Moving a Tank

[xeonman13]

Hi.
As Ive posted, I have a 30 Gallon, 36" wide tank.

SEE PICS HERE
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=86046

FOWLR. Lighting is week, a regular coralife flourescent bulb (50/50)

This is a fairly new setup, but I may be moving from Miami, FL to Houston, TX.

I want a larger tank in Houston, so whats the best way to accomplish this?

I plan to

1.) MOVE AND LEAVE MY TANK BEHIND WITH FAMILY
2.) SETUP NEW TANK IN HOUSTON, LET IT CYCLE
3.) SHIP MY 40 LBS OF LIVE ROCK OVER AND THEN SOMEHOW MY FISH.

any ideas? How can i ship the fish.
Is it possible?
Is my plan okay?

Also,once IM in houston, I would like to have a reef tank.
What size should I get. Is there an equipment guide?
Filter, Lighting, Canopy?

Thanks!

 

[Cafe Jeff]

Hmm.
Sounds like a lot of trouble.
I know it's possible, but is it worth it.
Is there anyone who could take your fish and then you could take your aquarium and live rock en masse to Houston or at least your live rock to get things started.
I moved 2 fish tanks in the last month, none farther than 100 yards, and none was a pleasurable experience. Only one casualty, I am glad to say. Jeff

 

[roka64]

I know it's possible, but is it worth it.

I agree with this. I take it there is no one that will keep your old tank?
If you are planning on shipping your LR, take into account, you may have some die-off that could cause a cycle in your new tank, so have plenty of pre-mixed water at your disposal. There are a few folks that have moved their tanks through a few states.

 

[mkobu]

It's really not that hard...after all how do you think lfs's in the midwest (actually any state since over 75% of the fish sold are not from US waters). Your LFS should have a O2 tank that they fill your bag with when you buy fish to take home and they should gladly fill your bags with air for you (if you have used them for any length of time they should be willing to help you pack them and some will actually do all packing and shipping for you as long as you pay shipping of course.)
Anyways you will need to double bag your fish with water from your tank and then wrap the bags with some newspaper (only 1/2 the bag is neccasary this helps maintain temp.) pack the bags into a styrofoam shipping box and use additional newspaper to keep the bags from falling over and bouncing around! (Ask your LFS for some of the boxes that they recieved their fish in!) the styrofoam box should be able to fit into a cardboard box.

Corals also need to be bagged the same way but LR just needs some dampened newspapers (from tank) laid over them.

Of course the most painfull part of this move will be the shipping costs since it will have to be over nighted.
Once it arrives just do the traditional acclimation steps and you should be fine.


Hope this helps....
And dont worry to much... I once moved a tank from Florida to Nebraska (dont ask why I would go from FL. to NB. lol...) in the back seat of a car during winter and everthing made it and they were all in buckets! (the fish were almost white when I got there from the cold but they Lived!!)