Moving soon, any advice?

[sikemd]

I'm going to be moving in the next month or two. I know this is not only going to be a miserable, difficult, painful, time involved process but also potentially detrimental, and possibly destructive, to the health and well being of the inhabitants and the overall health of the tank in general. Any advice/comments/info would be great but here is what I think my plan is...

I am hoping to be able to take an entire day to complete the breakdown, move and re-setup.

I am going to bag all of the corals that aren't attached to large rocks and bag those as well as all of the inverts and fish that I can.

Then I am going to use several plastic tubs with as little tank water as necessary to completely cover my live rock. I will likely separate the rock with corals attached and put those in less tightly packed tubs to hopefully keep them from getting smashed up and just pile the other rock into tubs as submerged as possible without making the tubs overly heavy and impossible to carry. I plan to keep all of the sand, crushed coral, rock, filters submerged and I'll probably have most of the equipment only shut off temporarily then running again temporarily in the temp tubs until the tank is refilled.

I figure between all of the tubs and bags I'll be reusing most of the 100G of water from the tank/sump and I am hoping that most of micro organisms and bacteria should survive. I'm also hoping that if all goes well I can have the tank re-setup almost as if the move never happened. Can I do it or am I guaranteed to revert my tank back to at least a slightly "new tank" status.

 

[Maddlesrain]

Your plan sounds fairly similar to what I have done every two years or so with my tanks. I've moved my saltwater fish four times at this point, and have yet to have a single casualty. I 100% recommend taking the entire day to do the job so that everything can be ripped down and set back up within a 24 hour period. Rather than bagging, I typically just stick all the corals in a tub together, but I think bags will work just fine - maybe even better. I'd just place those bags in a tub to avoid them rolling around/catch any leaks.

And also, a note: put less rocks than you think you can carry. The pounds add up quicker than you think, especially with added water. I've had to redistribute tubs because I overestimated my strength and the weight of what was going into the tubs, which can be a hassle.

You could possibly go through a sort of "reboot cycle period," but usually all the corals open up as if nothing happened, and sometimes even look better after the move IMO.

The best advice I can really give is don't stress too much about it, you and your salty friends will be just fine!! Best of luck!

 

[xREEFINaintEZx]

How long is the car/truck ride?

Double however long you think it's going to take.

I saved 100%of my water and had 1 snail die out of a full tank of inhabitants.

Alot of guys say get new sand.... Your tank looks good. Mine was nasty and neglected. If I we're you I would prob just reuse and don't look back. Or you can seed new sand with a small amount of your old sand

With all the equipment,buckets, and supplies I filled up the back of a full bed Chevy and a small bed Mazda pick up.
You may also want a tarp or alot of towels. Have some salt water at new house redy 2 go. If you r putting all your fish in bucket with a heater.... Before you put fish in, put your heater in it for a day or 2 and make sure it doesn't boil them.

remember water sloshes. Half full containers can be more dangerous then full to the brim with a snap lid.

Do you have overflows or bulkheads that will be hanging out of bottom if tank?

I wish I installed this but didn't know about it

 

[xREEFINaintEZx]

Lol.I also found this really awesome site with some good info

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-dos-and-donts-of-moving-with-a-saltwater-tank.83072/

 

[sikemd]

Lol.I also found this really awesome site with some good info

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-dos-and-donts-of-moving-with-a-saltwater-tank.83072/

Wow, I love that site, what a great site. Lol.

Anyhow I appreciate the good advice, thanks.