Moving Tank

[bsharpe]

Moving my tank in 2 days, very nervous...
So I have set up a frag tank, 2' x 2' x 8", about 20 gallons at the new house.
I'm going to move the corals and live rock that has attached growth into the frag tank tomorrow. Then the morning that the movers are coming I will drain the tank, remove rock and fish, I think I will put the fish in a five gallon bucket with a lid. Only 8 fish and inverts.
I will remove everything from the main tank except the sand for the move itself. Then I will put the water I drained back into the tank.
I think I will then put the fish and inverts into the frag tank also, just to let the main tank cycle for a week before returning my stock.
Does anyone see a problem with this plan? or have other advice.
Thanks

 

[chrislorentz]

dont know how far your moving but maybe consider a cooler for the fish vs a bucket

 

[Cake_Boss]

don't let the sand come in contact with air, this will cause the bacteria to become anaerobic. I was considering the same thing, before my plans changed. I was told to scoop the sand off in layers and put the layers back in, in the order I took them out. Keep water in the sand container. You could also not worry about it and clean your sand before you put it back in.

 

[bsharpe]

Only a ten minute move, but like the cooler idea a lot. Will do thanks.

 

[chrislorentz]

the sun can really heat up bucket water fast

 

[bsharpe]

I only have about 1-2 inches of sand, do you think it can stay in the tank with a shallow covering of water?

 

[chrislorentz]

yes

 

[Haddonisreef]

Cover the frag tank so theres no surfers!

 

[Wicked Color]

A big issue with moving that many fish in a small container is they deplete the O2 rapidly due to stress, it would be good to have a small air pump and stone to keep the O2 at an acceptable level.

 

[gh0st]

You may consider saving some of the water, and if possible, making up a new batch of SW at the new location to do a large partial water change, which will save needing to move some of the old water.

Having extra water is always nice, I always try to have 25-50% more than I think I need, and I've rarely had much left over by the time the move is complete.

There will be a great deal of detritus stirred up during a move, even in a very clean tank, and the re-setup is a good chance to remove a lot of it by replacing old water with some new.

Like Wicked Demon mentioned, either an air pump to swap between buckets or a very small power head to keep the water moving and oxygenated is a very good idea.

You will also need lots and lots of buckets. When I tank swapped from a 55 to a 90 gallon, I had no less than about 20 buckets and several rubbermaid tubs scattered all over the place to house all the water and livestock.

 

[bsharpe]

Thanks for all the good advice.
My friend Daniel "the fish addict" is coming over to help me. He has a big rubbermaid that the fish will stay in for a week.
The corals will go into the frag tank and the rock and sand back to the main tank. after a week everyone will be back in their home.
I HATE MOVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dvenson]

is your friend a hoarder also?