Moving and need help on how to transport a 55gal reef tank.

[Satellite9791]

I am moving to a new appt on nov 1 and i need some good advise on how to move a 55 gal reef tank with little or no loss.
tank includes 75lbs of live rock, xenias, sand polyps, star polyps, button polyps, yellow polyps, green mushroom coral, orange tree sponges, gorgonian corals, couple of feather dusters.
I have two fire fish, 1 yellow tang, 1 yellow tale damsel, 1 Six line wrasse, common clown, tomato clown, 1 Royal grama, 1 green chromas, about 20 blue leg hermits and about 25 margarita snails.

the tank has been set up for a little over a year and i need to know the best method of moving it. i am only moving about 5 miles away so it will not be a long trip.

Any Helpful Advice????

 

[lando]

Hi, and welcome to AA!! This is a job anyone with a tank dreads. It is not easy but with some planning can be done with little or no loss. Your best friends in this case will be 5 gal. buckets with light fitting lids. See if the LFS will loan you some. How far is the move? It is important to retain a majority of the water and keep the LR and substrate wet to reduece any die-off. The last thing you want to do is cause a mini-cycle in your tank. Empty the tank as completely as you can. Do not move your tank with a lot of weight in it. You do not want a broken tank. Put everything is the buckets and maybe a battery powered air pump for the fish. Move everything over and reasemble. Plan on it taking the better part of a day. You can use the opportunity to do a 15-20% water change. I am not sure what type of filtration you have, but it is also important to keep any filter media wet as well. It may take a few days for the tank to clear up after the move. test your water daily and have enough mixed up SW to do changes if needed. If you get good water parameters for a week or so you should be in the clear. Good luck...Lando