Moving: Need some advice...

RiOnRoxXx

Active member
Hello all,

Well me and the lady finally made the step into buying a house. We're only moving less then five minutes away. (Currently I live off of Kelley Dr. and moving off of Davis Rd.) My question is what are some precautions I should make before the move for the fishtank.

My tank is a 29gal AGA, running only a canister filter, HOB skimmer, PC lighting. Nothing real fancy as of yet...

I have sort of an idea of how I will try to transport everything over to the new house. I'm thinking about using some rubbermaid storage bins with wet newspaper lining the bottom and transporting the LR this way with wet newspaper on top also. Some of my softies are attached on some rocks so I was thinking transporting these pieces in a seperate container with actual tank water in it. A few inches or so should be ok I'm thinking since this stuff gets heavy quick!

My fish I have some small styrofoam boxes that I was thinking putting tank water in and having them in there while I transport.

The remainder water from my tank I have 4, 5gal water containers I was thinking about transporting my tank water in.

Being that I am moving only a short ways away, should I have any concerns about anything? Basically seems like a small tear down and putting everything back. I'm planning on having some extra pre mixed water on hand. Is temperature an issue? I'm thinking from tear down, move and re-setup will be roughly an hour or so. Any good suggestions out there? Let me know!

Just gonna have to re aquascape some of the rock since I know all if it won't be exactly how it is now :(

Thanks in adavnace:bum:


-Ryan
 
this is what i did when i moved my tank

i used rubber maid containers to hold my water and rocks with corals on it and also my fish. i got a bucket for my sand. i had extra RO water that was room temp just in case i needed it. after i got all of my supplys i turned EVERYTHING OFF took most of the water out then the rocks caught the fish and took the rest of the water and sand out. moved the tank to the new spot in the new house and setup the equiptment and tank in the spot i wanted. it will also be good to have a small power head and heater for water circ and the right temp for the fish while you setup ur tank. then i put in the the rocks w/o the corals in the tank then whatever water you managed to save then i placed my sand in the tank using a cup so it doesnt go everywhere. turn on your equiptment and let your water get to the right temp and salinty and put your fish and corals in the tank. if im missing something someone let me know and i hope this was help
 
Thank you Jeff. After talking to you on the phone I didn't even think about the sand and all. Thanks for pointing that out to me :)

Anyone else got any good tips or ideas?
 
Congrats on the house.

Your plan and above advice sounds good to me.

Usually the sand gets disturbed when doing this kind of thing and it can release all kinds of nasty stuff, the more sand you have the worse it can be. Pull out as much rock as you can without disturbing the sand, then catch your fish and drain enough water for their needs plus whatever you can get to keep your LR wet. Then you can pull the rest of the rock out and 'swish' it around in the remaining tank water. I would only take a few cups of sand from to top layer and buy the rest new.

Make sure to have RO water or fresh saltwater on hand.

When you get your tank set up let me know and you can come over and get a frag of the tubs :)
 
Thanks for the congrats Jacob :) We're pretty stoked on buying a house. Now we just got to re-evaluate our leisure spending habits hahahaha. Oh well comes with the territory I guess :)

I'll definately have some pre-mix water and fresh RO water on hand. I'm glad my tank isn't huge or anything, cause I can see this being way harder if that were the case. I'll make sure to not aggetate the sand bed for the most part til I get most of my LR and fish out.

Maybe in a few weeks or so my tank will be all situated again. Oh definately I'll come over to get those tubs and finally meet you. I'm so excited!!!

Wish me luck on the move
 
i have moved about 8 or 9 tanks now with out buying new sand, all i did was drain enuff water into what you want to transport your coral in. Then move as much of the coral as you can over, drain as much water as you feel safe with for the fish to still have enuff water to live, but pretty low move all your rock into transport container catch all your fish tring to not stir up your sand this whole time. Drain the water down to the sand levelbut dont leave it dry but not so much that you can stir up the detris.
Put rock back fill with water with a bowl on top of the sand so not to stir it up to much. Get everything back up to temp and add coral and fish. this has worked for me many time the the past but there is a million ways to skin a cat.
Good luck
 
Alright, just wanted to say thanks to everyone that put in some info. The move will take place this Sunday and I will indeed take into consideration some of the points and tips provided. Thanks again everyone. :)
 
I would use a bowl when putting the water back in like reefgeek 31 pointed out. but put some sort of plastic over the sand around the bowl this way it doesnt disturb the sand at all then put the rock in let the tank run for a while so that it can clear up then re add the fish...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12603833#post12603833 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JusTartedReefer
jacob i moved my tank and it s up can i have something

Come over with RionRoxx when he stops by and I'll see if I can find something for you :)
 
I just did a 135 into a 4 ft. long 120 going about the same way and no lose and it has been a week. things still look ok.
 
The tank move went well :)

Still moving around some coral here and there but I've been a little overwhelmed with unpacking and still commuting to Modesto. I take vacation next week so by then everything should be fine.

Thanks again everyone for the replies and advice.
 
<a Don't forget to take your corals with you, otherwise you'd have to get your friend to break in and get them for you. href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12597410#post12597410 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JusTartedReefer
this is what i did when i moved my tank

i used rubber maid containers to hold my water and rocks with corals on it and also my fish. i got a bucket for my sand. i had extra RO water that was room temp just in case i needed it. after i got all of my supplys i turned EVERYTHING OFF took most of the water out then the rocks caught the fish and took the rest of the water and sand out. moved the tank to the new spot in the new house and setup the equiptment and tank in the spot i wanted. it will also be good to have a small power head and heater for water circ and the right temp for the fish while you setup ur tank. then i put in the the rocks w/o the corals in the tank then whatever water you managed to save then i placed my sand in the tank using a cup so it doesnt go everywhere. turn on your equiptment and let your water get to the right temp and salinty and put your fish and corals in the tank. if im missing something someone let me know and i hope this was help
don't forget to take your marine life with you!
 
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