Moving a tank

[Rob.In.AZ]

Hey all
So one of my cardinal rules is to not move my tanks. I’ve moved tanks in the past. I’ve moved multiple tanks in a single move (also another one of my rules-only one tank. Hats off to people that have multiple tanks.).

With that said, I’m moving my 155g. Wife and I are building a new house (super fun right now) and I figure I either move it or I’ll be out of the hobby.

Tank has largely been fragged out. LR and fish. Tricky part is we have like a 3 week window (maybe) of when we’ll get the keys. So I need to figure out the logistics.

Any tips welcome.

My gameplay:
Move LR to 1 or 2 Brute trash cans with water and a pump to move water.
Move fish to some sort of bin, water obviously. Air bubbler?
Temp on both should be okay, ever thought we’ll be moving is Dec, we’re in So Az and temps should be pretty mild. Can add a heater as needed.
At that point the tank will be cleaned and dry and essentially becomes a heavy thing to move.

The sticking point is - we’ll be homeless somewhere from 2 days to 2 or 3 weeks. Super hard to plan for since we don’t know which yet. Keep in mind, we signed our contract in early Feb!

Not sure what to do with the tank. We’ll have movers to move it out and in. I should (will) have the new stand ready. But the tank itself will either need to be in a pod or a uhaul or maybe even in back of my truck for a few days ( makes me nervous, hopefully some kid doesn’t decide to get stupid if it’s in my pickup in the driveway for a couple of days). Outside of that, not sure what to do if it’s in a pod or uhaul. Thinking of building a “cage” out of 2x4s and filling/ surrounding the tank with pillows and blankets.

so looking for any hints or tips to get everybody to the new house alive ( not super worried about this, think they’ll be okay) and in one piece…especially the tank itself.

 

[Dan_P]

Hey all
So one of my cardinal rules is to not move my tanks. I’ve moved tanks in the past. I’ve moved multiple tanks in a single move (also another one of my rules-only one tank. Hats off to people that have multiple tanks.).

With that said, I’m moving my 155g. Wife and I are building a new house (super fun right now) and I figure I either move it or I’ll be out of the hobby.

Tank has largely been fragged out. LR and fish. Tricky part is we have like a 3 week window (maybe) of when we’ll get the keys. So I need to figure out the logistics.

Any tips welcome.

My gameplay:
Move LR to 1 or 2 Brute trash cans with water and a pump to move water.
Move fish to some sort of bin, water obviously. Air bubbler?
Temp on both should be okay, ever thought we’ll be moving is Dec, we’re in So Az and temps should be pretty mild. Can add a heater as needed.
At that point the tank will be cleaned and dry and essentially becomes a heavy thing to move.

The sticking point is - we’ll be homeless somewhere from 2 days to 2 or 3 weeks. Super hard to plan for since we don’t know which yet. Keep in mind, we signed our contract in early Feb!

Not sure what to do with the tank. We’ll have movers to move it out and in. I should (will) have the new stand ready. But the tank itself will either need to be in a pod or a uhaul or maybe even in back of my truck for a few days ( makes me nervous, hopefully some kid doesn’t decide to get stupid if it’s in my pickup in the driveway for a couple of days). Outside of that, not sure what to do if it’s in a pod or uhaul. Thinking of building a “cage” out of 2x4s and filling/ surrounding the tank with pillows and blankets.

so looking for any hints or tips to get everybody to the new house alive ( not super worried about this, think they’ll be okay) and in one piece…especially the tank itself.

Oh boy, this sounds complicated. Some questions and ideas.

You have moved tanks before. Have you moved yourself and moved a tank at the same time? Moving is a stressful and exciting time. Adding the tank move to the tension of moving to new home seems like you’ll be testing your marriage.

The potential for problems goes up the longer you store the live stock. No matter how experienced one is at keeping an aquarium, being successful in dealing with live stock storing might not come automatically. I expect a certain amount of die off on the live rock. You will need to decide how much of a worrier you are about this live stock sitting in containers for up to 2-3 weeks. It could be a very long time.

And then there will be the tension between setting up the tank versus setting up the new home. Ugh! You be the judge if you want to do this.

If the 2-3 week storage period is a possibility, 1) sell off everything, or 2) find a friend that will let you set up a temporary system in their home for two months and transfer it at a leisurely pace from there. Maybe renting a temperature controlled storage space or garage if you have no friends with room to spare.

 

[Screwgunner]

You got this. Temp for fish will be number one . No light for liverock for aweek or two should not have to mush die off. Just keep it airiated.

 

[Rob.In.AZ]

Oh boy, this sounds complicated. Some questions and ideas.

You have moved tanks before. Have you moved yourself and moved a tank at the same time? Moving is a stressful and exciting time. Adding the tank move to the tension of moving to new home seems like you’ll be testing your marriage.

The potential for problems goes up the longer you store the live stock. No matter how experienced one is at keeping an aquarium, being successful in dealing with live stock storing might not come automatically. I expect a certain amount of die off on the live rock. You will need to decide how much of a worrier you are about this live stock sitting in containers for up to 2-3 weeks. It could be a very long time.

And then there will be the tension between setting up the tank versus setting up the new home. Ugh! You be the judge if you want to do this.

If the 2-3 week storage period is a possibility, 1) sell off everything, or 2) find a friend that will let you set up a temporary system in their home for two months and transfer it at a leisurely pace from there. Maybe renting a temperature controlled storage space or garage if you have no friends with room to spare.

Forgot to add that if it’s in the weeks range I may be able to drop the livestock off at a LFS. Owners a good dude and I trust him and staff. Could have him take and store the tank as well, but probably be pricey. Might be worth it though, opposed to having a shattered tank in the POD/ truck.

You got this. Temp for fish will be number one . No light for liverock for aweek or two should not have to mush die off. Just keep it airiated.

Good point, meant ask. Was planning on just throwing a power head in with the rock. Assuming it’s open (other than during transpo), do I need an air stone or something for LR?

I’m actually not too worried about the LR. Might be easiest to sell off the fish and just move tank & LR. I mean, for sure would be easier. But would suck. Have had most the fish for 7 or 8 years.

 

[Screwgunner]

I could not get rid of my babys. I live in Indiana and had to move in the winter . My fish made it but my serpent star lost most of his legs .and grew them back over time. That was the only clean up crew that made it.