Moving my tank

[AquariumDani]

I have a 20-gallon tank and I need to move it within the next two week.

My plan was to bag my fish and corals in separate bags, along with my inverts
I will be taking about 3/4 of water out of the tank, keeping my live rock and sand inside.

I will prepare water before the move to be put in - but my question is mainly around this. My sand took 2-3 days to settle when I first set my tank up, I assume this will be an issue in reintegrating my coral and fish back in their home. Does anyone have suggestions around this?

I thought about having a bigger place for the fish to be in temporarily, but what about the corals? Both fish and corals would be placed in completely new water - is this an issue for a few days?

I have an hour drive and I assume the sand will get all irritated, along with it being irritated by the watering being put in. Suggestions?

 

[Ebslinger]

Can you have already made salt water at your destination?

 

[AquariumDani]

Can you have already made salt water at your destination?

Yes, I plan to.

 

[Ebslinger]

Oh, from past experience, try not to transport live rock in an aquarium.

Get some 5 gallon buckets. They won't brake. As for sand, I wouldn't worry about it. keep it moist.

Fish and corals get bagged. LFS should have some bags you can use.

As for sand needing to settle... ya maybe. I've you've ever dove a reef after a huricane came through, it can get everywhere... but it and the reef survives.

 

[Ebslinger]

So ya, tear down, transport, set up rock and sand, add water... wait maybe 2 - 3 hours, test water... add fish and corals

 

[Ebslinger]

Oh, and last point, be prepared to make large water changes. Just in case.

This is what I did when moving across the country. Was a 2 1/2 *day trip.

*forgot to add the word day

 

[JustAnotherReefer]

wouldn't leave rock in the tank while moving it

if you can put it in a bucket do that.

one quick stop/ start and you can have a broken tank

 

[AquariumDani]

ty for the tips. i’ll be sure to utilize them.

 

[AquariumDani]

So ya, tear down, transport, set up rock and sand, add water... wait maybe 2 - 3 hours, test water... add fish and corals

add fish + coral even if the sand isn’t settled?

 

[Ebslinger]

add fish + coral even if the sand isn’t settled?

As long as the water tests ok (i.e. 0 ammonia and nitrite) I would. You can always blow off any fine dust later.

 

[VB313]

So how did your move go?

I will be moving my biocube 32 this Saturday I have same plan basically I’m bagging all my fish crabs snails and coral leaving sand untouched with a inch or so of water transporting and re setting up

 

[AquariumDani]

So how did your move go?

I will be moving my biocube 32 this Saturday I have same plan basically I’m bagging all my fish crabs snails and coral leaving sand untouched with a inch or so of water transporting and re setting up

I actually haven’t moved it yet. I’m moving it this weekend!

 

[VB313]

I actually haven’t moved it yet. I’m moving it this weekend!

Guess we’re in same boat lol I’m so nervous goodluck

 

[AquariumDani]

Guess we’re in same boat lol I’m so nervous goodluck

I actually ended up post poning my tank move - made a mistake. First time using the RODI system and I didn't realize or read how long it took for water to get in the bucket, so tank is only half way full :/ - how did your move go? overall, mine is going rather well, everything is alive and looks OK.

 

[T_BONE]

So ya, tear down, transport, set up rock and sand, add water... wait maybe 2 - 3 hours, test water... add fish and corals

That’s what I did when I moved mine.


When suppliers ship livestock they can be in transit from anywhere in the world. That being said, after the new setup you should have sufficient time to let the sand settle before adding livestock back to the tank. Just be sure to keep the temperature stable.

 

[VB313]

I actually ended up post poning my tank move - made a mistake. First time using the RODI system and I didn't realize or read how long it took for water to get in the bucket, so tank is only half way full :/ - how did your move go? overall, mine is going rather well, everything is alive and looks OK.

Move went great was a stressful day for me but actually after all said and done it went a lot easier then I thought everything survived and if you have a sand bed I highly recommend taking a bucket lid laying it on the sand bed and pumping or slowly dumping the water onto the lid my water barely got cloudy and definitely saved me time and stress on the fish

 

[AquariumDani]

Move went great was a stressful day for me but actually after all said and done it went a lot easier then I thought everything survived and if you have a sand bed I highly recommend taking a bucket lid laying it on the sand bed and pumping or slowly dumping the water onto the lid my water barely got cloudy and definitely saved me time and stress on the fish

Luckily the sand is not as foggy as I thought it would be. This is probably the least of my worries. My worry is actually how cold the new water is even with my heater

 

[VB313]

How cold is it

 

[Dkeller_nc]

Since that was last night, I assume things have returned to normal. In the future, though, if you need to heat water fast, you can put a quart mason jar with tap or RODI in the microwave, heat it up, screw the lid on, and float it in the tank. That'll do exactly nothing in a 100g, but in a nano it will heat the water rather quickly, especially if you have 2 such jars and rotate them as one cools off by transferring heat to the tank water.

 

[AquariumDani]

It was about 70 degrees. I had put the water on hot to warm up the next bucket of water that went into my tank. It balanced it out pretty quickly. Everything is going smooth, I do think I am losing 1 coral though - somehow while in the car it was out of water in it's bag for what I predict as the majority of the 1.5 hour car ride. It's a bit white around the edges, I thought I had made sure everyone was in their water. I'll know for next time.