Moving Tank, need to know a few things...

[Green Thumb]

I plan on doing a tank move in a few days and I have a few questions in hopes of making this as smooth as possible.


I will be setting up a 30 gallon and a 20 gallon tank at the new house which ill be using as holding tanks for corals and fish.

Ill be mixing up some new salt water for these tanks, this water will be in the tanks for 24 hours before I add corals and fish.

Im wondering if its a good idea to put corals and fish in different tanks?

Im moving realy close to where I live presently, should I still expect to see a cycle with the live rock?

If so I could put the LR in a separate rubbermaid container as opposed to put them in with corals or fish as to avoid deaths from amonia spike?

Once all Livestock is moved I will bring my display tank over and set it up with mostly the same water (yes I plan on moving the water) also will bring remote sand bed over without disturbing it too much. I will have an air pump for circulation in the DSP tank while I hook things up again.

Then I plan on reconecting the drainage plumbing, and Im wondering if theres a special glue I can use to reconect my drain without having to wait very long for it to cure?


I might be leaving a few things out but mostly that will be it. I need all the advice I can get in order to do this successfully. If you see any glitches in my plan please let me know. Helpfull coments are also appreciated.
Thanks
__________________
100 gal sps tank. 6000gph of flow, MH's,VHO atinics, octopus skimmer, Chromis, Chocolate tang, Fuge, DSB sump. 3 years of keeping SPS.

[szwab]

you can pvc the plumbing together and use it pretty much right away.
I would keep the corals and fish seperate if possible. You will need to acclimate everything going into the holding tanks and then again when going back into the tanks. How long do you expect the entire move to take? you may be better off bagging the animals up with tank water leaving them in bag until the move is completed... (possibly) this would in some cases reduce the stress a bit.

[Green Thumb]

Thank you for answering so promptly.

I think this move will take more or less a whole day.

The reason I want to make holding tanks is because Im worried about having some kind of ammonia spike due to moving the rock.

Is there any way that having this rock out of the water for only 15 minutes might mean I wont have anything die off on it?

I wouldnt want to stick everything in together again and then have my fish die due to ammonia spike.

How will a clam, acroporas and montiporas react to an amonia spike?


I could always go to the extent of moving the rock in water, do you think it might be better or even nessesary?

Thank you for the tip as far as pvc glue goes, ill buy a coupler and glue it back together, this saves me some trouble!

Thanks again for your help!!!!

[szwab]

if the rock will only be out for 15 minutes you should be fine. To be on the safe side you could have some extra water made up in case you'd need to do a water change a day or 2 after if there were issues with something.
You will have some die off but shouldn't be much obviously the wetter the rock stays the better you could put wet towels over it or even wrap it in wet newspaper.
IME the corals and clam should be fine. just remember to try and keep temps and parameters as steady as possible.

good luck!
remember it always takes longer than planned :)

[yettihead]

There is a great how too on Melevsreef.com: How to Succesfully Move a Tank (http://www.melevsreef.com/moving_a_tank.html)

[fishdoc11]

Don't use all new water in the holding tanks. I would go with at least 50% old water and more than that if you can.

Also it's a good idea to have more water mixed up than you think you will need before the move.

hth, Chris

[Green Thumb]

szwab, thanks for answering. Now Im thinking I might actualy move the rock IN water as to make it as smooth as possible.

yettihead, thanks very much for that very informative thread!!!
plenty of good pointers in that one.

Im wondering if you guys have ever used seachems "Prime"??

fishdoc, thanks for the sound advice, since you guys make emphasis on extra water it must be true, I will fill up an extra trashcan of salt water!! I had also thaught of using part old water and part new water for the holding tanks, thanks for that tip

Thanks again, Im feeling reasured now. Man this is going to be nuts!!

[the other tang]

Moving the rock in water is a must, I just moved my entire reef 900 mi awa y and had no losses. Then lr will help reduce the spike. i didn't see any mention of substrate. I tossed all my old sand and bought 30% live and the rest fill and mixed them. It worked very well , I got a little ammonia spike but a water change fixed that. I was warned that moving substrate is the #1 mistake people make. Moving the old water is not key providing you can get new water ready for the tank upon arrival, if not move the water. I had to, it sucked but it worked. I bagged all fish, inverts, and put rock corals in a bucket and let the road move the water. Leave plenty of air in there if you plan to have livestock in there for more the a few hrs. If you need more time don't forget to open the lid to refresh the air. My challenge was warm water, think about how you will get your water up to temp in time. My heater works fine to maintain the temp but it was out matched to build temp in a reasonable time. i had to set the buckets in a bathtub of hot water to assist. Prime is agreat product, I have used it for years. Lastly make as much water as you can as soon as you can, you will need it.