Requesting help planning a move

Shooter7 · 06/18/2010, 11:14 AM

There is a possibility that I may be moving about a year from now, so I'm starting to try and figure out how, or IF, to move my system. I have a 120g tank plus 30g sump that is almost on life support as it is. Went thru a divorce almost 2 years ago, got custody of my young son, and the tank took a back seat to a lot of things. Lost all my SPS. I know I can manage to take care of the rest of my remaining corals, that's no problem. I'm just trying to figure out what to do about my fish. See, when/if this move happens, what will make it tricky is that sometime from a few months to a year after the move I will likely move again, so this first move will not be a permanent one for my inhabitants. There are 5 fish involved. Three of them are smaller, an ocellaris clown, blugreen chromis, and leopard wrasse, and could likely be placed in a smaller type tank (leopard wrasse happily eats about any food I put in the tank). My 2 problem guys are a 7 inch Foxface and a slightly smaller purple tang. I really like these guys and would prefer not to get rid of them. When the time came to set up a permanent system, I would likely go a bit bigger than what I currently have.

One plan I had was to set up a smaller tank, move the fish and corals to it, then drain my current tank, take it to the interim move site and set it up good enough to keep everyone happy for awhile. What got me wondering was the inevitable problems that crop up like, what happens if I crack my current tank taking it down, or do some other thing rendering it unusable? I don't want to cough up the bucks for another 120g when I plan on going bigger for a perm build later. So I started wondering how bad would it be to have these two bigger guys in something in the range of a 58g - 75g for the time span of a few months to a year? Just too cramped for them for too long?

The other (undesirable) plan would be to sell the bigger ones, although I'd hate to. They're both gorgeous fish.

Input please? :-)

thegrun · 06/18/2010, 01:41 PM

How far are you moving? The longer the distance of the move, the more difficult. It is more work than you would think to move a 120, but certainly doable. If the new house is longer than a couple of hours away, you have to think about heating or cooling the water during the move which complicates things.

Shooter7 · 06/18/2010, 01:52 PM

Oh no, I fully appreciate the difficulty of the move. Exactly why I am thinking about this now! The place I would be moving to I could set up a secondary tank in ahead of time, so I wouldn't have to break down, move, and set back up a 120g all in the same day or anything. Oh, and the move is right at 2 hours away. I could set up a secondary tank months in advance of my move, if I wanted to. Thanks for the reply.

Poriferan · 06/18/2010, 02:36 PM

I moved my 100G 4 times in 3 years. If you set up a new tanks and have it completly cycled before you move then 2 hours will be nothing. Just transport the fish in a cooler or something so the water doesnt get too hot/cold during the 2 hours. I did break downs and set ups on my moves and took about 6-8 hours with nothing but an air stone in the holding containers during non driving times. I think I may have lost 1 fish between all those moves.(been quite a few years)

06/18/2010, 11:14 AM	#1
Shooter7 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Tolono, IL Posts: 6,754	Requesting help planning a move There is a possibility that I may be moving about a year from now, so I'm starting to try and figure out how, or IF, to move my system. I have a 120g tank plus 30g sump that is almost on life support as it is. Went thru a divorce almost 2 years ago, got custody of my young son, and the tank took a back seat to a lot of things. Lost all my SPS. I know I can manage to take care of the rest of my remaining corals, that's no problem. I'm just trying to figure out what to do about my fish. See, when/if this move happens, what will make it tricky is that sometime from a few months to a year after the move I will likely move again, so this first move will not be a permanent one for my inhabitants. There are 5 fish involved. Three of them are smaller, an ocellaris clown, blugreen chromis, and leopard wrasse, and could likely be placed in a smaller type tank (leopard wrasse happily eats about any food I put in the tank). My 2 problem guys are a 7 inch Foxface and a slightly smaller purple tang. I really like these guys and would prefer not to get rid of them. When the time came to set up a permanent system, I would likely go a bit bigger than what I currently have. One plan I had was to set up a smaller tank, move the fish and corals to it, then drain my current tank, take it to the interim move site and set it up good enough to keep everyone happy for awhile. What got me wondering was the inevitable problems that crop up like, what happens if I crack my current tank taking it down, or do some other thing rendering it unusable? I don't want to cough up the bucks for another 120g when I plan on going bigger for a perm build later. So I started wondering how bad would it be to have these two bigger guys in something in the range of a 58g - 75g for the time span of a few months to a year? Just too cramped for them for too long? The other (undesirable) plan would be to sell the bigger ones, although I'd hate to. They're both gorgeous fish. Input please? :-) __________________ Dave Current Tank Info: 10 years salty - standard 29g reef - moved from 120 gal reef, 2x250w Reeflux 10k's on ARO electronics and VHO super actinics on Icecap ballast, 2xTunze 6060, MSX 200 skimmer, GEO 612 Ca reactor, mag 12 return

06/18/2010, 01:52 PM	#3
Shooter7 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Tolono, IL Posts: 6,754	Oh no, I fully appreciate the difficulty of the move. Exactly why I am thinking about this now! The place I would be moving to I could set up a secondary tank in ahead of time, so I wouldn't have to break down, move, and set back up a 120g all in the same day or anything. Oh, and the move is right at 2 hours away. I could set up a secondary tank months in advance of my move, if I wanted to. Thanks for the reply. __________________ Dave Current Tank Info: 10 years salty - standard 29g reef - moved from 120 gal reef, 2x250w Reeflux 10k's on ARO electronics and VHO super actinics on Icecap ballast, 2xTunze 6060, MSX 200 skimmer, GEO 612 Ca reactor, mag 12 return

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06/18/2010, 01:41 PM	#2
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	How far are you moving? The longer the distance of the move, the more difficult. It is more work than you would think to move a 120, but certainly doable. If the new house is longer than a couple of hours away, you have to think about heating or cooling the water during the move which complicates things.

06/18/2010, 02:36 PM	#4
Poriferan Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 418	I moved my 100G 4 times in 3 years. If you set up a new tanks and have it completly cycled before you move then 2 hours will be nothing. Just transport the fish in a cooler or something so the water doesnt get too hot/cold during the 2 hours. I did break downs and set ups on my moves and took about 6-8 hours with nothing but an air stone in the holding containers during non driving times. I think I may have lost 1 fish between all those moves.(been quite a few years)