Moving a tank a long way...

[hobbzz]

If everything goes the way I plan I might be moving a long way soon, and would like to take my tank with. I'm talking a 1300 mile move. Anyone that has done this before have any advice/tips for moving livestock that far? If it's feasible I'd love to be able to keep most of what I currently have. The tank is only a 20g, so moving the equipment shouldn't be a problem, just worried about the livestock.

[AHDOnline]

1300 is a long way, I moved 400 miles in july. I moved three 55's, a 49, and a 180. I didn't lose anything. 1300 miles might be different, but not sure.

What I did since it was only a days drive is take four 10 gallons, and several tubs of water and setup these tanks two weeks earlier. Three salt 1 fresh, and got every single 5 gallon or larger bucket all my surrounding fish stores would give me. It took me a 15 ft budget truck to move it all but it got it.

My advise would be bag buddies. Worth the purchase. Bag the fish appropriately most fish stores will give you a handful, sell off anything you dont want or need now.

I used styrofoam coolers to put the bagged fish in, no air except what i captured into the bag (remember not to fill it with air by blowing into it) It takes a few trys to get the bag rght but not hard, and it worked well. Being the summer no issues with getting cold. You might also want to not feed the fish for the day leading up to the move so as to lesson thier waste.

[davidryder]

Just a couple months ago I moved from Cincinnati to Tampa (~900mi). I picked up a couple 5g buckets, drilled a hole in the lid and put airlines with airstones attached to them at the bottom. I filled them with tank water, live rock, and macro algae. I kept the sand in the tank as I was concerned about disturbing a 3.5" sandbed that much.

I have a cigarette lighter inverter that powered the airpump. I lost 2 shrimp and a yellow tang but everything else made it. The water got considerably cold and I wish I had picked up a couple 25w heaters as I'm pretty sure that's one of the contributing factors to the losses.

It was about a 36 hour trip...

Oh and the live rock that didn't fit in the buckets I wrapped in wet newspaper and packed it in a box lined with garbage bags. The rock didn't suffer any visilble loss - including attached halimeda.

HTH

[hobbzz]

davidryder Thanks for the tip about the cigarette adapter, I'll look into one of those.

I was thinking about possilby putting them in bags and styros with heat packs, then mixing new water when I get to the hotel (will have to stay one night). Anyone ever try that?

[birdfish]

Best would probably to bag the livestock like it is shipped.
Double or triple bags, newspaper around them, maybe even
bubble wrap, heat packs, in styros, best with cardboard outer.

Go to a welding place and get a few squirts of OX and fill the
bags half water and half OX. They should make it 2 days if the
bag is big enough for the animal. I used to ship Spain, and we
packed for a 55 hours transit. More water, more OX, that's all,
less than 5% DOA.

I have used trash cans to move some tanks good distances.
The hagen battery powered air pumps are great, but have a
bunch of D batteries on hand. For emergency, have hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on hand (ox in a bottle). Just don't OD them on it since the ox increase will raise ph. a Teaspoon will ox up gallons of water for hours.

In general, don't wake the stuff up while in transit. Let it be.
It's in a semi-coma, respiring less than normal by time you stop for the night, and it will probably harm it less to keep it closed
and dark.... but only if you got to OX in the bags. Medical supply won't give it out without a prescription. Welders will laugh and say "you gotta be kiddin' me - OK, here, squirt, I gotta see this"

Wholesale shippers use welding supply for the OX in LA.

and oh yeah, don't pop the filled bags with a cigarette.

good luck
birdfish

[hobbzz]

Originally posted by birdfish

and oh yeah, don't pop the filled bags with a cigarette.

I don't smoke so that won't be a problem. Thanks for the input.

[davidryder]

I would not recommend transporting your livestock in bags. When they are shipped for overnight delivery the bags are filled with oxygen and don't stay in the bags for more than 24hrs.

By the time I got to my new home and got the new tank set up it was over 55hrs... I didn't feel comfortable waiting less then 24hrs after the tank was setup to put the fish in.

[Philby]

Do you have anyone that could "babysit" your livestock for you and then overnight once you get your tank setup in the new house?

you could just do the newspaper method for the LR.

It's a little more expensive - but might be a little safer.

[erendon]

Yeah, I agree with davidryder. I too moved (no as far but all the same). They also sell power converters that you hook up to your car lighter and it has the same function as a power strip. (I'll see if I can find the name of some) I think you might be able to find some in a camping supply.

[hobbzz]

Originally posted by Philby
Do you have anyone that could "babysit" your livestock for you and then overnight once you get your tank setup in the new house?

I had thought about that, and have a few people I can ask. But I've got two fish I'll be bringing, a harlequin shrimp, pistol shrimp, anemone shrimp, cleaner shrimp/crabs, and 44 pieces of coral (mostly sps) some of which are frags, some 4"+ colonies and some attached to rocks, and one clam (might just sell that one). That would be a lot to ship, not to mention a lot to bag up.

If I bring everything with, I'm thinking possibly bags (triple or quadruple) for the coral, in styros with heat packs that I would change throughout the day to maintain temp. And a 5 gal bucket for the fish, with a hole in the lid to run wires through for a powerhead with venturi adapter, and a heater.

The fish are a pair of black and white clowns. If they come with on the ride down, should I separate them for transport? Or since they're a pair, would it be all right to keep them in the same bucket without a partition?

[RumLad]

A venturi PH in a 5 gal bucket, whilst riding in the car?
Talk about flow! If nothing else, they will get their exercise.
I would tend to agree with birdfish in regards to bagging the fish up, with oxygen, and letting them stay in the dark for the entire time.
That's how the majority of the fish and coral vendors do it, and their survival rates are very high. Why mess with them in a hotel room? let them sleep.

[hobbzz]

The venturi adapter is just the little hose that you connect to the end of the powerhead to allow it to suck in air. It would be a small powerhead used to oxygenate the water. The fish wouldn't be messed with. The lid would be put on when I left, and wouldn't be taken of until I got to the new house. This way they would have warm, oxygenated water.

Anyone have any thoughts of putting the pair of clowns in the same bucket if I go that route?

[bj32482]

Why not have someone local ship your fish and corals to you after you arrive and setup...

[hobbzz]

^^^^

Originally posted by hobbzz
I had thought about that, and have a few people I can ask. But I've got two fish I'll be bringing, a harlequin shrimp, pistol shrimp, anemone shrimp, cleaner shrimp/crabs, and 44 pieces of coral (mostly sps) some of which are frags, some 4"+ colonies and some attached to rocks, and one clam (might just sell that one). That would be a lot to ship, not to mention a lot to bag up.

[siropa]

Given all the guys in our local club Brent, you could probably find someone to watch and ship the stuff to you after you arrive.

So how soon are you fleeing the winters?

[birdfish]

Many clown pairs are shipped to the U.S together in a single bag so they don't lose contact with each other and break the bond. However, at least one shipper imports them in seperate bags that are taped together so the fish can see each other all the time except in the dark, when they don't anyway (but normally are able to touch). Just make sure you "over bag" which means twice as much water and air as you think it needs.

Remember all the fish entering the U.S. are bagged. But WITH OX! A small damsel is shipped from the Philippines in a tablespoon or two of water. The volume determined by what is needed that they won't ammonia burn themselves for the given transit time.

Keep in mind buckets will slosh. Way more than you think.
Tight fitting lids are important, or all your other stuff will be wet.

birdfish.

[hobbzz]

Bill, if I leave before the years end, I can get a $1500 deductible on this years taxes, so that would be prefered. I'm talking to some friends about renting a room in their house until I find an apartment so I should know on that in the next few days. After that I just need to find a job, put in a two weeks notice here, and I'm gone.

The only thing I'm gonna miss is the fact that you guys are so active with meetings. I'm (hopefully) moving to Jacksonville Florida and it looks like they don't have any meetings what-so-ever. And of course the F&S swap. Hopefully I'll get to see your 275 before I go!

[siropa]

Damn that could be a quick moving move for you.

That's a big area. maybe you'll find a fish group based on another site. Though you are probably right that it might be hard to find one as active as our group.

If you are going to be down in appleton some night/weekend and want to stop by for a tank tour, PM sometime. i'll gladly show it off anytime

[hobbzz]

It will probably be a month or two. I'd say 4 weeks at the earliest though. But it all hinges on finding a roommate. And my old roommate already has one so...who knows.

Yeah I checked the Northeast Florida forum on here and there were only like 10 threads active in the last 30 days...and no meets. The Orlando forum on the other hand is very active. IIRC that's about a 2-3 hour drive from Jax, so i could probably do that a few times a year.

[davidryder]

www.roommates.com i used it a couple of times when i was in the navy - worked out well in both cases.

[hobbzz]

^ I actually looked at that the first time I moved to Jax. But I ended up finding my roommate on a forum like this, but for cars. I have a few options that opened up today, so it's looking good.