Moving an aquarium. How?

[Lialla]

I will be moving my 36 gal aquarium this weekend and would like to hear other people's experience and advice on that matter. Luckily, it will be a short trip - just a 30 min drive.

What I plan to do is to leave the sand in the tank with enough water just to cover the sand and put livestock in separate containers. I have some corals, and assume that it's better to separate them during the move. I also have two scooter blennys, maroon clownfish and two shrimp. How to minimize the stress for the inhabitants during the move? Do I need to separate the fish and what containers are best for transporting them? How long can the stay just in the containers?

I would appreciate any advice on how to do that. Thanks!

 

[Radiography14]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1660568750566036909


check out tha link man....enjoy this fast paced thang.

 

[davidryder]

It looks like you have a fairly easy task on your hands I moved my 3 tanks 900 miles with probably 5% loss.

Leaving the sandbed undisturbed is a good idea IMO. You could even pick up a few empty 5g buckets from walmart to save as much water as possible to minimize the cycle. And if you do get the buckets, just throw your livestock in there.

As far as time - you have almost 24hrs before you start having to worrying about anything. Good luck

 

[Zucker26]

I moved a 29 gallon tank from Ohio to New Jersey last year, and didn't lose a single thing. I left the sandbed undisturbed with about 2 inches of water in the tank. Then I used three 5gal buckets to transport livestock and 15gal of water. I used one bucket for LR, one bucket for coral, and one bucket for fish.

During transport I threw a battery air pump in the bucket with the fish, and made sure to keep my car at roughly 75 degrees (uncomfortable, but I dealt with it). The buckets stayed right around 78-80 for the entire 24hr period during transport. Once I got to my destination, I set up the tank right away, dumped in the buckets and arranged my rock, then found the nearest LFS and bought enough pre-mixed saltwater to top off the system.

Within a few hours all my corals were opening back up and my fish were back to normal the following day. Good luck with it!!

 

[Lialla]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11037897#post11037897 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Radiography14
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1660568750566036909


check out tha link man....enjoy this fast paced thang.

wow! these guys are fast :thumbsup: are they for hire?

thanks for the replies! any ideas how to prevent leaks in the car from the large 5 and 15 gallon plastic containers?

 

[m2434]

It's amazing how well those lids stayed on all 10 of those 5g buckets :lol:

 

[Lialla]

just a couple of illustrations of how it was done

everybody survived and even more I've tried to pair up my female goldstripe maroon clown with a small guy, but she was furious, very aggressive and didn't want to accept him at all, so he spent a week in a small plastic container inside the tank. The female was so angry with his presence in her territory that everybody passing her way was bitten and harassed. But after we moved the tank, rearranged the rocks a little bit, she accepted him and he is like her puppy since then. She's regularly reminding him who's the boss, but only for educational purposes

Everything was moved in one 15 mph trip

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alla_r/1925502705/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2077/1925502705_20ba9932e9_o.jpg" width="650" height="433" alt="IMG_7646" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alla_r/1925503253/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2360/1925503253_bfe66ab5c7_o.jpg" width="650" height="433" alt="IMG_7652" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alla_r/1925503821/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2289/1925503821_07e649ce28_o.jpg" width="650" height="433" alt="IMG_7653" /></a>

 

[mrrrkva]

I like the rubbrmaid tubs myself. More water volume equals less temp drop and less chance of something messing the water up. Airpump for the fish definately help. I like big styrofoam coolers triple bagged or even a big drink cooler triple baged inside. I would leave sand undisturbed as well. I moved a 200 gallon tank over 300 miles, no loses. Did so in a pickup with and a covered uhaul trailer. WIth a tank this big, I had to get the sand out and put it in 5 gallon buckets. I also put some macro algae in with the fish. I dont know if that helped thought the gas exchange might help

 

[thor32766]

all good tips along with good luck!!!

 

[chucksta1]

When you say leave some water in the tank so as not to disturb the sand bed, make sure it's enough to keep it wet and in place.....NOT enough to "slosh". Don't ask, just trust me