Any tips on moving tank 600 miles?

[Trooper182]

I'm in the beginning stages of planning my tank move. I retire from the next year and will be moving from Oklahoma to New Mexico. My current tank is a 75g with 20g sump. I currently have 8 fish in the tank and assorted softies, LPS, nems. I recently got my retirement gift early. It is a aqueon 125g reef with a 40g sump. I'll be building the tank out over the next few months to have it ready to go. So what's the best way to make this move? I have to have the rental house cleaned by the last week of August. Plan now is to break the current tank down 2 days before I move and sell it off. Issue is I won't be able to set the new tank up until I get home. So all the livestock will have to be held in temp containers for a few days.

Current plan is to keep all my live rock from the 75g and put it in the new tank. I'll also be adding about 40lbs more of live rock and new sand to the tank. I plan on keeping as much of the old tank water as possible and having pre mixed water to finish off filling the new tank. So with me using all the live rock from the current tank and the additional rock I plan on purchasing, how long would I need to wait until putting the livestock in the new tank? I know I'm still going to have a mini cycle most likely.

The other option was to sell all the livestock but I really dont want to go that way. Any other suggestions on how to do this move and new setup? One of my biggest fears is moving the new tank 600 miles and not damaging it. I plan to fill the inside with cheap old pillows and wrap the tank in layers of bubble wrap. The tank will sit on a layer of thick insulation foam. Problem is it will have to make the move in a uhaul trailer behind my jeep.

Pics of old tank, new tank and stand I'm building.

 

[Trooper182]

Any input/ ideas?

 

[Heezie]

Hey man! Current tank looks great and the new build is going to be awesome!

I’ve moved my system several times. Most recently from Fort Worth to Austin (about 3.5 hours) and previously from Denver to Fort Worth (about 20 hours in a uHaul) this one was from snowy/freezing to 86 and muggy lol.

So, here are my tips:
*Order Dr. Tims or Fritz Turbo Start*
I would setup the old system in the new tank, add the bacteria, and wait on the new live rock (in case there’s any die off).

As far as traveling with everything, buckets are your best friend. I always drain the majority of the water into containers before moving anything and stirring it up. I sorted my fish and soft/lps corals into 2-3 buckets, bigger sps into its own bucket with egg crate dividers, and kept them in the cab with me. The sloshing of the eater in the truck will provide enough air. Smaller frags went into any specimen containers I had and into a cooler. I wrapped the live rock in wet paper towels and placed them in Home Depot totes in the box closest to the end (obviously) along with the containers of water. I lost one sps frag because I filled the container up too full but that’s it, ever.

I usually stop at the lfs in the new town and grab enough new water to run the system. I don’t use any of the water from the buckets or frag containers to fill up.

Hope this helps some!