WEEKLY DISCUSSION : Long Distance Moves

[jman785]

Anyone here had to make a long move, transporting livestock and or corals?

What was your method of transporting? (Car, Bus, Plane, etc.)

Did you end up using any kind of battery operated air-pump to aid in the transporting?

What was your break-down plan, meaning what steps did you take to get everything boxed up etc.?

How did the overall move go?

[jman785]

:bump:

[Condiman]

Well I had to move 7 miles and what I did was drain all the SW into 5 gallon pails and place the LR into those pails. There was one pail set aside for the fish. All that was left in the tank for the move was an inch of water covering the sand. All in all the move went well. I had a small recycle but it went well.

[Doctor_Reef]

I moved a tank from north Phoenix to my house…that was about 45 miles away…Did it in a 5 hr. turn around….used the same method that Condiman did and had basically the same results!!!

[coral_diver]

I know this is a old discussion but I wanted to add to comments with my experience....I moved from Ohio to Florida recently and well it didnt go well since I was stupid and fed the eel a few hours before I left and he didnt eat all the PC mysids. Lost all fish and most corals with 3 exceptions star polyps, chili coral and blue ridge. I used 5gal bucket with top put on with holes drilled in it and a battery air pump filled it with fish and tank water. Used a styrofoam LR box filled it with the LR and filled it also with tank water so that temp would stay as warm as possible and less cycling. I found the fish dead at the bed time stop, flushed them and continued in the AM to FL. I arrived to FL and set up tank with fresh mixed RO and put the LR in the following day believe it or not no cycle that I know of.

[marshalrckman]

I moved about a month ago.My tank was the last thing out and the first thing in.I bought a big 10 gal rubbermaid container and lined it with a really biglive stock bag(like what they wrap LR in)And put almost al my water in there.I also put all my LR in it.Then i used small live stock bags.One for my fish,one fore my shrooms and polyps and another for crabs and inverts.I left all my substrate in the tank with water about a half inch over it.Got to my new place 50 some miles away and set it back up and didnt lose a thing.I didnt have a cycl either CD. :thinkhard:

[EmperorA]

I recetly changed apartments and used a similar method as mentioned before. I went to the local store and bought several rubbermaid containers. My main goal was to completely transplant the tank exactly as it had been. I saved every last drop of water using old 5 gallon salt buckets. I don't know if it was smart but I placed several lbs of my LR in the same tub as my fish went in for their comfort. All the corals and invertebrates were placed in seperate containers. When I arrived everything was put in the tank the same way it was takin out. Water followed by LR, then corals, and then fish last. The only loss I had was a small nudibranch which wasn't a big deal, and one of my capnella corals still hasn't fully bloomed. But besides that everything is A OK.

[segen77]

This is a great post, since I'm about to move 300 miles in May. I'm really looking for any ideas. What I had planned is to save all the water in buckets, and to keep the LR submerged the entire time. I'm Planning on bagging all corals individually, and trying to seperate the fish as much as possible. I figure that if something is going to die off, I don't want it to affect anything else. As of right now, I don't plan on using any kind of air pumps of anything of that nature, but I do already have a power inverter, so I guess I could. I know the drive on it's own is going to be about 3+ hours. The break down should take about 2-3 hours, and about the same for the setup. I'm also planning on having at least 10-20 gallons of fresh salt water to add in the beginning. Let me know if there are any other suggesstions.

Thanks

[specsgirl]

My suggestion is find a fish store that will put some oxygen in those bags for you. Yes you might have some dieoff..but minimal if you do it the way that you are describing. Think of how the corals get to your local fs...they are shipped long distances and the majority of those survive.
My other advice is to not reuse your sandbed if you have one. The tearing down of your tank will disturb it way too much. Take a couple of scoops off of the top of the sand and use that to seed your new bed once you get the tank up and running.

[nbaker]

Good advice specs!

On another note just make sure to keep your friends in climate comfort, it's easy to for get less water volume will flux faster. So make sure you keep some ice handy to compromise with any heat you may get during the trip.

my2cents

[specsgirl]

Here's another thought that I've been advocating hard. I'm sure most people have a fellow reefer or a reef club around them. Why not farm out your corals and then when you're ready you can have them ship you your colonies and/or a frag?? This gives you a chance to set up your tank and let it go through your recycle and since corals tend to be more delicate than fish it is easier on them to hop from an established tank back into an established one. Just a thought I know that this works well for our reef club here.