Thread: Moving
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Unread 11/24/2017, 08:41 AM   #3
Reef Guy 04
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Avon, OH
Posts: 45
I moved a 65 gallon reef 6 hours away just using 5 gallon buckets and stirofoam coolers. It work very well.

First step, take lots of pics!

Next, all the senitive live stock (Fish and inverts) was bagged and kept in the coolers. Remove the water you will need for bagging first in case you have to distrupt rock and sand. You want the water for bagging to be clean.

I separated the live rock between pieces that had corals attached and those that did not. Put the pieces without corals in the buckets first, then wedge pieces with coral close to the top to prevent damage. I used chunks of stirofoam to wedge between them to help keep them stationary. Fill the buckets with just enough water to cover. The most difficult coral for me to move was a large orange cap monti that barely fit in a bucket on it's own. Only about 1 inch clearence around the diameter. I used stirofoam and wedged it around the attached rock and used partially filled bags of water around the coral base to limit sloshing.

All the sand (Carib crushed coral) went into one bucket with enough water to cover.

Things I learned...
1. Take pictures!
2. Premix water to replace dicarded water.
3. Label bags and buckets with it's contents.

Since you are only moving 5 minutes you shouldn't have any problems. I didn't use any water circulators, so you should be fine.

Good luck!


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