40G tank move- advice needed

[Badfish_Reefer]

Hi all,

I recently found out that I will have to move my tank out of my current house by the end of this upcoming weekend. I will be moving it to a friend's house that is 2 hours away. I'd like to hear from people who have done this before (or know someone who has), what is the best way to do this?

My system is a 40 gallon mixed reef, no sump, HOB skimmer and Phosban Reactor. I only have 2 fish which I am giving back to the LFS, so corals and inverts are my main concern. Luckily I have my friend helping me out with a van, so space in the car won't be an issue

My overall plan currently is as follows in order of how I will do it:

1. Drain out 25 gallons of tank water into buckets

-This water will be taken out before I break anything down and stir up all the crap in the tank, so that it is clean for refilling the tank once it's in it's new location.
-The remaining water to fill the tank will be freshly made saltwater that I'll have my friend pre-make and keep at his house for when I get there
- I'll use the other remaining 15 gallons (leftover after draining the first 25) to transport my live rock and colonies in buckets.

2. Bag inverts and frags and float them in the tank while I take it down
-Pretty straightforward here, just doing this to keep the water warm while I break the tank down before the drive

3. Remove all rock and larger colonies into buckets filled with tank water.
-Again, pretty straightforward. Luckily I have a minimalist aquascape and mostly frags, so this won't be a huge task.

4. Sift through the sand for remaining inverts (snails and hermits) and bag them. Take a couple scoops of sand to seed the new sand bed once the move is complete. (I'll be using new sand, washed out, that will be waiting at my friend's house)

At this point I will be ready to hit the road. In my friend's van will be the tank, stand, equipment and buckets of water, livestock, rocks, etc.

Once I get to my friend's house:

-Fill the tank with the 25 gallons of established water, add 15 gallons of newly made water.
-Hook up equipment
-Float all the inverts and frags once the tank is filled (will help them adjust to the temp increase as the tank water heats up)
-Wait for the tank water to heat up (this is the part I'm nervous about and unsure how long it will take)
-Drip acclimate what needs to be acclimated, add the rest


My main concerns are as follows:

1. The temperature drop that will result from the length of this process
2. Once I get to the house, how long it will take to heat the tank back up so I can add everything?
3. The rapid temperature fluctuations from the cooling of the water during transport and then re-heating during tank re-set up.
4. Low oxygen levels during transport killing my inverts
5. Would adding 15 that much new water cause a mini- cycle? What about the new sanded?


What changes would you guys make to this plan to make it more fool proof? Anything I'm missing here? Anything you think has a good chance of going wrong?

Thanks for adding your 2 cents.

-Alex

[christopherjudd]

same boat hear.. my main concern is also the new sand bed... I have a minimalist scape as well and I am sure its not 1lb per gallon... also have a 40 gal

[Badfish_Reefer]

Ya I thought about keeping the sand bed but there's no way that it wouldn't just kick up a ton of debris and waste into the tank when it gets re-added. Would wind up doing more harm than good.

I think the new sandbed should be fine- I'm going to add a couple scoops of old sand to get it seeded