Looking for some good ideas

[Poeticlydead]

It appears I will be moving at the end of October (hopefully) and I am looking for ideas to help me prepare and ease the move of my reef tank. First the drive will take 3-3.5 hours so I figure with tear down and set up this will be an all day affair. The tank in question is my 90 gallon DT and 20gallon (long) sump.

Ideally I want a 100% survival and I want to avoid the tank recycling. So any ideas/suggestions on how to accomplish this move is much appreciated.


Notes on the tank:
90gallon dt
3 inch sand bed
120 - 150 lbs live rock
4 fish
1 emerald crab
a number of CUC (snails, blue leg hermits etc..)
various corals including some moody trachs

[tomasga]

I would transfer all of the inhabitants to containers with water from the tank, If where you are driving it is going to be cold then I would place a heater in those containers to maintain adequate temperature, if it is hot then be sure to have the vehicle closed with AC running at a reasonable temp to keep the inhabitants from hoverheating. Be sure to transport as much of the existing water as possible and have some fresh water and new SW in place to replace any losses due to spils, etc. Keep the rock moist throughout the entire trip, most all of the bacteria should live fine for that time frame. This should overall be pretty straight forward, the idea is to keep the chemistry as consistant as possible with how it is in the tank to avoid stress related problems.

[mklukas]

I Agree with whats posted above, some plastic containers to hold the rock/water/livestock should get the job done. Keeping the rock wet and as much of the existing water as possible will be key.

If you can have a batch of pre-mixed SW ready at the new place prior to moving everything that would be advantageous as well.

[jlemoine2]

Agree with both of the suggestions above. The big brute trash cans with wheels are helpful for moving larger quantities of water with rocks, but you would need a truck with a ramp for that. Otherwise, any of the rubbermaid style bins would work.

You only have 4 fish, so you can get away with a 5 gallon bucket to move them. I would suggest having a heater and small powerhead handy for when you arrive at your destination. They may be in that bucket for a long time while you set everything back up.

[eros]

I have a similar move coming up near the end of the year. I'm trying to plan my move also. I'm planning on ditching my sand completely. I reused this sand once already and regret it. Other than that I pretty much plan on doing what was already mentioned although I may ask a friend to hold some of my more desirable corals until the move is complete just to be safe.

I also plan on bagging each coral individually then putting the bags together in a rubbermaid filled with water that has a heater to maintain temp. This way the corals aren't exposed to each other and I won't have to worry about chemical warfare during the move.

[Poeticlydead]

Should I bag the fish seperately first?
1 tang (hippo)
2 percs (false)
1 goby (banded)

worried that the clowns would fight or chase the other fish in such a small space

Since I'm transporting the existing water should the fish be in indivigual 5 gallon buckets of tank water during the move or bag and keep in a large rubbermaid container?

I will be keeping the argonite bed not sure If I'll leave it in the tank or take it out. Suggestions?

[jlemoine2]

I would not bag the fish. The small environment inside a bag would quickly turn bad for them. I've never had trouble keeping multiple fish in a 5 gallon bucket for moving purposes. Usually they are freaked out enough by the experience that they don't worry too much about fighting.

As far as your sand goes, they only reason i would take it out is if it makes the tank easier to carry. For example, if there are only 2 people moving the tank, it might be helpful removing the sand.

Other thoughts on this?

[Ebisan]

I had to move my 50g about 20 miles away. Like the advice mentioned above, bought several rubbermaid tubs for water and rocks, smaller sized bins with lid to hold my fish and corals, left the sand in the tank (should have discarded it), and had SW made up already at the destination. It took all day to move it but I didnt lose a thing. Only problem that arose later was the hair algae problem because of disturbing the sand bed. I should have replaced it with new sand.

[Poeticlydead]

Great stuff so far anything else we need to think of?
Anything to avoid maybe?