Moving 5+ hours...

[Jedi1199]

So all you need is Heater

No.

To keep the stock healthy while in the holding tanks, during teardown and rebuild, which is going to take at LEAST several days, probably a week or more, you MUST have flow in order to break surface tension of the water or it will stagnate and everything will be lost.

For the actual move, meaning the time in the car from old to new, you don't need anything. They will be fine for that long.

I would set up your totes now, get the rocks and stock out of the tank asap, and into the totes. Then you can tear the tank down at a reasonable pace and not be pressured by doing it at the last minute.

The day of the move, put everything into 5g buckets, get it into the car and go. As soon as you get to the new place, get the totes set back up ASAP. Try and save as much water as you can since you won't have a supply on hand other than what you bring with you. everything out of the buckets and into the totes, flow makers and heaters on.

 

[Chrisv.]

.

The biggest issue with not washing it as far as I am concerned is that unless you have a SERIOUS level of mechanical filtration, you will have a long wait for the water to clear out enough to add your stock back in. Also, because digging out all of that sand obviously will stir up all of the gunk from below the surface, you may have a brief ammonia spike once you restart the system. This I would at least check out in your circumstance because you are using the same size tank.

These are the only consequences I can think of as well.

Could imagine any left over detritus getting a little funky if it sat too long.

If I were doing a tank upgrade to an adjacent tank, I would totally use the sand.

The other down side (I guess) is that it's one more thing to wrangle on moving day. Having new sand might save you from one or two extra steps.

 

[jmichaelh7]

I bought a inverter for my truck and three small cheap heaters and swapped them in and of the buckets when I had to do this a year ago. The suction cups that glass companies use are amazing. I bought a pair after using them. I moved my 100g with my sand in it and a few inches of water with two of these. I made a batch of saltwater to have plenty on hand! I put the rockwork in various buckets along with my livestock and it went pretty smoothly. My move was a four hour trip. I didn't use any power heads, just tried to keep the temperature in check. I only lost a damsel and never did find it. Best of luck to you with your move!

this would be the exact thing i would do

 

[Jedi1199]

this would be the exact thing i would do

Why?