Road Trip with Corals

vader88 · #1 12/07/2007, 05:44 AM

I'm moving this month from FL to NC. It's about 800 miles going from 80 F to 40 F weather. I'm spinning my wheels if I should attempt to move my corals and just sell them to the local fish store.

I have a 29 gallon biocube with the following ...

1 clown
1 firefish
finger leather
frogspawn
bubble coral
button polyps
star polyps
kenya
feather dusters
various hermits and snails.

Here's my plans .... of course, tank down last, tank up first

Transporting the livestock in a igloo cooler that I will install some baffles in and running a inverter that I can plug a heater and air pump into. The baffles will be acrylic with holes drilled throughout so the water can circulate but not have so much movement that the livestock is thrown around.

I'm going to call ahead of time and have my sister go to the LFS and get 20 gallons of premixed saltwater and keep it at room tempature so I can lessen the shock during transfer.

I'm going to leave the live sand in the bottom of the tank and leave a little bit of water in the bottom just to cover it.

I'm thinking of building a little deck in the bottom of the cooler to put the live rock in or can I transport it in a bucket, don't know how much dieoff I will get since it won't have heat or circulation.

Is this a good plan or should I sell the livestock...

Thanks

MalHavoc · #2 12/07/2007, 07:58 AM

I moved a 33 gallon tank in 100 degree heat about 500 miles a few years ago. My fish went into separate 2 gallon containers with air stones, and corals went into a big container with tank water. I didn't bother with air stones in that one. Ran the fish air stones off of an inverter, and kept the temp of the car comfortable with the AC.

IMHO, your corals will do fine. mail order places routinely ship corals via air freight and it can take upwards of a day or two for them to reach their destination, and they aren't being shipped with air stones or anything like that.

Vin7250 · #3 12/07/2007, 10:19 AM

i was just gonna say how do you think you LFS gets the corals and fish you buy......just do exactly waht you said and dont deviate from your plan!!!

usmc121581 · #4 12/07/2007, 10:33 AM

I 2006 I moved from SC to MD. I took everthing with me. Just keep them in the car a cabin of the truck if you use a moving truck.

vader88 · #5 12/08/2007, 12:00 AM

Ok, guys ... I'm pretty well planned out for travel with the coral, fish, tank and sand ..... last part... will the live rock be ok in a 5 gallon bucket with water ? Does it need circulation and tempature control.

I figure it will be 15 hours that it will be out of a tank environment

LockeOak · #6 12/08/2007, 12:49 AM

The live rock will be fine as long as it's wet, though try keep the temperature above 60 and below 90 to minimize dieoff.

LockeOak · #7 12/08/2007, 12:52 AM

I should add that a few months ago I took live rock, sand and chaeto from RI to GA in a 5G bucket, everything did fine. Kept the temperature pretty steady and had an air pump. A few zoanthids stuck to a rock survived and even a couple small patches of SPS(!) encrusted on the rock made it. I shipped all of the other livestock, but the rock and sand are a piece of cake

uscharalph · #8 12/08/2007, 02:12 AM

You should be ok with the move.

jadeguppy · #9 12/08/2007, 08:36 AM

Be sure to have a good seal. The water will move and splash due to the movement of the car. No need to circulate. Jamming a few pieces of styrofoam in to keep them from smashing each other will probably be cheaper and esier than full blown baffles. It will also allow you to use the cooler in the future. I wouldn't drill holes. The water will exchange air on its own. I highly suggest a cooler that has a locking lid or using bunge cords to strap the lid on. I moved some fish recently (hour drive) and the lid was just loose enough for water to splash out with elevation changes.

A good cooler and climate controled car go a long way to keeping the temperature steady for the corals. remember, the temperature inside the car will not be 40, you will be running a heater. Just don't leave it off for long when you stop to eat, etc.

vader88 · #10 12/08/2007, 11:26 AM

Thanks gusy ... I'm the crazy guy who loves to drive in the cold with a jacket on and heat off no matter the temperature. Corals are going to ruin my trip. I'm heading up to my LFS to grab some styrofoam containers, I already have a cooler also. I'm going to see which works better.

Thanks alot.