Moving a tank 3 hours.

[drummerboyevil]

Hi there,
I am purchasing a running 93 gallon tank and moving it 3 hours.

I rented a uhaul cargo van so I have plenty of space. I plan on really only moving about 40-50 gallons of the water, maybe less.

The only inhabitants are a maroon clown and a clown goby as well as a few pieces of LPS and SPS.

I'm going to be bring 2-3 20 gallon food grade barrels that have a sealed lid with clamp so not worry about splashing. I figure the live rock will mostly fit in one of these and I will cover with water from the tank.

My major question is, with this short trip should I be worried about getting an inverter and running small heaters/air stones? I'm looking at this inverter: https://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-300W-...&qid=1479312208&sr=8-1&keywords=auto+inverter

 

[Renzema]

Personally, I would run an air stone. How cold is it outside where you live? That would determine if you need a heater.

 

[drummerboyevil]

Personally, I would run an air stone. How cold is it outside where you live? That would determine if you need a heater.

High of 42 when I'll be moving it. Looks like I'll be buying a few small heaters

 

[BrettDS]

There's no reason to bring any more water than you need to keep your livestock wet during the transfer. Have enough new water ready (and heated) at the new location to completely fill the tank. Don't re-use the water that your live rock has been soaking in during the move.

As far as heaters during the transfer, it might depend on the weather the day of the transfer. If you're moving in the middle of winter and it's 10 degrees outside then I might be worried about the temp dropping too much. If you live in Florida and it's 75 or 80 degrees out then you probably don't have to worry about it. The rock will certainly be able to handle lower temps than your livestock, so worst case you could pack the fish and corals separately and put them in a cooler to help them retain heat.

Also, keep in mind that 20G barrels full of rock and water will be *very* heavy. When I moved my 75G tank I put everything in 5G buckets and 5G of rock and water was quite heavy, but could still be lifted and moved fairly easily by one person. 20G of rock and water almost certainly won't be able to be carried by one person alone and would probably be difficult for two people to manhandle.

 

[reef thief]

Why not? I got one from Wally World for $10. When I move fish I do about 2 Gal in a 5 Gallon bucket because it's narrow and prevents sloshing. If you put a few rocks in the bucket they should be pretty happy during your quest.

 

[drummerboyevil]

There's no reason to bring any more water than you need to keep your livestock wet during the transfer. Have enough new water ready (and heated) at the new location to completely fill the tank. Don't re-use the water that your live rock has been soaking in during the move.

As far as heaters during the transfer, it might depend on the weather the day of the transfer. If you're moving in the middle of winter and it's 10 degrees outside then I might be worried about the temp dropping too much. If you live in Florida and it's 75 or 80 degrees out then you probably don't have to worry about it. The rock will certainly be able to handle lower temps than your livestock, so worst case you could pack the fish and corals separately and put them in a cooler to help them retain heat.

Also, keep in mind that 20G barrels full of rock and water will be *very* heavy. When I moved my 75G tank I put everything in 5G buckets and 5G of rock and water was quite heavy, but could still be lifted and moved fairly easily by one person. 20G of rock and water almost certainly won't be able to be carried by one person alone and would probably be difficult for two people to manhandle.

I was planning on only filling the barrels halfway (10 gallons) and either removing half the water before moving or moving then with another person as is. Thanks for the great info.

 

[jkobel]

I recently moved my 75gal....my 2 cents.

-a 20 gal food grade barrel with 10gals of water will weigh close to 100 lbs - be prepared for that.

-use heaters

-plan as if this will take at least 2x - 3x as long as you think.

-absolutely have someone available to help, even if they are helping the whole time.

-plan every step out well ahead of time, literally every step.

the move might take 3 hours but what about re-aqua scaping, plumbing, filling, re-heating the water from whatever you lost (even with heaters). Your sandbed and rocks will suffer substantial die-off and your livestock may suffer as well.

Good luck!!

 

[drummerboyevil]

I recently moved my 75gal....my 2 cents.

-a 20 gal food grade barrel with 10gals of water will weigh close to 100 lbs - be prepared for that.

-use heaters

-plan as if this will take at least 2x - 3x as long as you think.

-absolutely have someone available to help, even if they are helping the whole time.

-plan every step out well ahead of time, literally every step.

the move might take 3 hours but what about re-aqua scaping, plumbing, filling, re-heating the water from whatever you lost (even with heaters). Your sandbed and rocks will suffer substantial die-off and your livestock may suffer as well.

Good luck!!

Thanks for the insight. I'm planning on ditching most if not all of the sand bed. I'll probably add a small amount of new livesand for my melanarus.

I know the weight of water I will use a transfer pump to remove any extra weight before attempting to lift a barrel.