Best way to move stocked tank

[MisterAtlantis]

Hi, am just in process of buying a 5'x2'x2' with 4' sump, stocked with about 9 fish, 2 small hermits, shrimp,2' sarcophyton,several mushrooms,button polyps,tree coral,2 small rics,small coloured zoos and 40-50 kilos live rock.
All inhabitants in good condition, substrate in poor condition and needs replacing, elevated nitrates [dont have a reading] last water change about 3-4 weeks ago.
Need to move it to my house a 5 minute drive away in next 3-4 weeks.
Do I:
1. move everything in buckets including water, clean sump, pumps and pipework, place old water into tank, add LR and new sand, thinking 50% live sand, to 3-4'' depth, leave to circulate with skimmer on, until sand settles then start adding corals, CUC and fish. Hopefully shouldn't take more than half a day, but how soon after adding sand can I add livestock?, and how long is it safe to leave stock in buckets?
2. Get a 4' holding tank put LR, livestock and water into buckets, transfer water ,LR and live stock into holding tank with spare heater, and use the tanks pumps to circulate. Clean everything as above,put LR, fish and corals into seperate buckets, pump water from holding tank into display tank add LR, new sand, followed by livestock.
3. As 1 or 2 above but use 30 to 40% fresh RO/salt in DT
4.As 1 or 2 above but use 100 % fresh RO/salt
5. Put fresh RO into holding tank with 20 kg LR from tank and 20 Kg cured LR from LFS, let this cycle for 3-4 weeks, acclimatising stock before adding to holding tank, then clean everything as above,put LR, fish and corals into seperate buckets, pump water from holding tank into display tank add LR, new sand, followed by livestock.
Or can you suggest a better method than above
The present owner has used RO water, although has neglected regular maintainance and water changes
Any help greatly appreciated,
Andy

[James79]

What about setting up the holding tank a few days in advance with new saltwater and cured live rock, a large rubbermaid should work well for small fish. This will give you a few days to clean tank and get setup without rushing to introduce livestock.
If possible test the params of tank and match temp, salinity and Ph.

[cdbias2]

I carried my old water but only used it for swooshing rocks and transporting livestock. I used newly made SW and had no losses. The tank was set up for 8 years prior.

[Robamus]

I bought my tank a few months back. I bought it from a friend who lives in my neighborhood, about a half mile drive away.

We put a trash can (new) in the truck, and took 5 gallon loads out to it until it was full. Then we put the rock and remaining water in 5 Gal buckets and fish in another. Corral too. Replaced around 15 gal of water that we didnt have storage for and that was it....

[MisterAtlantis]

Does anyone know how long i can keep fish and coral in buckets,
Am thinking method 2 may work best ie: use holding tank instead of buckets and fill DT with 100% fresh RO/salt, if I do this how long can i leave stock in HT without LR and how long after adding RO/salt, LR and sand to DT do i have to wait before adding stock
Thanks
Andy

[MisterAtlantis]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14993128#post14993128 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Robamus
I bought my tank a few months back. I bought it from a friend who lives in my neighborhood, about a half mile drive away.

We put a trash can (new) in the truck, and took 5 gallon loads out to it until it was full. Then we put the rock and remaining water in 5 Gal buckets and fish in another. Corral too. Replaced around 15 gal of water that we didnt have storage for and that was it....
How long did the whole process take?
Andy

[PRDubois]

Prep
1 - Get lots of 5 gal buckets and/or rubbermaid containers. Whatever you get have covers.
2 - Have about 15 to 20 gal of new SW ready.
3 - Have site for the tank at new location ready. GFI's installed etc...
4 - When moving the tank - Concentrate on moving the tank and not the other stuff.
5 - Clean out and pack anything under your tank line chemicals, junk, old equipment, etc...
6 - Have a plan and stick to it (alsohow do you want the rock arranged the same or different , decide now)


Day of move:
7 - Unplug everything
8 - Part Fill up 4 containers with some water from your tank
9 - Start removing the corals, rock, CUC and Fish into the 4 seperate containers
10 - Drain remaining water into containters leaving enough water to be just over the sand.
11 - Tear down everything and put it in your truck,van,whatever.
12 - Make sure everything is covered and drive carefully especially over speed bumps.

Get to the new house:
13 - Position the stand where you have already decided it will go. now is not the time to decide this.
14 - Place the tank, sump if you have and equipment in place.
15 - Place a dinner plate on the sand and slowly pour extra old water onto the plate. this will help with preventing a sand storm
16 - Place the rock back in the tank where you want it.
17 - Place the corals back in the tank where you want it.
18 - Put the fish in the tank
19 - Top off the water and plug everything in
20 - Water will probally be cloudy but will clear up. If you have a HOB filter like a wisper or a canister filter you can run it with filter pads and carbon to clear the water faster.

Sit back and enjoy

[Robamus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14995326#post14995326 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MisterAtlantis
How long did the whole process take?
Andy

Well, we started at like 10AM, and we were having a session enjoying our labor around 3... The "move" took like 2 hours, and 2 more to arrange the rock.

[Robamus]

PS There were 3 people doing the work, so it might have sped things up quite a bit. We really were working fast.