Long distance moving suggestions

[Phantom7]

I was reading this and thinking @vetteguy53081 is the man you need to talk to. If anyone knows how to move big, established systems across the country... He's Yoda.
I am very sorry to hear about the house. At least you have a few months to plan. In times like this, never lose gratitude for the little blessings.
Best wishes on your journey.

Appreciate the recommendation and kind words.

 

[Phantom7]

I used a power inverter with 3 air pumps/air stones and wrapped containers with moving blankets. - Tank- I left 2.5" of water to keep sand wet and bacteria alive - It was like doing a major water change when i got to other house
Did the same moving pet stores more than once de to growth

My tank has bulkheads in the bottom. Should I remove the sand and put in buckets, or build a little cradle for it to keep some water in?

 

[brandon429]

no matter what anyone tells you, if you do that step-relocate unrinsed sand, it's dangerous and can kill your whole setup.

what you do with the sand:

you rinse it hundreds of times in sections, for hours, until its 100% clean and not one spec of clouding. then you do a final rinse in saltwater of that rinsed sand

then you transport 100% rinsed sand and install it cloudlessly into the new system, and you can't harm anything. if you skip this thinking its safer to move unrinsed sand, it's not, and you can kill all your fish. simply rinse for the win.

people ask me if that harms bacteria and it leaves me scratching my head, because that was covered when I said its the only safe method known, to pre rinse. if you skip rinsing, in order to preserve what is viewed as important bacteria, all your fish can die, so that detail was for sure covered :)

rinse if you want to skip cycle the move. skip rinsing if you want a 10% chance of wipeout.

here's the official sand rinse thread with 200+ tank moves in it, all following the rules with perfect endings:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/official-sand-rinse-and-tank-transfer-thread.230281/

 

[brandon429]

you can see from that thread: it doesn't matter if you keep the sand wet during the move, all that matters is that you pre rinsed it literally for hours, and then tested sections in a clear glass of water to ensure clarity before you stopped rinsing that section. cloudless transfer is what keeps this system alive: rinse the sand 100%. move it dry, move it wet, it doesn't matter, only that you rinse it for hours in tap water before it's transported. that's what kept those 2 million bucks of reef tanks alive in that thread, the pre rinse.

*it doesnt matter if you buy all new sand, it's the same amount of pre rinsing work and time for either new or old sand, for the same outcome.

 

[Phantom7]

no matter what anyone tells you, if you do that step-relocate unrinsed sand, it's dangerous and can kill your whole setup.

what you do with the sand:

you rinse it hundreds of times in sections, for hours, until its 100% clean and not one spec of clouding. then you do a final rinse in saltwater of that rinsed sand

then you transport 100% rinsed sand and install it cloudlessly into the new system, and you can't harm anything. if you skip this thinking its safer to move unrinsed sand, it's not, and you can kill all your fish. simply rinse for the win.

people ask me if that harms bacteria and it leaves me scratching my head, because that was covered when I said its the only safe method known, to pre rinse. if you skip rinsing, in order to preserve what is viewed as important bacteria, all your fish can die, so that detail was for sure covered :)

rinse if you want to skip cycle the move. skip rinsing if you want a 10% chance of wipeout.

here's the official sand rinse thread with 200+ tank moves in it, all following the rules with perfect endings:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/official-sand-rinse-and-tank-transfer-thread.230281/

I’m not even sure if a re-cycle is something I should be concerned with considering how much water, live rock, and media I have.

 

[brandon429]

the reason it's a concern is the example threads on page one showing losses by dealing in unrinsed sand, that for sure applies to your setup.


all their stuff died due to non rinsing

there isn't another transfer thread using other people's tanks available on the internet using any other means, because not rinsing can't work for as many pages there will be crashes.

old unrinsed sand simply has nothing to offer any reef tank, it can only be dangerous, clean sand having no cloud is what works in every case.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My tank has bulkheads in the bottom. Should I remove the sand and put in buckets, or build a little cradle for it to keep some water in?

I just moved myself and bulkheads on bottom- I left sand in tank with 1.5" of water to keep bacteria alive and Movers layed tank on top of rolled up moving blankets to keep piping that was extended after cut elevated. The transfer was successful and distance was 28 miles.
Sand added weight of course but this is what I paid them for and they were warned, This is a 10ft tank
Its was like doing a major water change. Tank nice and clear

 

[Phantom7]

the reason it's a concern is the example threads showing losses by dealing in unrinsed sand, that for sure applies to your setup. there isn't another transfer thread using other people's tanks available on the internet using any other means, because not rinsing can't work for as many pages there will be crashes.

Yeah definitely. I guess what I’m getting at like if I ‘ditch’ all the bacteria in the sand, will I even be at risk of a re-cycle? I think the only down fall would be my goby will hate me, but he eats pellets.

 

[Phantom7]

I just moved myself and bulkheads on bottom- I left sand in tank with 1.5" of water to keep bacteria alive and Movers layed tank on top of rolled up moving blankets to keep piping that was extended after cut elevated. The transfer was successful and distance was 28 miles.
Sand added weight of course but this is what I paid them for and they were warned, This is a 10ft tank
Its was like doing a major water change. Tank nice and clear

goodness, I’d be worried trusting just moving blankets lol.

 

[vetteguy53081]

goodness, I’d be worried trusting just moving blankets lol.

I wasnt once they rocked it back and forth and had furniture on both sides of the tank to prevent tipping. It was also in the rear of truck so that it and the stand were the first items removed.