moving house - advice needed

[franv]

my partner is pregnant so we are moving two miles up the road to a bigger place (at least somethings breeding!)

ive never moved a saltwater tank before so any advice would be really appreciated....so please correct me if im doin anything the wrong way

my plan so far is:

-get a loan of loads of 5 gallon drums from my lfs
-also get some 5 gallon buckets with lids to transport my LR

1. start by removing LR to buckets. do i fill these with water from the system also or just put the rock in on its own? i want to preserve my pod population if possible as its only really taken off lately (tank was set up 6 months ago)

2. then siphon out the as much water as possible and keep it in the drums.

3. bag fish, shrimp, snails, hermits, feather dusters and musroom coral (only 1).

4. i have 2 inch of argonite sand substrate with lots of bristle worms. i suppose the best way to transport this would be to put it into 5galon buckets (with lids) and put an inch of water over the sand,

5. move as quick as possible and do the same in reverse....desperately trying to reassemble my rockwork exactly the way it was

my main uncertainty is about the LR, Substrate and hermits /snails


thanks in advance for all your help

fran

[Bmgrocks]

I think that your on the right track. I wouldn't worry so much about getting the rockwork exactly the way it was, I would arrange that a little later, your primary concern is getting everything in there ALIVE...I would First Transport the water, Acclimate the fish, Release the rock work

Let your equipment run, and then arrange the rock work the way YOU want it when u have time

I would make sure that u do what ur wife wants you to do first, then tend to the rockwork...

[franv]

lol....i was half joking about the rockwork. should i move the rock in empty buckets or in buckets full of water?
i was thinkin if i put them in buckets full of tannk water there might be some die off from no circulation for the duration of the trip...2 hours i suppose...thus fouling the water etc ?

[brice125]

Yes, definately keep the rock in water.

You may want to set up a bucket as a temporary tank while the water clears for the critters. Put a powerhead & heater for them, I'm not sure I would put the fish back immediately --- but as soon as possible when everything has settled. If you start early enough you should be good by the end of the day, but in case something goes wrong you have a backup.

I moved a 125 gal. tank in Oct. & it went through a mini cycle after I stirred everything up. You may wanna keep an eye on your water parameters for a bit until you're sure everything has stabilized. Be prepared to do a water change if necessary.

[franv]

ps shes past the crazy stage (first trimester) and is as concerned about our tanks as me

[franv]

thanks brice...will do

[ahullsb]

I moved an established tank to begin my saltwater experience. Feel free to pm me if you have any questions. My biggest problem was keeping things in the sand alive. I moved the tank with an inch of water above the sand line. Just having the water sloshing around during the 1 hour trip killed everything there I believe. It took months to fix. I would bag your sand or something so it isn't all over the place. Even with all 55 gallons of tank water I still had major water quality problems for months. I'm still not sure why. It took me a long time to get nitrate levels down...but everthing lived except an anenome. No surprise there!

[GreenPuffers]

I just got done moving my 20g a few weeks ago, I put my live rock in a bucket with tank water, same for the fish. The hardest part was moving that thing with the sand still in it!!! Soooo heavy. All went well for me. Good luck. Oh ya I just got done doing the pregnant thing, just help her keep calm!!

[petoonia]

Since its only two miles down the road. I would get a 20g tank go first thing in the morning with 20 gallons of your tank water and a few chunks of live rock. Set up the 20g with a heater, and a powerhead. Then I would transport all of your livestock to the 20g. In the event that your main tank goes through a mini cycle your fish should be ok in the 20g for a little while, just be sure to do daily water changes. Also having a 20g set up is good in case one of your fish should come down with ich.

Good Luck with move!!!!

Congratulations and Good Luck with the pregnancy!!!!

[ct103]

I recently moved a 55 fowlr used a few ice chests to move the livestock and buckets for the lr.The ice chest will help with any temprature issues during the move. I rinsed any loose debris before i replaced the lr and moved about 50% of the water and have had no probems due to the move.

[franv]

thanks a million everyone..
i dont know if i'll be able to set up a 20 gallon as i already have a 10 g QT with a sick (but getting better) clownfish in it and 2 other freshwater tanks (which will be moved on seperate days).

good to know to keep the rock fully submerged.
and good idea to keep the rock an animals in a bucket with PH, heater and some LR unti things in the main system settle down a bit...for a few hours anyway.

thanks again for all your help reefers!