Moving...sigh Any tips?

[knickel]

So I come to find out I have to move in less than a week..New house is only like 10-15min away. I have a 46gal 20 some pounds of LR. 2 small clownfish 1 peppermint shrimp and various snails and crabs CUC..so my plan is to pull rocks out and put them in a Rubbermaid full of drained tank water. I have an extra 29gal empty I can put the rocks and fish in at the new house. I don't know about messing with the sandbed in the 46 I figure I would just move that tank with the sand and a little water still in it. Any suggestions? Or does the plan sound ok? Sorry I'm at work on mobile and I can't look anything up on here. Just freaking out!

[dakineacct]

Your plan sounds fine to me, just be sure to mix some extra salt water to make up for spills, etc.

[aandfsoccr04]

How long has the 46 been set up? If it has been setup over a year, I personally would buy new sand. I'd just put the water in some 5 gallon buckets with some air stones to move the fish and frags over. The rock can just go in a brute trashcan and doesn't need to be full of water IMO. you'll have minimal dieoff only going 15 minutes away. PH and oxygen are your two biggest concerns. Good luck

[petere1989]

ya make sure u keep the water u have now. no problems later then. i've been wondering bout this this too, as I'm moving to California in a year and live in Illinois and want to take reef with me.

[GratefulReef]

i just recently moved, trust me its not as hard as you think. the only thing I lost was my pincushin urchin. I put the sand in a 50g tote, rock in various 5g buckets with enough water to keep them moist as I was moving about 1.5 hrs away placed snails and crabs in with rock or sand depending on when I grabbed them. corals stayed in their own bucket covered with water from the tank. Just make it the last thing to go and the first thing to set up. I moved a 75g tank with five-5g buckets and one 50g tote. I wouldnt think twice about moving now, trust me it seems way harder than it is. I waited until the last min to break down my reef, took out any rock without coral and stored in buckets over night then rocks with corals came out the morning of the move. Hope this helps you a little, and dont worry youre not moving too far, you should have no real issues. Have salt ready to mix, or already mixed for when you get to the new home, and you should be golden. I also left my lights off the first day to let the corals adjust and everything worked out just fine.

[knickel]

Yea the 46 has only been up about 2months. I read many different opinions about the sand but I thing it should be ok if I just don't mess with it..thanks for the help everyone!!

[Blakeup295]

prepare for hell ......... that is all.

[zigzag1]

Whenever I move, I get a new larger tank as part of the deal. As well as a good excuse to upgrade, it has the added benefit of discouraging moving very often! Dedicate a day to moving the tank, no distractions. I suggest moving the rest of the household the first day so the wife will be busy putting things away and getting settled at the new place (busy and happy) Move the aquarium stuff the second day after all of the household goods are at the new place. Don't want her after me to hurry with the fish, to get on with getting everything else moved..

Prior to the move, buy new (larger) tank/stand/top, and a new heater. A few days prior to the move, start working on the new setup. Fill the new tank 3/4 full of newly made RO/DI (while heating in tank). Move as much equipment from the old system to the new as possible prior, without risking health of old tank at old place. Mix in the salt 12-24 hrs prior to the move. Day of the tank move, you have the old tank at the old place, and the new one at the new place now filled, mixed, and heated. Move the inhabitants, and remaining needed equipment to new setup at the new location on tank move day. After the livestock is in the new tank at the new place, and fairly happy make another trip back to the old place to drain the old tank, clean it out, and get any remaining equipment. Sell off the old tank after the move, or set it up as a quarantine, frag, or grow-out, FOWLR, etc.

I find having old and new tanks at each location minimizes the time that inhabitants are in transport containers and associated stresses and environmental issues (temp, ammonia buildup, O2/CO2 levels, etc.) JMTC & GL!

[coralsnaked]

OK here's the scoop

Moving a tank is not that hard but be prepared and be willing to make some sacrafices. One being that sand bed. It will make your life miserable if you try to keep it after moving it. It is going to release a lot of c--p.

The main thing is tp preserve your water, so carefully siphon out all of the clear water you can to the last couple of inches above the sandline. Then remove your rock work and corals after water is removed. Dip them all in seperate premixed same temp / pH saltwater and give them a little shaking to remove all lose organics. Then place in your saved tank water. I always find it easier to remove fish after all rock work is gone and place in same containers as rock / coral.

Clean your tank. Scoop out and throw away your sandbed, if you reuse it you will get some NTS. I like to use a wet vac to cleanout the trank gleamings and water and then wipe down with RO saturated rag. Do the same with your sump of course. Load and move quickly. Set up in reverse with a new crushed coral or aragonite bottom. You will want to prewash this before you start and be prepared to use lots of water so just put in buket and rinse with hose water for quite a while. Be sure to drain over nite so there is is no Diatom problems later.

And have the new site prepared. You will want your new bottom material there waiting for you as well as the premade replacememnt water you have prepared. Be prepared to lose about 20% of your water. When you refill your tank do not utilize the bottom off the buckets (personally I use icechests with tight fitting lids to transport rocks, fish and corals.) And be sure to add your favotite live bacteria to assure good reults and to enhance nitrobactor growth due to 20% water change / loss. Don't take too long to rescape your rocks and when you are all done it should take no more than 1.5 hours from start to finish plus the move time.

Within hours of starting filtration your water will be clearing nicely. If you use the sand bed it may take 2 days and be cloudy for quite some time. It will affect your water parametors, whereby the use of coral or aragonite combined with tossing the sandbed will actually enhance your water quality as you are getting rid of the sludge associated witrh the sandbed. The only problem I see is the twenty something lbs of live rock in a 46 gal tank. Would have been safer with more like 70 lbs. But you are correct in saying you cannot mess with the sandbed for the move. Best scenario for moving the sandbed is to siphon all but two inches from top of sand make the move and add water to 25% of tank about 12 gals wait a few minutes (15) and siphon out all but last inch or two, then begin adding rockscape ect...

Good luck and Happy Reefing

[usmc121581]

I have moved my 180 from SC to MD and that was a pain in the A$@. But your tank is much smaller so it should be simple. Lots of totes clean buckets what bed you may have to transfer your water, sand, and live rock/corals. Make sure it's the las thing you move and the first to be set up and take your time. I moved my 180 3 years ago and. Racked a bulk head which took a day to find. You also do not want to allow your live stock temp to drop so keep an eye on that. I actual removed all sand and put back in when moved and had no ill effects except very cloudy water for 24-48 hours.