Long Distance Move

[schnebbles]

Who has done it? Talking Ohio to FL so about 1000 miles. 16 hours most likely if we stop and eat.

I have a 40, no sump. 5 fish, a pistol shrimp, RBTA, 4 rock nems, tuxedo urchin for livestock. Someone told me the livestock doesn't usually do well but why? Fish go overnight or longer in bags when they get shipped.

Corals are almost all attached to rock except a couple.

I copied the steps from a thread I found - I can't have extra water down there because we don't own the place til we go close. my husband would be coming back home and going back & forth for a while so would it be best to try and have him take care of the tank which is not what I want to do because he's not gonna do a water change. He could feed and add NO3P04X so hopefully that'd keep nitrates in check. He wouldn't check ammonia and I've had high ammonia a few times as I apparently can't seem to not overfeed. Working hard on that. My RBTA is upset right now bc it happened again and he's still not recovered 100%. I'm afraid that if I overfeed and I know full well not to, that he'd be worse than I am accidentally. I could tell him every other day? I just need the best option. I could come back up at some point after I got more settled down there and bring it but that's just another drive. I'd rather take it right away.


1.) Have extra RO/DI and SW made up at the new place to makeup for spillage
2.) Grab extra totes and buckets from HD
3.) Empty water into bucket with rocks
4.) Buy one of those inverters that converts the cigarette lighter to a outlet
5.) Put fish in another bucket with tank water, airstone , and heater
5.) Place loose corals in another bucket with tank water
6.) Leave a little bit of water covering the sand unless the tank is bare bottom (Also depends on size of tank)
7.) Dedicate a decent portion of the day if not the whole day to break down and re-setup
8.) Add water and livestock back in and use extra made up SW to make up from any water that may have spilled.


I will truly appreciate any advice. I wasn't going to take the tank and was going to sell it but he wants me to take it since I have so much invested in it. Is it worth trying? It'll be March 1 so Ohio will still be cold so the temp in the car would be as warm as I could stand it, lol! They could sit in front on the floor by the heat.

 

[billdogg]

It sounds like you have it pretty well planned out. It will be a PIA, but it can certainly be done. I would suggest just tossing the sand and using new (dry) sand. If it's been set up for any length of time there will be plenty of nastiness in there that you just don't need to mess with.

 

[schnebbles]

I forgot my sand sifting star. He probably kind of needs the old sand? I guess I forgot my red brittle star too but he's fine without the sand.

I copied all that info so I guess it is the best route. And ya, it will be rough.

Billdog - I'm at Indian Lake!

 

[JTL]

Where in FL? You can just purchase some water from a lfs until you get an RODI set up or just get some RO water from the machine at a local super market and make your own saltwater.

 

[cody6766]

I moved from OK to FL, then back with a similar-sized tank. I did almost what you did, but a little easier.

Make 20'ish g of salt water...unless you can make enough to fill the tank, then do that
Make 10'ish g of RO/DI. This lets you mix more salt water if you need it, dilute water, etc.
Get bags from the LFS or online, bag each coral separately. I mixed like zoas and shrooms with no problems. I did not use o2 for fish or coral.
When you're ready to go, put all rock in 5g buckets, fill with tank water.
Bag all livestock, toss in a really good cooler (coleman extreme, igloo marine, yeti, etc).
Toss everything in the trailer and hit the road

When you get there, dump salt water into a holding bin or extra tank, add livestock to the holding bin. I heated water on the stove to get it up to temp quickly. Just heat a pot really hot and add it to the cold water until it gets where you want it. Add a heater and powerhead and you're set for a day or 3.
Set up your tank and transfer all livestock.

I lost 1 coral the first trip and nothing the second when I did this. I think everything was in bags for about 20 hours. The first move was in early April, the second in late October, so I did have to contend with cold temps. The cooler was key for that. Temp drop was minimal.

 

[jrhupp]

I made the move from FL to NE. Two days of driving, a day in Nashville, and a day each for teardown and setup. So about five full days of down time.

I sold off my clams and sea cucumbers before hand. Didn't think they would do well with the trip. But otherwise, no problem with fish and corals.

I also ditched the old sand.

I used a 30 gallon cooler, rigged with egg crate in the bottom and a powerhead and heater (powered by a power inverter while on the road). I zipped tied the large rocks to the egg crate so they wouldn't move around and rigged some strawberry baskets to hold the lose corals. The fish all road in the cooler as well.

This was for a 50 gallon system. So the 30 gallon cooler was plenty big.

It was a bit heavy. But a couple of furniture dollies made it easy to move around.

I use a much smaller cooler with heater and power head these days whenever we do a road trip so if I find something good while traveling I can bring it home with me. With flow and temperature control, I wouldn't worry about a week of no light or filtration (assuming an adequate water volume).

 

[skimjim]

You talking transporting using a 40g GLASS aquarium? Or Rubbermaid totes? Or Coleman coolers?

You need to think of the DANGER you are imposing on your family if using GLASS 40g tank. An item like that flying through the cabin of your car during a highway accident (or major braking event) increases the likelihood of someone getting KILLED exponentially.

Im sure if you got pulled over by STATE TROOPERS and they saw a glass aquarium, they would for sure detain you and may mandate you to remove it.....

 

[ReefkeeperZ]

You talking transporting using a 40g GLASS aquarium? Or Rubbermaid totes? Or Coleman coolers?

You need to think of the DANGER you are imposing on your family if using GLASS 40g tank. An item like that flying through the cabin of your car during a highway accident (or major braking event) increases the likelihood of someone getting KILLED exponentially.

Im sure if you got pulled over by STATE TROOPERS and they saw a glass aquarium, they would for sure detain you and may mandate you to remove it.....

what are you talking about? leaving enough water in the tank to cover the sand (if hes not trashing the sand) the list details draining the tank, into buckets even..... no state trooper is going to detain you and make you throw away an aquarium. so by your standard a loose crowbar in the back of my truck would get me detained too can't imagine what qwould happen if they caught me with my bowling ball in the back seat..... seriously I think you are being WAY over dramatic.

 

[ReefkeeperZ]

schnebbles sounds like you have it planned pretty well, good luck man. I would trash the sand as well.

 

[schnebbles]

thanks everyone. I copied those plans from a post I found. Would my sand sifting star be ok with new sand? I feel lucky he's still alive because I didn't know they were not easy to keep when I got it.

Ocala Florida.

 

[billdogg]

You talking transporting using a 40g GLASS aquarium? Or Rubbermaid totes? Or Coleman coolers?

You need to think of the DANGER you are imposing on your family if using GLASS 40g tank. An item like that flying through the cabin of your car during a highway accident (or major braking event) increases the likelihood of someone getting KILLED exponentially.

Im sure if you got pulled over by STATE TROOPERS and they saw a glass aquarium, they would for sure detain you and may mandate you to remove it.....

That there is one of the funniest things I've read on here in a long time. Thanks for making me smile.

Besides - it's not like they'll survive the semi rolling over the top of them anyway! (j/k - of course you'll survive!)

 

[anbosu]

I recently moved from FL to TN. I bought some cheap coolers, a bunch of battery powered air pumps, and extra batteries. Make sure you have amquel or something similar in case you end up having to keep the fish or corals in the temporary housing for a couple extra days. I made the trip with pretty minimal losses all things considered.

Where in Florida? In the Tampa area there are a lot of really good LFS that can help you with water when you get there.

 

[schnebbles]

Ocala.

I'm thinking I'll bag the fish. I gotta think about this because we can't get the house until we close so timing kind of sucks.

How long do you think the fish would be ok in bags? Should I get some of the Kordon breather bags? I have some but would want some bigger ones for my fish. This is making me nervous!

 

[Kevin Guthrie]

IMO air stones in coolers are better than sealed bags. Only fill the coolers half way, due to sloshing. Other reason to fill half way is water weighs 8 lbs/gallon.

Another vote for dumping the sand. Maybe keep a little for the starfish.

 

[schnebbles]

Ya, I'm worried about the starfish because he's done well so far after I read they usually die from starvation so I feel like I should try to keep if.

If I do keep my sand, I'll be very careful pouring new water in, i'll do it on a plate to keep it calm.

Is this going to make my tank cycle again?

 

[anbosu]

I think if you move your sand your chances of a cycle increase. In theory if the rock is submerged the whole time you shouldn't have a cycle.

I wouldn't bag the fish - even when the professionals do it you end up with losses shipping overnight. What fish do you have?

 

[schnebbles]

I am going to use the Kordon breather bags and you don't even put air in those. The less air in them, the better. I have a flame hawk, starry blenny, pink spotted goby, and 2 clowns.

Can I put lids on the buckets with the rock & coral? I have mushrooms and zoas on my rocks.

 

[cody6766]

Would my sand sifting star be ok with new sand? I feel lucky he's still alive because I didn't know they were not easy to keep when I got it.

I'd save some sand for the starfish. I'm sure you could save 10-15lbs of CLEAN sand without pulling a lot of fish poop along. Just toss it in the bucket with the live rock. You'll also preserve a lot of your microfauna by keeping the rocks in buckets filled with tank water. Keeping some sand and that rock will probably keep that starfish happy when you get there.

As for breather bags...I used them the second time, but not the first. I noticed no difference in coral health or fish stress between moves. If I had a lot of fish, or bigger fish, I'd probably have done the cooler/bubbler/heater combo. I only moved clowns and other like sized fish, so large bags were more than adequate for the duration. Corals are just fine in bags tossed in a cooler for quite a while. Temp control is more important than o2 and light for the day or two of transit. Obviously, fish will have a higher o2 demand.

Think about transfer for the Pacific to the US import sites, then the trip to the LFS. Those journeys happen in bags in insulated boxes;not in aerated, temp-controlled coolers. I'd recommend picking the cheapest of the two methods for you, and pressing with it. Many have moved tanks using both methods and had solid success, so either method is valid.

For multi-day moves, I'd definitely lean more towards the cooler/bubbler/heater method.