Any ideas for how to move a reef tank 500 miles?

[JoshuaMarshall1]

Does anyone have any advice about moving a reef tank. I'm getting ready to move to Nashville from Charleston and I have to move my 46 Bowfront which is fully stocked with corals and fish. I think the idea is to try and move all of the live rock in a big container together, so maybe two containers. Then bag all the corals and fish up seperately and place them in coolers with heat packs. Should I try to save a lot of water or should I make up a fresh batch to account for what I lose? Any thoughts or ideas from anyone they may have had to do the same thing would be greatly appreciated. [/img][/b]

 

[michealprater]

i just moved a 100 gallon fully stock reef. i would get some 5 gallon water jugs and try to save at least 75% of the water if possible. i bagged all live stock (corals and fishes) in separate bags and put them in styrofoam coolers. (if you are transporting in something where the temp may drop dramatically, do use the heat packs.) i put the snails and hermit in a couple of bags together. i put all the live rock in styrofoam coolers and topped with news paper and soaked the news paper with water from the tank to keep the rock damp. and most importantly if you can move the tank without disturbing the sand bed you should. mixing up the sand bed can release massive amounts of nitrates and ammonia. if this is not possible the sand may have to be replaced. im sure one of the experts could tell you more about the sand. i did all these things, and immediatly set the tank back up and put 25% new saltwater, aged one week, in the tank. thankfully i only lost one fish. good luck, its tough, but you can do it with careful planning.

 

[reefrunner69]

http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/j_wiseman_101898.html

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/j_meek.html

http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1999/june/outer/default.asp

http://users.castel.nl/~smita01/Rachel/Moving.htm

http://www.cyberreefguru.com/misc/move/move.html

You may find these links useful. I have never moved one that far, but I can tell you, when I moved my 90g it took approx 10 hrs and I was only moving it about 10 min from where it was. I did not read any of those links, just scanned them, so in case they didn't mention it...for a move of that length, I would bag the corals and fish in oversized bags and use oxygen. Regular air, prob won't do, you can figure your going to be on the road for 8-10 hours, plus there is tear down time as well as set up time. I wish you the best of luck, and if there are any other questions don't hesitate to post.