Tips for moving.

[GoVols1983]

I am moving next month and want to start preparing now. Any tips for a safe move and transition for the livestock, LR and sand? The good news is that I am only moving 2 miles away.

 

[mike007]

If you only moving a short distance you could put your livestock in a container with a heater and maybe a powerhead. How old is the sand? Since you are going to tear down tank you might want to replace it with new.

 

[Rikerbear]

The fish, livestock, and rock will be fine in containers with pumps and heaters.....the sand 'could' be an issue. How deep a sand bed? How old? Do you clean your sand bed when doing WC?
What has worked for me in the past was to remove as much of the water as possible so the sand can not 'slosh' and get stirred up....however I am a sand bed stirrer and clean part of mine at each WC so was less concerned about disturbing mine.

 

[GoVols1983]

I will actually be combining two smaller tanks into a 75. The sand in my 20l is 6 mos. and the 5 gallon is barebottom. The 20l sand bed is about 1.5 inches.

 

[Mr. D]

If you do not sift your sand, I would say just go with new sand.


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[GoVols1983]

I bought 60 pounds of sand for the new tank. Maybe I should just by another 20lbs.

 

[RalphsReef]

I moved 15 miles this past summer. From that experience, I can tell you:

Get an airstone for your fish (if you have any)
Get new sand, unless you want to spend a lot of time rinsing it, or waiting for the tank to clear up
You don't need much water, if any, to transport the live rock in. You can actually cover it with newspaper soaked in tank water to keep it damp
Buy a lot of the rubbermaid tubs to carry your goods in. You can use them for storage afterward.

 

[Dsdaley77]

I don't recommend transporting the LR under newspaper. Sponge and other critters that live in the rock should not be exposed to fresh air at any point, or for as short a time as possible. In my opinion having the dripping rock in a dry container might cause a mini cycle or a spike in pollutants in the new tank. When in doubt..... keep submerged


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[GoVols1983]

I think I will setup the 75 the night prior to the move and get the new water mixed in the tank for 24 hours prior to moving the live stock and rock.

 

[ca2or]

When I moved my tank it was from L.A. to Portland. I used 2 big coolers from Walmart and drilled a hole in the top of one big enough for an air tube. Then grabbed a battery powered air pump to fuel the cooler with air for my fish.

Filled up cooler quarter way with tank water than put sand in glass casserole dish....put zoas and ricordia in sand and the rest of my corals went on egg crate frag racks cut to fit and hold casserole dish in place.

The second cooler had the rest of my coral and live rock with some water.

Majority of my water and rock was moved in 55 gallon trash cans.

But I also had over half my tank volume worth of water from a store....when I arrived I set up stand and tank...added the new water....added sand and base rock....added corals....added fish

went to sleep

only thing I lost through my move was a frag of Xenia

 

[Dsdaley77]

I also think if you go with new sand, I would drain the tank that currently has sand to just above the sand level and take the top 1/2 inch of sand to seed your new sand with all the good stuff in it. Then you can dispose of the remaining old sand and water left over that's now polluted by the disturbance of the old sand.
Some type of temporary carbon in the new tank to soak up any remaining pollutants might be a good idea as well.


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[GoVols1983]

Thanks for the advice. I have a carbon and gfo reactor for the new tank.

 

[Dsdaley77]

Nice, good luck with the move. Looks like one might be in my future in a month or two.


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