag too. Good luck!