Moving....sell or move coral?

[Tclason1]

Moving from Texas to Michigan later this year. Should I sell or try and move my livestock? I’ve worked so hard the past 3 years to grow everything out, I would hate to sell it, but hate even more to lose colonies moving....what to do? Who’s been in my shoes before and what did you do?

 

[Jekyl]

What part of Michigan? Some good shops in the area and a ton of local reefers.

 

[JoeG370Z]

Not related but What kind of eel is that?

 

[CMMorgan]

Moving from Texas to Michigan later this year. Should I sell or try and move my livestock? I’ve worked so hard the past 3 years to grow everything out, I would hate to sell it, but hate even more to lose colonies moving....what to do? Who’s been in my shoes before and what did you do?

Beautiful tank. Perhaps you can find some one or a LFS in Michigan to forward your babies too? A lot of people mail coral overnight. There is a local group here called the Midwest Reefers ....

 

[Devaji]

sweet tank man.
hmmm hard choice I think you should mail me those fluffy LPS. that way you can go full SPS on the new tank.

 

[Devaji]

Not related but What kind of eel is that?

I think its a ribben ell. not 100% tho..

 

[Johnny337]

Moving from Texas to Michigan later this year. Should I sell or try and move my livestock? I’ve worked so hard the past 3 years to grow everything out, I would hate to sell it, but hate even more to lose colonies moving....what to do? Who’s been in my shoes before and what did you do?

If you decided to sell I will buy all of the acro 337 517 6065

 

[Biokabe]

If you decided to sell I will buy all of the acro 337 517 6065

For your own sake... don't post your phone number on an open forum. It's a great way to give scammers direct access to you, and it can also be used to steal your identity. If you want to give someone your number, stick to a PM.

 

[JedClampett]

Just moved my tank from St. Louis to Kalamazoo Michigan. Even though it’s probably half the distance of what you’ll be doing I say go for it. People ship fish and coral all the time.

 

[All Delight]

Sell. Way to many people fail trying to move livestock.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Sell, I moved twice within NY and said never ever again.

 

[ZoWhat]

If you sell on R2R Marketplace, you just might fetch $30,000 for your corals according to their gouged prices coming out of NY or Cali.

According to Marketplace my roughly 2,000 zoas/palys would value my whole collection at $60,000

I go out and look at Marketplace and PLAY A GAME with myself. I'll see a picture of smthg and try and guess the absolute most outrageous price.... im usually pretty close.

Oh 2 polyp Utter Chaos half the size of the frag disc? $150.... bingo

I probably have 400+ polyps of Chaos'

 

[KrisReef]

I have moved coral and fish before. It is a lot of work to pack up fish and corals and load them up into a car or truck, haul them for 24 hours and then set the whole aquarium back up, mixing a tank full of water, re Aqua-scaping, and not have any issues along the way (hot/cold weather, traffic, bridges collapsing) you get the point?

Take a good look at all the coral you have and count how many bags you will need to keep everything safe and alive if you take all of them with you. Fish alone would be a huge job to manage in your tank.

 

[Tclason1]

Thanks all for the replies, I do really appreciate the insights and experience: did a lot of research over the past week. This is the final data point that helped me make the decision to sell.
What I am going to do is keep my favorite pieces (mostly sps) and sell everything else (livestock). I’ve got about 8 months before I make the move so that is plenty of time to get pieces to market without having to force a fire sale

 

[NashobaTek]

Thanks all for the replies, I do really appreciate the insights and experience: did a lot of research over the past week. This is the final data point that helped me make the decision to sell.
What I am going to do is keep my favorite pieces (mostly sps) and sell everything else (livestock). I’ve got about 8 months before I make the move so that is plenty of time to get pieces to market without having to force a fire sale

Probably the best and safest choice. At some point I'll be moving to the PNW and other than the pinnatus batfish, and the tanks.. the rest would be sold before the move. Just not worth the headache of trying to keep it all alive and healthy during the move.

Besides you can put the money from the sales into a savings account for the re stocking Once you're set up and ready

 

[Dr. Jim]

I'm moving from NJ to Jupiter, FL in about 6 weeks. I have a 100 gal tank with about 50 SPS frags and 10 fish. I plan to synchronize my move with the Mover's Truck:

The day before the move I will dismantle my RO/DI system (and pack it in my car). The GHL controller and RO/DI storage tank will go with the Movers.

On the day of the move:
-Frags and fish will be bagged w/ O2. (Will go in my car)
-3 buckets with plastic bags will hold Live Rock (w/O2 and go in my car)
-I will bring the RO/DI system and 29 gal salt mixing tank. A 30 gal tank w/ 20 gal sump will be used temporarily for livestock when I arrive. All this will be in my car. I'll hook up RO/DI immediately upon arrival and start making water (for new saltwater).

Cat will be crammed in car somewhere too. Oh yeah, ....wife, also.

Main tank and sump will go with movers. Once it arrives I will move everything to it from the temporary 30 gal tank.

I've moved larger systems within NJ twice in the past 4 years, so I learned some tricks.

Plan to drive straight through: 21 hours with Tesla charging stops; Will sleep along way as needed.

Simple!

 

[Nick Steele]

Yeah I would plan on fragging all the pieces I wanted to keep and save a few frags for myself and sell the others. Anything that’s not special I would get rid of.

In my tank I plan on always keeping my trachy, pink hammer and my pink octo spawn. No matter the move I will always keep these 3 with me in every home I live in.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Wow. Nice tank. Sorry to hear you decided to sell as those are some nice colonies. Gotta do what gotta do though. Could be a new experience to build a new system. Good luck in the move.

I would think that trying to transport all that would be very difficult. The right thing is to sell for the livestock sake. Gives you time to set up as you want in the new place too. Plus, 8 months is a nice time to get things sold off nicely.

Do you have a local store you are friendly with and trust? Maybe they could hold your prized coral and fish and ship when you are ready. That way, you would not have to go through all the qt and such again. You have some nice fishes that are not so easy to get through qt. Just a thought for some of your prized pieces. Instead of actually transporting yourself.

 

[Tclason1]

I'm moving from NJ to Jupiter, FL in about 6 weeks. I have a 100 gal tank with about 50 SPS frags and 10 fish. I plan to synchronize my move with the Mover's Truck:

The day before the move I will dismantle my RO/DI system (and pack it in my car). The GHL controller and RO/DI storage tank will go with the Movers.

On the day of the move:
-Frags and fish will be bagged w/ O2. (Will go in my car)
-3 buckets with plastic bags will hold Live Rock (w/O2 and go in my car)
-I will bring the RO/DI system and 29 gal salt mixing tank. A 30 gal tank w/ 20 gal sump will be used temporarily for livestock when I arrive. All this will be in my car. I'll hook up RO/DI immediately upon arrival and start making water (for new saltwater).

Cat will be crammed in car somewhere too. Oh yeah, ....wife, also.

Main tank and sump will go with movers. Once it arrives I will move everything to it from the temporary 30 gal tank.

I've moved larger systems within NJ twice in the past 4 years, so I learned some tricks.

Plan to drive straight through: 21 hours with Tesla charging stops; Will sleep along way as needed.

Simple!

That’s intense!!!! I admire the commitment!!!

 

[Tclason1]

Wow. Nice tank. Sorry to hear you decided to sell as those are some nice colonies. Gotta do what gotta do though. Could be a new experience to build a new system. Good luck in the move.

I would think that trying to transport all that would be very difficult. The right thing is to sell for the livestock sake. Gives you time to set up as you want in the new place too. Plus, 8 months is a nice time to get things sold off nicely.

Do you have a local store you are friendly with and trust? Maybe they could hold your prized coral and fish and ship when you are ready. That way, you would not have to go through all the qt and such again. You have some nice fishes that are not so easy to get through qt. Just a thought for some of your prized pieces. Instead of actually transporting yourself.

This is excellent advice, I’ve got a diving/fishing buddy who is also my reef keeping buddy who will hold some stuff for me and ship. This makes moving day way less stressful too.