How to move a tank long distance?

Trooper182

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So I am in the army and just submitted my retirement packet and will retire next year. I'll br moving back home and was wondering what is the best way to go about moving everything. The move will be a 10hr drive from Oklahoma to New Mexico
My tank is a 75g with a 20g sump. Right now I only have a few coral frags along with fish and cuc. I know it's over a year away but things that keep me up at night.
 

nuxx

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Airstones and 5 gallon buckets.

Remember people like us ship fish where they are just in a bag with water and air.

Being in a bucket for 10 hours shouldn't be too bad. Make sure you have a lid ;)
 

Eagle_Steve

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So I am in the army and just submitted my retirement packet and will retire next year. I'll br moving back home and was wondering what is the best way to go about moving everything. The move will be a 10hr drive from Oklahoma to New Mexico
My tank is a 75g with a 20g sump. Right now I only have a few coral frags along with fish and cuc. I know it's over a year away but things that keep me up at night.
You have a few ways to do this and it really depends on the room you have when you move and what the weather will be like when you move.

I prefer to move items (typically a 12 hour drive from FL to TN and when I collect things) in modified coolers. This method has worked well and makes it easy if you decide to stop and sleep. Just need a power inverter for the vehicle, so you can run the small pumps and air pumps/stones.

You basically take the cooler, cut an egg crate rock for the bottom, run a cheap internal power filter and then an air pump. All holes are cut in the lid and then filled or a piece of pipe is used to prevent splashing. The egg crate is not really needed for rock, but is more used to hold corals placed on frag plugs for the move.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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this way here:

rip clean the system as you are taking it down to relocate

have 12 inverter/bubbler and heat setup in styrofoam containers in the vehicle for fish and corals transport. if you skip rip cleaning the system upon take down, and you relocate non ripped clean sand and rocks, you risk cycles killing the stuff

but if you rip clean the rocks and sand before you transport them along with corals and fish, the system cannot recycle: only waste relocation causes cycles/rip clean means we're cleaning out all the waste from your rocks and sand, you're relocating no waste in ripped clean items.

when you get to the old place you would install sand that is ripped clean. there isn't any sand you'd install without being rinsed prior 100% to no clouding at all using tap water before the transport (with a final rinse in saltwater to evacuate the tap water from the grains of the sand)

you moved ripped clean sand, so that means when you add it into the new tank/new home and fill up with water there is no clouding. none at all, it's laser clean. thats what corals and fish want to go into, not cloudy hazy water that takes 4 days to clear in non ripped clean transfers.

you are setting back in your new tank rocks that had all their detritus and algae removed, they were cleaned with saltwater not tap water before moving to jet out all the attached waste from the live rock pores.

when you set these rocks in the new tank they don't cloud.

you then install corals and fish into a cloudless system. pull up any rip clean thread to study how we do it before you begin, this is the safest tank transport method in reefing with zero tank losses on file.
 
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Trooper182

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Airstones and 5 gallon buckets.

Remember people like us ship fish where they are just in a bag with water and air.

Being in a bucket for 10 hours shouldn't be too bad. Make sure you have a lid ;)
So this is what I was thinking. All the rock will go into plastic totes with tank water covering them. The fish will go in a 5g bucket with lid and a battery bubbler inside. I'll leave a layer of water in the tank over the sand. When I get to the new house do I have to cycle again or can I put the rock in and do a 50% mix of old tank water and fresh mix and be good?
 

vsolovyev

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Once I got out I moved my tank from California to Texas. Best way is seperate, everything meaning, corals in one bucket, fish in another. Make sure you have a heater, lost a couple corals due to that issue. Once you start setting up your tank again, its best to toss the old sand. Aside from, the heating issue everything survived and i didnt have any cycleing issues
 

Eagle_Steve

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You have a few ways to do this and it really depends on the room you have when you move and what the weather will be like when you move.

I prefer to move items (typically a 12 hour drive from FL to TN and when I collect things) in modified coolers. This method has worked well and makes it easy if you decide to stop and sleep. Just need a power inverter for the vehicle, so you can run the small pumps and air pumps/stones.

You basically take the cooler, cut an egg crate rock for the bottom, run a cheap internal power filter and then an air pump. All holes are cut in the lid and then filled or a piece of pipe is used to prevent splashing. The egg crate is not really needed for rock, but is more used to hold corals placed on frag plugs for the move.
Here is what I am referring to. Thanks for @DiefsReef for taking pics, as I still do not have pics of my larger ones.

I forgot the heater in my original post, but be sure you have one. This setup allowed @DiefsReef make a trip to numerous Cronies (our little group) throughout multiple states and numerous days without an issue.

20220201_205222.jpg
20220201_205243.jpg
20220201_205309.jpg
20220312_185921.jpg
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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perfect transport system for corals.

be sure and account for live rocks that roll around and smash things during transport, we don't hold fish with live rocks usually for that reason, unless they're strapped down somehow in the moving container. that one has circulation and heat its excellent. a small bait bubble is very handy for eight bucks too/effective cheap water motion on 2 D batteries.
 

revhtree

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I moved a 125g with all the fish, coral, inverts, sand, water, equipment everything a couple states away and I don't think I lost anything!

I used a lot of rubbermaid totes and used a heater and powerhead in the totes and powered them with inverters. Do a large tote with the rock and fish just make sure the rock is secured and the fish can swim around in the tote. You can also bag them if it's not too far and too long.

Also mix up a good percent of new water to use when you set the tank back up. Also don't be lazy! As soon as you get there, no matter ow tired, set the tank up and get the livestock in the tank!
 

Eagle_Steve

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perfect transport system for corals.

be sure and account for live rocks that roll around and smash things during transport, we don't hold fish with live rocks usually for that reason, unless they're strapped down somehow in the moving container. that one has circulation and heat its excellent. a small bait bubble is very handy for eight bucks too/effective cheap water motion on 2 D batteries.
Same works for rocks and fish. For fish, I usually zip tie the rocks to the egg crate to prevent it from rolling around and it also give the fish a place to hide during the trip. (Edit: This is when I have helped people move)

Although, I typically make the drive back from FL with collected fish and no rocks, since I do not have a permit nor a lease for rock. In substitution, I use sponges soaked in my sump down there and zip tie them to the egg crate with some PVC fittings to rpovde them spaces to hide and some bacteria for ammonia processing.
 

nuxx

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So this is what I was thinking. All the rock will go into plastic totes with tank water covering them. The fish will go in a 5g bucket with lid and a battery bubbler inside. I'll leave a layer of water in the tank over the sand. When I get to the new house do I have to cycle again or can I put the rock in and do a 50% mix of old tank water and fresh mix and be good?

You might have some issues with a cycle just stirring that all up.

If you can, maybe add some marine pure blocks and a good dose of BioSpira. I think that would help a bunch.

Just thinking of stirring up your tank completely and what would happen. Might even be better to just start with mostly new sand and just use a bit of your old sand to seed.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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-I'll leave a layer of water in the tank over the sand-


that customization kills reef tanks and is the opposite of rip cleaning.

rip cleaning= the only way to move reef tanks with 100% safety record on file, be sure and don't customize the method at all if you have a lot of money in corals and fish.
 
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