2000 Km trip with nano tank. Any chance to make it work?

[KonradTO]

Hi Everyone.
For my tank second birthday I will be taking it apart as a birthday present.
My research contract as PhD is finished after 4 years and I am moving abroad. This will most likely happen on a 2-4 year basis for the next N years I fear.
For some time I have been quite confident to find a way to not change location for some years but life happened and for several reasons I cannot stay in the same University/city. This means my reefing adventure cannot continue (for now).

I already started emptying my 30g tank, selling corals and giving away for free my little fish-y friends, as I will be moving abroad in 3 months.
NOW:
I "convinced" my partner that is actually possible to bring with us the clownfish pair and some easy corals without too much hassle. This would be my way to keep reefing despite the always-moving lifestyle. But I am willing to do this only if I am convinced that stuff can survive the trip and the resettlement.
I have a half decent plan in my mind and I wanted to ask some suggestions and feedback:

-I will keep my 15g tank only with easy corals I already have (mostly softcorals + duncan + zoas and the like). on top of that the clownfish pair, anemone crab, sexy shrimps and CUC.
- During the trip it will be probably quite warm (end of August in EU) so I hope that temperature won't be an issue. I will keep it monitored all the time and regulate the car AC accordingly.
- The trip will last 2 days (20 hours driving).
- My plan is to move everything inside 3 or 4 5g-buckets connected to sponge filters previously cycled in the tank. I will put some activated carbon in the bins where the fish are to prevent ammonia to build up just in case. Fish will be in 1 bucket, inverts in another bucket and corals split between 1 or 2 buckets with live rocks and so on.
- I will also fill the buckets with Caulerpa prolifera for buffering oxygen and nutrients, and also giving animals hiding places.
- At night I will likely sleep somewhere with electricity so I could connect at least some nano heaters to keep temperature stable.

The trickiest part so far I suppose is what to do once I get to destination. If I manage to keep the filtration material alive I would probably just fill the 15g tank with freshly prepared saltwater, some water from the bins, and the aquaclear hang-on filter should start without issues I suppose.
One additional precaution could be adding some Prime while testing for ammonia for few days, but I don't see why the filtration material (sponges) should have problems with the trip if kept with enough water flow. On this purpose I could fill a media filter with the sponges and connect it to a USB-powered water pump (I already use them for the ATO).

I cannot predict what will happen job-wise but this mess might happen another couple of times every few years, until I either get a permanent position or leave academic research.

Any thoughts/feedback?
Anyone that did anything similar and has some suggestions?

The tank I am planning to "move"

 

[nuxx]

As long as you have good air and the temps aren't too far off, you should be fine.

Fish somedays last 3-4-5 days in shipping bags when something goes wrong with UPS/Fedex.

 

[KonradTO]

As long as you have good air and the temps aren't too far off, you should be fine.

Fish somedays last 3-4-5 days in shipping bags when something goes wrong with UPS/Fedex.

Yes that's a point. I think the problem might be when I get to destination, since I will not have a cycled tank ready.. But I am quite sure my 15g relies on the aquaclear mainly and not on live rocks so it should be ok as long as the filtration material remains in good conditions. But maybe some people did something similar and has some experience..

 

[Lebowski_]

I've done this exact type of trip with a marine tank. Here's how my plan differred from yours:

Fish/CuC and corals all went in a cooler with a battery powered air stone. I had a little mercury thermometer which I checked at each stage in the drive. I had more trouble keeping temps down than up, so when we stopped, I would grab a bag with some ice in it and let it sit in there until we started driving again. Highest temp I got was 85F (sun was right on us at that point), lowest was 78F.

Attached to the air stone, I had a sponge which I had left in my tank for a month before the trip, and also a bag of Purigen. I am not sure carbon will do too much for you.

When we stopped for the night, I did an 80% water change, added a small pump to move the water around overnight and keep it oxygenated.

The LR I put in sealed Home Depot buckets with tight fitting lids and barely touched, outside of putting a small pump in the buckets overnight.

No losses or really even any ill effects.

Good luck!

 

[nuxx]

Yes that's a point. I think the problem might be when I get to destination, since I will not have a cycled tank ready.. But I am quite sure my 15g relies on the aquaclear mainly and not on live rocks so it should be ok as long as the filtration material remains in good conditions. But maybe some people did something similar and has some experience..

I mean you can setup a QT type system pretty quick with some bacteria in the mean time.

Best Quarantine Procedures For Saltwater Fish and Coral

Quarantining new saltwater fish, coral, inverts and live rock is the most important step in keeping a healthy marine aquarium. Here are our preferred methods.

www.tankstop.com

 

[KonradTO]

I've done this exact type of trip with a marine tank. Here's how my plan differred from yours:

Fish/CuC and corals all went in a cooler with a battery powered air stone. I had a little mercury thermometer which I checked at each stage in the drive. I had more trouble keeping temps down than up, so when we stopped, I would grab a bag with some ice in it and let it sit in there until we started driving again. Highest temp I got was 85F (sun was right on us at that point), lowest was 78F.

Attached to the air stone, I had a sponge which I had left in my tank for a month before the trip, and also a bag of Purigen. I am not sure carbon will do too much for you.

When we stopped for the night, I did an 80% water change, added a small pump to move the water around overnight and keep it oxygenated.

The LR I put in sealed Home Depot buckets with tight fitting lids and barely touched, outside of putting a small pump in the buckets overnight.

No losses or really even any ill effects.

Good luck!

Ah nice! this is promising. Did you have a cycled tank ready at destination or just started a new tank with bottled bacteria and the old sponges?

 

[Lebowski_]

Ah nice! this is promising. Did you have a cycled tank ready at destination or just started a new tank with bottled bacteria and the old sponges?

Honestly, I didn't use bacteria or have anything cycling. I just took the sponge and my LR and added it to my tank (which came with us, boxed), hastily filled it up and turned everything on, added all the fish and coral, and finished with the rest of the move. I did a W/C the first night and test ammonia for a week but never really saw anything scary.

It actually went super smooth all things considered. Clowns are tough, and so are softies. My biggest stress was just trying to never accelerate or brake too fast.

For the record, we also had 2 dogs and a budgie! lol. Felt like I was moving a zoo.

 

[KonradTO]

I mean you can setup a QT type system pretty quick with some bacteria in the mean time.

Best Quarantine Procedures For Saltwater Fish and Coral

Quarantining new saltwater fish, coral, inverts and live rock is the most important step in keeping a healthy marine aquarium. Here are our preferred methods.

www.tankstop.com

Yes that's also a good idea! I have a bottle of cycling bacteria I can use to jumpstart the tank in case of mini-cycles

 

[KonradTO]

Honestly, I didn't use bacteria or have anything cycling. I just took the sponge and my LR and added it to my tank (which came with us, boxed), hastily filled it up and turned everything on, added all the fish and coral, and finished with the rest of the move. I did a W/C the first night and test ammonia for a week but never really saw anything scary.

It actually went super smooth all things considered. Clowns are tough, and so are softies. My biggest stress was just trying to never accelerate or brake too fast.

For the record, we also had 2 dogs and a budgie! lol. Felt like I was moving a zoo.

Well I must say I am quite relieved that at least 1 person managed to do this in a smooth way. I have a big 12v-powered cooler for the car I could use for transporting things, and probably I will also prepare beforehand some saltwater, since I will not have the RODI ready right away.

I also have to read a bit about using natural SW for the water changes as I will be basically 800m from the mediterranean sea in case it works it could be a life changer for now

 

[Lebowski_]

Well I must say I am quite relieved that at least 1 person managed to do this in a smooth way. I have a big 12v-powered cooler for the car I could use for transporting things, and probably I will also prepare beforehand some saltwater, since I will not have the RODI ready right away.

I also have to read a bit about using natural SW for the water changes as I will be basically 800m from the mediterranean sea in case it works it could be a life changer for now

Just to clarify, by cooler I just meant one of these insulated boxes:

No reason buckets won't work, or even just a styr box with the animals in bags. I just chose the cooler to try to stabalize the temp and to also give them a bit more space. I strapped it in with a seatbelt lol

 

[Tired]

Just bring yourself some rock. Relying on a filter for bio-media is probably not a good plan; the majority of a reef's biofilter is in the rocks. Small bucket of rock with an air pump and a tight-fitting lid, don't even bother with a heater. Bam- instant cycle. Just rinse it off (with tank water) before bucketing it, to remove any clinging gunk.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

you should make a youtube blog or something, would be interesting to follow along. Wish you luck, cheers

 

[KonradTO]

Just bring yourself some rock. Relying on a filter for bio-media is probably not a good plan; the majority of a reef's biofilter is in the rocks. Small bucket of rock with an air pump and a tight-fitting lid, don't even bother with a heater. Bam- instant cycle. Just rinse it off (with tank water) before bucketing it, to remove any clinging gunk.

Sure, I will bring obviously all the rocks because corals are encrousted there. And hopefully they remain in best conditions possible. But at the moment I have much less rock than the "manual" sais and I have been doing great for a year. I honestly am loving the filtration with the hob filter! And I never wash it, nitrates are devoured by caulerpa

 

[KonradTO]

you should make a youtube blog or something, would be interesting to follow along. Wish you luck, cheers

This is a really good idea! I think it could be something interesting for the community

 

[sidpost]

Any chance you can send your tank ahead of time and get it set up?

Or, being so close to the sea, can't you just take your tank out of the car, add your live rock, some seawater, and transfer the livestock?

 

[sidpost]

In terms of car transport, in the USA, resellers transport and ship fish all over the USA with generally good results. If FedEx and UPS can ship fish via 2-day air in a plastic bag and styrofoam, I would have good expectations for your trip!

 

[FTW-Reef]

My two cents, after a just a 300 mile move with a 24g tank across the state of NC, maybe take the easy corals and rock, but rehome the fish and repopulate with fish once you have moved and gotten the tank situated at your new home.

Most of my corals survived, but it sucked that the fish didn’t make it

 

[sidpost]

My two cents, after a just a 300 mile move with a 24g tank across the state of NC, maybe take the easy corals and rock, but rehome the fish and repopulate with fish once you have moved and gotten the tank situated at your new home.

Most of my corals survived, but it sucked that the fish didn’t make it

Sorry to hear they didn't make the trip. Any idea what happened (stress, environment, etc.)?

The reason I ask is that I am ~4 hours or more away from Saltwater livestock sources so, while not 300 miles, similar transport time assuming 3-hour stops across the bride waiting for wrecks to clear which could easily make it 7 hours or more.

 

[KonradTO]

Hi all,
I am finally doing the trip. You find the live updates on this new thread if someone is interested in following how it goes.
Temperature is currently quite good, outside is 22 C, in the car is around 27C, so for now it seems I have been lucky with the weather. Tomorrow I will cross the Spanish border, I expect then some real heat, hopefully everything goes well.


https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/l...ss-europe-for-1900km-2-days-trip-ama.1004265/