I think a 30-45 minute move is doable. I would save as much tank water as possible, keep the filter wet (and exposed to a bubbler? idk) and then use that same stuff when setting it back up. That way, you don't lose your bacteria. I would test the water daily for awhile after moving, just to be sure everything is ok. I would also suggest that you put a piece of plywood, or something firm, under the tank when you are carrying it. That sand can get heavy and you don't want to drop it, pull the frame off, crack the bottom, etc during the move. If you keep it on a firm surface and have someone help you carry it, it should be fine.
You probably don't need the rest of this, but I am including in case someone making a long distance move ends up here. And, maybe you will find it reassuring.
I just moved a 55 gallon tank 600 miles. I moved 3 angelfish, 3 silver dollars, 3 tiger barbs, 1 gold barb, 1 small pleco and 3 nerite snails. (Most of these fish were in the tank when I bought it. I added the silver dollars and snails. The tiger barbs don't seem to bother anybody.)
Here is what I used:
Five 5 gallon buckets & lids from Home Depot, new and rinsed thoroughly
3 styrofoam bucket inserts from HD on-line and shipped to store (rinsed)
air stones & tubing
1 battery operated air pump
1 plug in air pump
Batteries! (not included with the pump)
I bought the styrofoam liners so that I could insulate the buckets a bit. Then I realized I wouldn't be able to heat the water, and they were going to be in the buckets awhile, so I started gradually lowering the temperature in their tank over the course of a few weeks. I figured this would give them time to adjust to room temp water before I dumped them in buckets.
The day before the movers came, I divided about half the aquarium gravel between the 5 buckets. I figured this would keep their poop from floating around while we traveled and would carry some of the bacteria I needed to start up the new tank. I used water from the tank to fill the buckets about 2/3 of the way, and added air stones to the buckets. Then, I scooped the rest of the gravel out of the tank, rinsed it, and spread it out on clean packing paper to dry. I did the same for all decorations.
The day the movers came, I divided the fish between the buckets and put them in a quiet, dim, out-of-the-way area. Instead of having an air pump for each tank, I just gave each bucket a turn with the plug-in pump every few hours. (I tried using a splitter to run more than one stone off the same pump, but you have to have it set up right, or only 1 will bubble. I failed.) I left the lids off of the buckets any time we were not actually driving. For some reason, I did not put my filter media in the buckets. I can't remember why. But it would be a good idea to do that.
The next day, we were supposed to start our drive, but my car wouldn't start, s we ended up spending an extra day in our empty house. I just kept rotating the air stones and trying to disturb the fish as little as possible. Once we were in the van, I put 2 buckets on the floor behind the driver's seat, 2 behind the passenger's seat and one on the floor in front of the passenger's seat. I made sure that they were wedged in and would not move. We drove about 3 hours, then spent the night at my Mom's house. The next morning, I scooped water out of each bucket and replaced that water with bottled water. Each one got dosed with SeaChem Prime too. Before the water change, I offered the fish a small bit of food, but none of them ate anything. We spent one more night at my Mom's before driving 9 hours to Maryland. I kept the buckets covered while driving. Every time I stopped, I would give each bucket a few minutes with the air stone and left the tops off. Between stops, one bucket would get the air pump; a different bucket after every stop. We got to Maryland after dark, so I just did a quick scoop and replace with bottled water and added a little Seachem. Our stuff wasn't supposed to arrive for a few more days, so I decided to put the fish in a 20 gallon tank that I brought in the van. I used the gravel and water from the buckets, then did a partial water change later in the day. That tank has a heater, filter, etc. All in all, they were in the buckets for about 5 days by the time I moved them to the 20 gallon. I eventually set them up in a new 90 gallon tank. Again, I used the same gravel and water from the 20 gallon tank, adding in the rest of the gravel from the 55 gallon and some new gravel. I put the filter cartridge from the 20 gallon in the new tank since it would not go in the filter for that tank.
Unfortunately, I did suffer a few losses. The first was an angelfish, Eliza. She seemed ok until I moved her to the 20 gallon. She started swimming vertically and was gone the next morning. From what I read, I think it may have been a swim bladder problem caused by stress. I think she might have been ok if she had been with her mate, Hamilton. He passed away a few months before after getting stuck in a decoration that was in the tank when I bought it and that he had grown up with. I removed the decoration, but it was too late for him, obviously. The next to go were 2 of my tiger barbs. I am blaming this one on Petco, but I could be wrong. After the tank had been running a few weeks, I decided to add 4 tiger barbs. I figured that if they were younger and smaller than my current fish, and grew up with my nice barbs, they would not bother the other fish in the tank. They did seem fine with the other fish, but after a week, I have 1 of my original barbs and 1 of the new barbs left. They died off 1 by 1. Not sure what happened there.
I was really only the fence about whether I should move them that far or not. I thought about rehoming them, but I felt bad about splitting them up, especially the angelfish. Plus, I didn't know if I could find really good homes for them. Before committing to moving them, I talk with a locally-owned fish & bird store. They have nice tanks and have been in business for years, so I felt confident in their advice. Once they approved my plan, I decided to go for it.
