Any hints on moving a small reef?

[respite]

The time is near. Im trucking back downtown. Screw the fan.

I have to move my 55 gallon "reef" tank.

I plan on renting a van or suv so everything stays nice and heated through the move. I have enough 5 gallon painters buckets to move all the rock and most of the water.

Due to having ick in my tank (lost my kole tang tonight), i will be returning the 3 living chromis to a lfs. Let the tank stay fish free for a few months. I plan on setting up a 10 gallon so i will never have to deal with it again.

Last time, i only had green chromis and live rock to worry about... This time i have a few stars, a condy that i hope to get rid of, tons of snails, and a handful of corals. Most lps, one soft, and one sps.

I wanted to get a 125 to set up at the new place, but i dont think ill have the cash for that and a security deposit.

Current system is berlin style. No sump.

Any suggestions for the move? Warnings for disasters? Extra supplies needed?

[manderx]

put everything in baggies and throw the baggies in the buckets.

have 2-3 times as much water as you think you'll need already made up at the new place.

this is debatable, but i'd probably throw out the old sand or wash it really well. save a little to reseed with. no matter how careful you try to be, it's going to make a mess and/or have some dieoff (depending on how long it takes) that could be a problem. consider barebottom- starboard is pretty cool.

[strictly marine]

Put everything in baggies and put it in a cooler. I personally keep all the sand but I only keep but I take out half of the sand and wash it with tap water then condition it. Then I keep 25-50 percent of the water(depends on if you have a lot of water) 25 percent is perfered. After you put everything back it get the tank up in temp then accilmate your stuff as if they are going into a new tank.
If you need some coolers for live rock and fish, your welcome to pick up some from my store. I can also give you some baggies if your want.

[griffey83]

Allow yourself as much time as possible, preferable day time hours. I under estimated the time it was going to take when i moved and decided to start at noon and ending up having to stay up very late to get everything done.

[prop-frags]

Another thing Eric, is that Charlie has a 125 and I'm sure he'd make you a great offer.

[respite]

I have maybe 2 pounds of substrate, just covering the front glass. Rest is barebottom. Thats no issue.

Sounds like im pretty set. Just need to grab a few baggies and ill be good to go..

[ranceego]

use the 10 gallon for a sump. very important. then what everyone said

[cmoresps]

hmm, depending on the type of corals you have, I might lightly feed the tank once or twice a week, with that little bit of sand I doubt you have nassarius, but corals need fed too. If you had been feeding your corals rotifers or some blend or something just do that. And oh yeah, if you have a wet dry DONT add fresh water to an empty tank, then trow in the salt and have the system mix it, you WILL kill your bacteria bed if your using a wet/dry