moving tank advice

[lukasnca]

I have a 100 gallon aquarium that I need to move to a location that is about an hour away. It has about 100lbs of live rock and a lot of soft corals. Any advice on how to do this?

Thanks,
Luke.

 

[mhaynes01]

well luke i woudl take most of the live rock out and put it in a rubbermaid tub with tank water

as for the coral i dotn knwo

btu you want to do a 50 % water change (dont put any back of course)

do u have any fish or is it just live rock adn corals?

 

[brndfrb]

Ahh yes the art of moving the reef. Luckily i just did this about a month ago. Here is what i did. First of all i devoted a whole day to the tank. With the help of a friend. First we broke the tank down. We took all the hardware off and boxed it. Then we took all the rock out and put it in rubbermaid containers with tank water to keep it wet. Then we bagged all the corals. Then we put all fish and snails and hermits and other critters in buckets with tank water. Then we took as much of the tank water as we could and put it into containers to use when you are setting the tank back up. Then drained what water we could not sve and loaded everything up. We moved about an hour away as well. Once we got to where we moved to we took all the live stock and put it into a big rubbermaid container and put a heater and powerhead in it to keep everything ok. Then set the tank up make sure you have enough new saltwater mixed and ready to replace what water you couldn't save. Then set the tank up and fill it and get everything going. Then put your rock in and once the temp in the tank is the same as your livestock strt drip acclimating the livestock VERY VERY slow. Then put them in the tank. Sunds easy but is a real pain in the butt.

 

[Sneaker]

Temp is a big factor so remember that... I used 5 gallon buckets from HD for the rock, fish, and corals and they made it fine "except for my sick leather coral but thats due to something else"

I only moved about 1 mile away in the city so the fish were in and out and back in again within and hour.

Good luck with the 100 gallon.

 

[lukasnca]

I have just one clown fish but I also have a starfish, a sea cucumber, some hermit crabs, a few tubeworms, mushrooms, pulse corals, anemones ...

 

[lukasnca]

How much do I have to worry about the corals interacting? Should I do one rock/coral per bucket?

What kind of buckets did you use?

Thanks, Luke.

 

[Bearfan]

I used 5 gal buckets (Homer Buckets) from Menards to move my rock in with no casulties. I would move the coral separate if possible.

 

[lukasnca]

One other question ... wouldn't it be less stressful on the anemonies and corals to leave them on the rocks? Is the worry that the rocks could move and damage them during the move?

 

[Bearfan]

I left my condy on a rock...I just made sure that rock was friction fit in the bucket and had no change of moving. Mind you, I did this for 425 miles in a northern michigan UP winter.

 

[Davidfrances]

Moving with fish

My family and I move on average every 5 years or so. Some time ago, I invested in a couple of 94 qt Igloo coolers, and installed a 12 volt rule marine livewell pumps for circulation/aeration. All are powered by a 12 volt deep cycle marine battery. My "moving aquariums" cost about $120 each, and were perfect for the transportation of fish and corals in situ. I fill them about 50% with tank water, and the lids keep most of the water in. I also run a sponge filter in my tanks about a week prior to the move, and attach them to the rule pumps to keep the biological process going during the move. The live rocks were transported in old Rubbermaid containers covered in wet towels or newspapers. When not in use, they reside in my attic. The only downside is their size - you need a van, small truck or large SUV to transport. Unfortunately, we had a major problem on our last move (unrelated to the system I just described) and by the time it was resolved, we had lost most of our fish and corals.