Moving My Tank

laxb0rder · 07/11/2012, 10:43 PM

So i posted this in another section and wasn't able to get any help or replies so i thought maybe it wold do better here. If this is not aloud please let me know and im sorry for the mistake.

I'm planning on moving my tank to school, I have a 29 gallon that will be set up for about 3 months when I move it. I'm planning on putting my live rock in one or 2 buckets completely covered in tank water. And fish (2 clowns a yellow clown goby and a cleaner shrimp) in another bucket and all my Frags in some Tupperware or another bucket with a multi layer egg crate rack to keep them from moving or rolling around too mch. I'm also either going to get a power converter to use with an air stone or a battery air stone to put in with the fish and possibly frags. My snails will go where ever they go im not worried about them as its only like a 2 hour ride. I'm going to tr to keep as little water on my sand as possible so it doesn't get stirred up. The final part of this move is when I get back to school, I'm going to put livestock and corals in my DIY 10g AIO tank im building now and will treat it as a QT not letting it cycle at all by Doig multiple water changes untill my main tank is ready, I'll set the 29 back up and put live rock in and watch it for a few days. After the move the 10g I'm making Now for the move will act as a nano tank or frag tank I've been talking to others from my local reef club and this seems like the way to go so far. Any help would be awesome thanks.

Michigan Mike · 07/12/2012, 03:46 AM

Sounds like a plan. I don't know if I would qt them, but it might be a good idea to let things settle a bit and make sure the livestock does okay after the move.

snupa · 07/12/2012, 08:26 AM

hello, I just finished moving my 40 g tank about 2 1/2 hours not too long ago. You have a plan but I have a few suggestions:

You can buy an airstone but I didn't feel the need for it. What you should keep constant is the temperature. The simplest way of doing this is to maximize the volume of water that your pets will be traveling in. The larger the water volume the longer it takes for it to lose / gain temperature. Also , by waiting until last minute to drain your tank you minimize the time of travel. Remember that taking a 2 hour trip might actually be 5 hours for them until they are in a set up tank again
Once you arrive, if your LR has been cycled, i recommend dumping everything in the final aquarium including with your fish using the water they traveled in. This IMO minimizes the times they have to be tranferred and undergo stress. If possible, go down the night before to the new location and prepare things so you dont have to do it the day of
Make sure that the car is the temperature that you want your fish to be in. Don't blast Ac on them!
As I mentioned before, the most important is to minimize the time between the time your pets leave the tank and are in a tank again. Plan everything out and make sure to take your time execting your plan.

bach2pilot · 07/12/2012, 02:03 PM

Sounds good. I would use an air stone for the fish. They have air stone bubblers at Walmart for like 10 bucks. Only other thing I would suggest is buying some styrofoam coolers for your live stuff. (Great insulators for a short trip).

07/11/2012, 10:43 PM	#1
laxb0rder Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Clinton Posts: 333	Moving My Tank So i posted this in another section and wasn't able to get any help or replies so i thought maybe it wold do better here. If this is not aloud please let me know and im sorry for the mistake. I'm planning on moving my tank to school, I have a 29 gallon that will be set up for about 3 months when I move it. I'm planning on putting my live rock in one or 2 buckets completely covered in tank water. And fish (2 clowns a yellow clown goby and a cleaner shrimp) in another bucket and all my Frags in some Tupperware or another bucket with a multi layer egg crate rack to keep them from moving or rolling around too mch. I'm also either going to get a power converter to use with an air stone or a battery air stone to put in with the fish and possibly frags. My snails will go where ever they go im not worried about them as its only like a 2 hour ride. I'm going to tr to keep as little water on my sand as possible so it doesn't get stirred up. The final part of this move is when I get back to school, I'm going to put livestock and corals in my DIY 10g AIO tank im building now and will treat it as a QT not letting it cycle at all by Doig multiple water changes untill my main tank is ready, I'll set the 29 back up and put live rock in and watch it for a few days. After the move the 10g I'm making Now for the move will act as a nano tank or frag tank I've been talking to others from my local reef club and this seems like the way to go so far. Any help would be awesome thanks.

07/12/2012, 08:26 AM	#3
snupa Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: NJ Posts: 136	hello, I just finished moving my 40 g tank about 2 1/2 hours not too long ago. You have a plan but I have a few suggestions: You can buy an airstone but I didn't feel the need for it. What you should keep constant is the temperature. The simplest way of doing this is to maximize the volume of water that your pets will be traveling in. The larger the water volume the longer it takes for it to lose / gain temperature. Also , by waiting until last minute to drain your tank you minimize the time of travel. Remember that taking a 2 hour trip might actually be 5 hours for them until they are in a set up tank again Once you arrive, if your LR has been cycled, i recommend dumping everything in the final aquarium including with your fish using the water they traveled in. This IMO minimizes the times they have to be tranferred and undergo stress. If possible, go down the night before to the new location and prepare things so you dont have to do it the day of Make sure that the car is the temperature that you want your fish to be in. Don't blast Ac on them! As I mentioned before, the most important is to minimize the time between the time your pets leave the tank and are in a tank again. Plan everything out and make sure to take your time execting your plan.

07/12/2012, 03:46 AM	#2
Michigan Mike Freedom costs a buckofive Join Date: May 2012 Location: Michigan Posts: 3,002	Sounds like a plan. I don't know if I would qt them, but it might be a good idea to let things settle a bit and make sure the livestock does okay after the move.

07/12/2012, 02:03 PM	#4
bach2pilot Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Jacksonville, Florida Posts: 251	Sounds good. I would use an air stone for the fish. They have air stone bubblers at Walmart for like 10 bucks. Only other thing I would suggest is buying some styrofoam coolers for your live stuff. (Great insulators for a short trip).