Is is possible to move an establish aquarium 700miles with no problems!

[hernluis]

I have a huge problem. Going away for school, about 700miles away from my 55g reef. Would it be possible to move my tank that far and set it up successfully with no problems?

thanks

[dlmkmm]

I moved my 29 280 miles with no problems at all. Put all the fish, corals, and any thing else that was alive into a large cooler along with some live rock. Added a couple powerheads hooked up to a cheap power inverter and closed the lid. The cooler keep the water temp at around 80 (about 7 hours in the middle of summer). Oh, the cooler stayed in the back of my Jeep with the a/c on. Everything else was in the trailer.

The rest of the water and live rock went into buckets. Left all the equipment in the 29 gal. sump and left the sand and about 1 inch of water in the main tank.

It was a long day though. Tearing down the tank, driving 5 hours, setting up the tank.

[syrinx]

Yes it is doable. After all- most of the animals commonly are shipped thousands of miles to get to us. I have had friends move their equipment andsuch and then had me overnight the fish and coral to them. Whatever the case- as long as O2 and temp are considered- its simple.

[hernluis]

I was thinking of keeping the sand in and leaving a little water but how would i keep the sand at the correct temp?

thanks

[syrinx]

just throw it in a cooler- or styro. If you need heat packs tape one to the lid. If you mean keep the sand in the tank, then wrap tank in a blanket- and pile sand in one corner so it has less surface to disappate heat. Tape a heat pack under the tank on the sand side.

[Playa-1]

I think with careful planning it's doable.

[jhutton]

its doable as other have said. i moved my tank from new hampshire to tennessee, everything was in buckets or coolers, so i kept all my sand and had about 25% old water. i actualy lost nothing in that two day trip

[dlmkmm]

Try to keep as much of your original water as possible although it's not a bad idea to dump some of it out since your realy mixing up the sand and rocks. Also make as much new salt water as you can, both for make up water and incase you accidently lose some.

I made 25 gallons new salt water for the move, thats more then half my system. ended up using 15 gallons of it.

[illsquaddotcom]

I would suggest selling off the system and setting up a new one when you get there. True, with careful planning it probably could be done but things happen.... You'll lose some fish and coral undoubtably. Most moves across town result in stress levels that cause die off. Do you have access to an RV or the like? That could help you keep your paramaters stable. Or maybe just sell off the livestock. I bet the local reefing community would help you restock when you get the tank re-established....

[JeF4y]

As mentioned, it takes planning but can be done without any loss necessarily.

I'm going to be moving our 60 gal + sump 825 miles in a few months. You just REALLY have to plan it out. For me, after everything is moved into the house, I will come back for the tank. At a high level I will spend 1 day tearing the tank down and getting everything into buckets/etc and loaded into a rental van. I will use inverters and/or a battery source for air stones and heat as necessary. Day 2 will be driving and unloading. Day 3-4 will be setup at the new house.

Again, planning everything out is going to be HUGE.

[demeyer2]

As someone who went to college and did a lot of tank moving, it should be noted that there are a lot of breaks and extended leaves from school (christmas holidays, spring break, summers) that create issues about what to do with your tank. I had to take mine home every christmas and move it almost every summer when I changed housing. If I could do it all over again, I would have downsized to something under 20 gallons. Just my opinion.

[NeverlosT]

I admire your ambition. When I left for college, I took my 75 down and gave away/sold the bits. College was nuts enough without my tank to think about! Then I just built another one even better/bigger after school!

If you are going to do it, get the livestock out of the tank since when your sand gets all mixed up you are not going to want your fish/corals in that (theres lots of bad stuff that can develop in sand beds).

Keep livestock in a clean container aerated with heat and a powerhead, with their old tank water covered. 700 miles is a long way man!

[lostintheocean]

corals are shilled all the time but they are going into established systems. The tough part with moving is that you are basically starting over. I moved a 29 gallon 600 miles with no lossed but I did not have corals. fish and inverts. It was a pain in the ... i put everythgin in a small 10 gallon and lined the top with stryo to stop splashing adn an airpump in there. main tank had 1 inch of sand and 2 inches of water. since it was small when I refilled it was like doing a large water change. With a 55 I would try to bring at least 20 gallons of tank water with you and keep it bubbling. If you have to move the tank again after that you may want to take a break. moving tanks is the worst

[goochesfish]

I would leave it home. You'll have so may distractions in college to have to concern yourself with a reef tank. Break it down unless you can get a younger sibling or your parents into reefing. Upgrade when you are settled after graduation. Set up a nano and tell your parents it's books and fees.

[L98-Z]

I'd sell it off. Buy a nano for the college maybe.

[tralynne]

Can you win the lottery?....yes.

Is it probable you will win the lottery?...not so much

Can you move your tank 700 miles?...yes.

Is it probable to do this with out problems?...not so much

[flyhigh123]

your biggest issue will be the sand bed. I've done a big move a few times.. Its always the sand bed, when disturbed, lets out a lot of trapped stuff and throws the tank into a mini cycle.

If possible I would start with new sand and this should keep the tank from going into a new cycle.

[Nadzchris]

Possible i drove a 125 reef setup with $5000 invested from mich to salt lake city in 38 hours. only had one piece of ancan die because its bag had a hole.