Moving a tank

[skae310]

Hey guys I am moving to college in about a month and I need to know what the best way is to transfer a biocube 5 hours.... Its on my second floor so it will have to go down a flight of stairs then survive a 5 hour trip from pittsburgh to rochester new york. I will be taking my van which does have power outlets for a heater to be plugged in, more plugs if needed. My current plan is to take out maybe half the water and corals and fish and transfer them to a more secure container that I can watch. Then just leave the rocks in the actual biocube. keep a heater in both. The live rock will be submerged in the water still. Does anybody see a problem with this? Will the water of a half filled biocube spill around on minor car ride bumps? any advice/experiances with moving would be much appreciated.

 

[nxb161]

14G BioCube...I'd be more worried about the sand getting all disturbed and releasing 'junk' into the water. Are your rocks at the bottom or did you add them after the sand (thinking about risk of rocks shifting into the sides) To be honest with only a 14G you may want to think about putting the rocks in a big tubberware tub with as much water as you can, and ditch the sand. Of course you'll have some clouding with adding the new sand, but you know you won't have any toxins from it, and the liverock should stay cured as long as you keep it wet with heat and flow. Just my thoughts.

 

[skae310]

That never even crossed my mind..true though. I'm not sure how disturbed the sand bed would get but it is one more thing I have to think of. I dont want to have to re do too much though when I get there. Keep in mind move in day isnt going to allow me with the whole day to work on the tank. But if you guys think the toxins in the sand would be released I will do what I have to.

 

[melosu58]

If it was me I would put the fish in a 5 gallon bucket and any LR in another bucket and trash the sand. I would add new sand when I got to college and then add New water and the LR and then add the fish. Keep the LR wet with SW so as not to lose your nitrifying bacteria. JMO

 

[skae310]

That sounds easy enough. Now getting the rocks back to how they were......haha thatll be my biggest problem but hey I can deal I guess. Now could I just do that the night before? because I am assuming they will want me up there mid day and that means I will be leaving in the morning and need to deal with packing the car and stuff then. So would it hurt anything to pretty much get everything ready to go at night? I mean im assuming the clowns wont mind too much. and after the lights go out the corals could care less of where they are right?

 

[melosu58]

They will just have to deal with it. I forgot about the corals. Just put them with the fish.

 

[skae310]

Ok thanks. I might add more questions I have later but as for now im good.

 

[Coyote5]

not to change the subject, but which college in ROC are you attending? I am in webster and wouldnt mind helping you move the stuff in.

 

[skae310]

Im attending RIT. And yea I might need help. A main question to you is are there any good LFS in the area??

 

[Coyote5]

I buy EVERYTHING from this little private store called Petworld in Greece on west ridge road. Theres 4 or 5 petsmart/petco stores in the area but PetWorld is above and beyond for anything fish.

 

[cabezon]

I would also recommend grabbing a 10 gal plastic container. The rocks could hit the glass too easily and crrraaaack.

 

[skae310]

How close is petworld to RIT? and yes i plan to go with plastic for my containers. the biocube is acrylic and im not risking breaking it or scratching it. haha

 

[Coyote5]

petworld is probably 10 or 15 minutes or so up 390 north on west ridge road. (almost right off the exit of 390)

 

[dscount]

Check around and see if anyone might have a couple empty Instant Ocean salt containers. Makes it easier to move with the lock down lid by spinning it one direction (Hammer it open). You could put you LR and 5 gal of water in this container w/o any spilling.

2nd Tip. Might stop and check the temp of the H20 for the fish. If summer time travel then maybe drop a bag of ice near the fish to help keep cool (Not IN or directly touching).

 

[skae310]

I plan to have two plastic containers. One for fish and corals, one for rocks. I also have 2 heaters and the car will be air conditioned so I can keep everything adjusted right. Im not driving my parents are so I plan to sit in the back with them anyways. So anything I am missing? Im taking fish and corals out first, then rocks in another container, then replacing sand. Then when i get there i will put in rocks and water, and then fish and corals when it clears up a bit. How long do you think the corals in fish can live in a 6 gallon container and be ok for if provided with a little flow and heat? Because I know the new sand is gonna make the tank really cloudy and I would like it to settle a little before adding the fish.

 

[IT-FishGuy]

Tank move

I moved a while back and used Home Depot 5 gallon painters buckets for the water. Used a set of coolers for the fish and plants.