tank move help plz

[BCreefmaker]

im moving a 120G reef tank this weekend in the cold and i was just wondering how long will the LR, corals, fish and inverts be ok in 5 gallon buckets w/o circulation or heat? they should not be in transit for too long. il also most likely get a van to help move all the buckets. is ditching all the and and replacing it new preferable or a must or does it depend on the condition of the sand?

[meco65]

You could get a big ice chest to put the fish, corals, and inverts in to help keep the temp up.

[Capt_Cully]

If you could set up some sort of intermediate tank or tanks it might help. Remove all the LR and corals. transport them to the holding area. Then move fish and inverts in same fashion to another holding tank at new location. Place a heater and some powerheads in the holding tanks/buckets/rubbermaid bins/garbage cans. Then move tank and equipment. Set that up, re-aquascape, allow that to settle, then add corals, fish, inverts. Try to save and use as much of your original tank water as possible. This would minimize stress. I would not worry too much about the sand. Save a cup or so to seed some new sand. Don't worry about lighting if its all gonna happen in one day. Afterall, most of your livestock probably came from Fiji, or hawaii, or somewhere else remote. And they apparently did just fine for a few hours/days.

Again, minimize stress, but give yourself enough time to get settled.

[NirvanaFan]

How long are they going to be in the car?

Because when you're at your new or old place you can just drop a powerhead and a heater in the bucket.

[kar93]

u could buy some heatpacks and dorp them in there or keep filling bottles of warm water up and putting them in there

[ihopss]

I left some water over my sand 1/2"in my tank and moved like that and it was fine.Put LR back in,pour water over LR (slowly).

[hmello@bermexin]

I would not leave anything in the tank when moving it. Too much stress on the seams. 120 is heavy enough without having to keep it still and level with water and sand sloshing around.

How far and how long is the move?

[BCreefmaker]

it going to be about a half hour load up and drive plus another 5 or ten minutes for unloading. i was planning on fully emptying the tank before moving and moving everything in 5G buckets. i was wondering if i could use substrate from my main 20 G its pretty clean aragonite plus whatever i have left from my bag? plus i might use my 35G frag tank to hold the corals while im setting up the 120G.

[hmello@bermexin]

So do you expect to have this done in a day? I'm talking about the tear down and the new setup up and running.

[BCreefmaker]

yes

[hmello@bermexin]

Okay then, I think that you will find that now matter how clean you think the substrate is when you start to take it down there will be more in it than you can imagine and it smells like well rotting saltwater stuff. Most people who move do use new substrate and just seed it with some of the top layer of the old. You will find that using the old will be - murky tank for a while - good possibility of a more intense cycle - than you would get using new.

All in all I don't think you will have any problem making this move for the amount of time you are talking about. Save as much of the old water that you can and have some newly mixed ready to add water to fill the balance of the tank.

Good luck, a stressful thing to do for sure. You should also expect some loss but again with the move you are talking about it should be minimal. Have helped to do this with a friends 90 gallon before in a 1 hour move and he lost very little. (no sump or fuge just the 90)

Best of luck and keep us posted on how it goes.

[BCreefmaker]

well should i put anything really delicate in my frag tank? corals and inverts. im sure the fish and LR will be fine.

[hmello@bermexin]

I think that everything live coral inverts and fish should be kept in something that you can add a heater and a small power head to while you set up the tank. Don't need much, just enough to move the water a little and to keep it warm.

[BCreefmaker]

well how about my frag tank? lights, heat, filtration plus is 35G, theres only about 10 corals. or is it better to set up use one of my other empty tanks?

[hmello@bermexin]

yeah frag tank is fine. anything really that will keep them wet warm and dome commotion around them.

[BCreefmaker]

the tangs and other fish should be ok in 5G buckets for a few hours right?

[hmello@bermexin]

Yup just keep the cover on to prevent the carpet surfing syndrome.

[Capt_Cully]

for the fish and coral, it'd be optimal if you had a styrofoam cooler to prevent much temp drop. I don't imagine BC is particularly warm this time of year.

When I moved from a 72g at my apartment to a new 180 at our new house, this is what I did.

I had additional rock cooked in the basement in a rubbermaid garbage cans for a few months. Cycled for sure. One bucket at a time, I made runs to the new place and put the rock, it's curing water and enough new water to cover the rocks. Then I transported the rock from my 72 over. I bagged each and every coral and ran it over and floated it for temp acclimation. Lastly I got all my fish into a couple of 5G buckets and started drip acclimating them immediately.

Whole process took a day, but I had alot of things in place already. Lots of new salt water was needed. Good idea to have plenty already mixed an waiting.

You can do this. Just be sure to do a dry run in your head. Make sure you've got enough time and that you've covered all your bases. Most importantly, make sure you have enough emergency supplies to allow for slip ups and spills.

Best of Luck.