to move a nano?

[luv2diy]

posting this to see what people think about this:
i'm probably moving across country with a 2 (at least) day drive. think i could leave the nano with enough water to cover the live rock and drive it with me? or should i break it completely down and bag fish and corals? or leave them in a bucket of water with a battery powered air pump? i don't want to ship because they would make it there before me, so i thought would 2 (maybe) 3 days be too long. if so would i have to count on cycling the tank again? thanks in advance for any input!!

 

[calvin415]

How big is your nano? And what kind of livestock and corals?

 

[luv2diy]

duh, forgot that! 12g with pair of clowns and 1 pj cardinal. lg toadstool leather, baseball size flowerpot, a bunch of polyps, a few shrooms, and my clean up crew of snails, starfish and hermits. if i can't my big reef with me, i want to at least take them! last time i was gone for 6 mos and couldn't take them. i had to go to the public aquarium a bunch to get my fill!!!

 

[Tate]

I'd sell or give away the fish, they'd be more trouble than they're worth. I'm sure you could move the tank being half-full if you kept it on a board or something similar. This would allow you to keep the valuable rocks and corals alive, assuming you keep the temperature relatively constant.

 

[luv2diy]

ahh, the temp stability... forgot about that. hum, i heard Anthony Calfo say once that if you taped a styrofoam container on all sides that it would keep the temp stable, but i don't remember how long... i can't get rid of my fish.. they helped cycle my very first reef tank 2 yrs ago!

 

[ClarkiiClown]

This is what I would do-

Find a power converter for one. So you can plug multiple things in at once.

Break the tank down. Fish and inverts in one bucket, corals in another and rock in a third if you have the room.

Run the airstone(s) with the fish and small powerheads in the coral and rock buckets.

Take your salt mix with you and an extra bucket. When you stop for a long period of time buy some gallon jugs of good water and mix up some new. Do a small water change on the fish. Prime would be a good additive too.

The corals should be fine with the same water and so should your rock. If you notice it getting too dirty or mirky in the corals then do a water change.

2 days is do-able



If you have to keep the coral and rock in the same bucket make sure your flowerpot is very stable. It will be the one that dies.



Oh yeah! Lids on the fish bucket for sure so they dont jump! My blenny had to be put in his OWN 5 gallon bucket with a top covered with a black plastic bag so he would calm down. Crazy fish.

 

[philagothos]

I just moved my 29 less than a month ago. I don't have any fish so it was easier, but I just put everything in a rubbermaid tub and hooked up a heater and powerhead to a surge-strip and plugged that into a power inverter plugged into a cigarette lighter. I set the powerhead so that it aggitated the surface of the water to help with gas exchange and it worked great. My stuff was in the tub for two days of moving and another day or so of unpacking. I didn't have any kind of cycle, nitrates have never gone above 2.5 and all of my corals opened up the first day they were back in the tank. Most of the water in my tank now is water that was in the tub when I moved. My parameters never got out of whack. It was a bit of a sand storm for a while, but that cleared up in a day. I wouldn't worry too much about trying to do a water change in the middle of moving.

If you go with this method make sure you can lift the tub easily enough. Mine was too heavy and it took all I had to lift it from between the seats of the moving van.

If you have to stop somewhere overnight make sure you take it in with you or you will kill the truck's battery. Stopping for gas or meals are not much of an issue, just don't eat at a place that will take 2 hours.

-Kevin

PS: If you happen to have any friends that are truck drivers they can probably hook you up with a power inverter for next to nothing. Mine can handle 400W and was given to me for free by a truck driver.