Moving a tank

[Big Country_IL]

I may be getting the chance to move my 125 and 46 gallon (reef and fowlr) tanks about 3 hours away sometime in the near future. :bounce1:

I am mainly concerned about the 125 because of its size and that it is a reef (corals/inverts: xenia (I don't think I would miss it, but I am sure it is the only thing that will survive), several ricordia, green star polyps, green maze brain, brain coral, red favia, LSU monti, orange cap, Hawkins Blue, galaxea, an acan, 2 chalices, a crocea clam, 4 peppermint shrimp, 3 emerald crabs, bubbletip anemone, snails, and hermit crabs; fish: radiant wrasse, 3 bangaii cardinals, sailfin tang, mandarin goby, purple firefish, pair maroon clowns, 2 chromis. Most of the livestock is small/young - the tank has been set up for a little over a year. Has anyone moved a tank 3+ hours to a new home? Is it worth it or would I be better off selling the livestock and starting over?

Just trying to get an idea of what to expect (but it would be to one of the well represented cities with GIRS). I should know more in the next week or month...and if it isn't this time, I am sure there will be more chances in the next year! :crazy1:

 

[sedor]

A 3 hour move should be no problem. Get a couple rubbermaid tubs to keep the livestock and water in. While in the car make sure you wrap the containers so you can keep them as insulated as possible.

When you get to your location, put a heater and some flow in each container and start setting the tank back up. Overnight in the containers won't be a problem if you've got heat and flow. Its more of a PITA than anything, but can be done quite easily.

 

[Big Country_IL]

Forgot about that - I do have a stock tank...I am sure it will fall into place, and I am hoping to keep the PITA part to a minimum...if possible. Thank you for the info.

 

[snowman82]

i just moved a half hour away with my tank. setup a new tank before hand and tried to transfer all i could over with as much water as i could. i have lost a couple little pieces of SPS but i think that is mainly due to my lack of not acclimating properly. it was nearly 2am and i wanted to sleep so got in a hurry. i basically took all my coral out and put them in bags, then took all my rock out and put them in buckets with water in them. most all my coral though was still on plugs and was easy to remove. fish were the hardest things to get though. but in all i think everything else has worked out so far. its been nearly a week.

 

[Trevor15]

I just moved my 120 with a 200 gallong system overall about 2 hours and 15mins in the fall and I didn't have anything die on me with a number of sps.. take as much of the water as you can and make sure to ceil all of the containers... I moved with me over half of the water in containers and kept all of my live rock and sand in water filled containers. By the time I had put everything in my tank and had my system going I only had to add about 50 gallons of new water, but i had that water already mixed and ready to go at the right temp before the move... So they just had a big water change... Good luck

Trevor

 

[apjohnson]

I moved a large tank and I used a rubbermaid stock tank. I had cut a wood lid for it to use while cooking rock and I clamped that to the top. I also put a powerhead and heater in there, but I wish I would have gone with a smaller heater as my AC inverter was not powerful enough to power it (My AC inverter is supposed to be 400 watt and the heater is only 250...go figure). I wrapped all that in a tarp. Hours later, not a single drop out of the tub. Worked great. If youhave stuff that's delicate, you can put that in a bucket, then put it in the same tub letting the bucket serve as the needed protection for things that might shift. Fish and everything can be moved together. This was in the back of a mini-van.

--AJ

 

[apjohnson]

Also, if you're in the CR area between now and then, I'll loan you the wood lid that I used.

--AJ

 

[Big Country_IL]

Thank you for the info. AJ - I have an acrylic lid I use on my stock tank, but didn't even think of clamping it down. If the move does take place this winter, I will likely use all of my coolers for it...

 

[matt the fiddler]

Press and Seal is also a wonderful invention for reef keepers on the move.. you may use a few rolls though.

Heat is the most important thing moving this time of year, then oxygen...