Moving a 70g Tank... Help

frost17 · Jun 7, 2023

Hey there. So I could use some advice to make sure I'm not gonna screw this up in advance. As well all know, this hobby is expensive and the last thing I want to do is screw this up.

So at the end of this month I'll be moving. The catch is I have to be out of my current house a few days before we close on our new house. That's what makes this all tricky, is I can't just break the tank down, and go set it up right away at the new house. My mother-in-law is letting us use her house for the transition of things (including the tank). So I have all the time I need to get things moved from my current house to hers, and them from hers to my new house.

But I could use some advice on the logistics of everything. I do have some concerns and worries as well. This is the first move with this tank. I've been reading up on the forums of other people moving to get an idea of things as well. But I would love it if someone could look over my plan and tell me if I've missed anything or if It's a terrible idea.

One of my biggest concerns is stressing out my fish and losing them.

A bit of a back story on why I'm worried about that. A good 6 plus months ago my tank got hit with ich. We lost 3 of our 4 fish. The only fish to survive was our diamond goby and of course our skunk shrimp. I've been waiting to add anything back until I have the time to research and drop a few hundred on a UV sterilizer (pregnant with our first baby meant I had to just put the UV sterilizer on hold for a bit). That being said, when the ich hit our tank we lost our two beloved clown fish (one was my sons). And that was his second clown fish (the first clown fish got stressed and wouldn't eat and ended up not making it). I don't want to put my son through anymore loss of fish (even the two lone survivors we have). So that's why I'm super worried about losing the only fish and shrimp we have left in the tank. They're what's keeping my cycle alive until I install a UV sterilizer and add more fish.

So, with my concerns of moving the whole tank and fish system over to my mother in laws causing too much stress... I was planning to do it in stages and move it over slowly.

My plan is this:
Step 1 - Done 12 days before the Move - Move the live rock (with attached coral) over into a temporary tank with a heater and filter on it. At this point I plan to do a water change on my main tank and use the water from the water change to fill the temporary tank. I also plan to seed the filter from my current tank as well.
Step 2- Done 5 days Before Move - Setup another temporary tank also with a heater and filter that's been seeded (roughly 10 gallons). This would be done about a week after step 1. I would do another water change and use this water to fill the temporary tank. I would move 1 rock to this tank as well as my diamond goby and skunk shrimp. (They hang out on the same end of my current tank and do well. And the rock I'll keep in this tank is the one that my skunk shrimp always sits in.)
Step 3 - I would then store some of my existing tank water in 5 gallon buckets at my mother in laws house. I would leave a few inches of water above the sand in the tank so that the sand stays moist. I would move over my tank itself to my mother in laws to keep it at a good temperature.
Step 4 - I now would move the base of my tank over with my sump.

Of course once I've got this all setup temporarily at my mother in laws I can reverse engineer it and setup the tank at my new house. I would setup the tank first and the coral / rock. Then move the fish over last.

My questions are this:
1. Do I need to keep air and heat going to the water in my sump? It's just a standard basic level sump / refuge with some copepods and chaeto.
2. Do I need to keep light going to the chaeto in the sump for the approximately 7 days that it will be setup temporarily at my in laws house?
3. This may seem dumb... do I need to worry about any of the good bacteria in my tank water dying off if I leave it in 5 gallon buckets inside the house? I don't want to have to cycle my tank again.
4. Would it be a good idea to add some good bacteria to the tank when I get it setup at the new house?
5. How much should I worry about stressing out my fish / shrimp? My plan would give them a week or two in the temporary tank before I move them over to the original tank at the new house in hopes that they wouldn't get too stressed. Is this a safe time frame? Should I not worry so much?
6. Can I use a standard fish tank with a basic level filter for the week or two that I'll be using the temporary tanks? Do I need something more robust?
7. Should I worry about seeding the filters if I'm going to be using water from my tank?
8. Is running a filter for the week or two enough air for the fish / shrimp? Should I just get an airstone?
9. I have 1 empty 10 gallon tank that's been sitting in my garage. It previously had saltwater in it. Is it okay to just rinse it down before I put anything in it again since it's been in my garage?
10. Have I overlooked anything?

I know I'll need some extra supplies for this. Things like extra heaters, pumps, buckets, and I've read a bunch to ensure you have extra salt water on hand also.

Thank you for taking the time to read my long winded post. I appreciate any help and advice you can give me.

Jekyl · Jun 7, 2023

Didn't read it all but instead of moving everything to a tank, just use tubs or buckets. Maintain heat and circulation, and lightning for the picky coral.

Also can ask your LFS to house your fish for a few days.

Remember that coral and fish are shipped for days with terrible conditions and still survive in the box.

Don't worry about saving any old water and replace sand.

frost17 · Jun 7, 2023

Jekyl said:
Didn't read it all but instead of moving everything to a tank, just use tubs or buckets. Maintain heat and circulation, and lightning for the picky coral.

Also can ask your LFS to house your fish for a few days.

Remember that coral and fish are shipped for days with terrible conditions and still survive in the box.

Don't worry about saving any old water and replace sand.

I wish I could trust my LFS. There aren't many good one's in my area. Only about 3. One of them is a wonderful store I would trust, but is only open about 4 hours a day for about 3 days a week. The other one is where I got the ich from and I've heard other customers tell me about issues they've had. And the other one put such a bad taste in my mouth when I was getting setup I haven't gone back to that store since and I wouldn't trust them.

srobertb · Jun 7, 2023

frost17 said:
Hey there. So I could use some advice to make sure I'm not gonna screw this up in advance. As well all know, this hobby is expensive and the last thing I want to do is screw this up.

So at the end of this month I'll be moving. The catch is I have to be out of my current house a few days before we close on our new house. That's what makes this all tricky, is I can't just break the tank down, and go set it up right away at the new house. My mother-in-law is letting us use her house for the transition of things (including the tank). So I have all the time I need to get things moved from my current house to hers, and them from hers to my new house.

But I could use some advice on the logistics of everything. I do have some concerns and worries as well. This is the first move with this tank. I've been reading up on the forums of other people moving to get an idea of things as well. But I would love it if someone could look over my plan and tell me if I've missed anything or if It's a terrible idea.

One of my biggest concerns is stressing out my fish and losing them.

A bit of a back story on why I'm worried about that. A good 6 plus months ago my tank got hit with ich. We lost 3 of our 4 fish. The only fish to survive was our diamond goby and of course our skunk shrimp. I've been waiting to add anything back until I have the time to research and drop a few hundred on a UV sterilizer (pregnant with our first baby meant I had to just put the UV sterilizer on hold for a bit). That being said, when the ich hit our tank we lost our two beloved clown fish (one was my sons). And that was his second clown fish (the first clown fish got stressed and wouldn't eat and ended up not making it). I don't want to put my son through anymore loss of fish (even the two lone survivors we have). So that's why I'm super worried about losing the only fish and shrimp we have left in the tank. They're what's keeping my cycle alive until I install a UV sterilizer and add more fish.

So, with my concerns of moving the whole tank and fish system over to my mother in laws causing too much stress... I was planning to do it in stages and move it over slowly.

My plan is this:
Step 1 - Done 12 days before the Move - Move the live rock (with attached coral) over into a temporary tank with a heater and filter on it. At this point I plan to do a water change on my main tank and use the water from the water change to fill the temporary tank. I also plan to seed the filter from my current tank as well.
Step 2- Done 5 days Before Move - Setup another temporary tank also with a heater and filter that's been seeded (roughly 10 gallons). This would be done about a week after step 1. I would do another water change and use this water to fill the temporary tank. I would move 1 rock to this tank as well as my diamond goby and skunk shrimp. (They hang out on the same end of my current tank and do well. And the rock I'll keep in this tank is the one that my skunk shrimp always sits in.)
Step 3 - I would then store some of my existing tank water in 5 gallon buckets at my mother in laws house. I would leave a few inches of water above the sand in the tank so that the sand stays moist. I would move over my tank itself to my mother in laws to keep it at a good temperature.
Step 4 - I now would move the base of my tank over with my sump.

Of course once I've got this all setup temporarily at my mother in laws I can reverse engineer it and setup the tank at my new house. I would setup the tank first and the coral / rock. Then move the fish over last.

My questions are this:
1. Do I need to keep air and heat going to the water in my sump? It's just a standard basic level sump / refuge with some copepods and chaeto.
2. Do I need to keep light going to the chaeto in the sump for the approximately 7 days that it will be setup temporarily at my in laws house?
3. This may seem dumb... do I need to worry about any of the good bacteria in my tank water dying off if I leave it in 5 gallon buckets inside the house? I don't want to have to cycle my tank again.
4. Would it be a good idea to add some good bacteria to the tank when I get it setup at the new house?
5. How much should I worry about stressing out my fish / shrimp? My plan would give them a week or two in the temporary tank before I move them over to the original tank at the new house in hopes that they wouldn't get too stressed. Is this a safe time frame? Should I not worry so much?
6. Can I use a standard fish tank with a basic level filter for the week or two that I'll be using the temporary tanks? Do I need something more robust?
7. Should I worry about seeding the filters if I'm going to be using water from my tank?
8. Is running a filter for the week or two enough air for the fish / shrimp? Should I just get an airstone?
9. I have 1 empty 10 gallon tank that's been sitting in my garage. It previously had saltwater in it. Is it okay to just rinse it down before I put anything in it again since it's been in my garage?
10. Have I overlooked anything?

I know I'll need some extra supplies for this. Things like extra heaters, pumps, buckets, and I've read a bunch to ensure you have extra salt water on hand also.

Thank you for taking the time to read my long winded post. I appreciate any help and advice you can give me.

1. Yes you should if you can.
2. 7 days is about the threshold in my opinion for macroalgae and corals- although others may have more experience and anecdotes.
3. Don’t leave water sitting in your house (or anywhere) stagnant. You’re better off mixing fresh.
4. I’ll tel you what I did below, and the answer would be no.
5. Your fish and inverts will be fine without light. Provide good flow, surface agitation, and stable temps
6. See below
7. No
8, 9, 10 see below

Go to a tractor supply store. Get a 100g stock tank. It costs $100. Give it a leak test.

Transfer a reasonable amount of tank water into it. (5 gallon brand new gas cans are great for transporting water. Lol, and you can return them. Place your live rock, Chaeto, etc. save some sand if you want in a smaller tote on the bottom of the stock tank.

Get some powerheads- either whatever you have or cheap ones off eBay. Get an air stone or two. Get a RELIABLE appropriately sized heater.

Add your live rock and corals, top off tank with fresh saltwater. Add your fish. Get some mesh netting or something to cover it all.

Monitor salinity daily and top off. I advise not leaving corals like this for more than 7 days. Same with the algae.

Do a couple 25g or so water change every few days. (I don’t know how many fish you have). Keep an eye on nitrates if you like.

You will probably see a mini-cycle when you set everything back up but it will mean your water will be a little cloudy, maybe some diatoms from the new sand, or a little extra glass scraping.

Don’t add cycle-crap to your tank. There won’t be a need.

You can store “seasoned” saltwater in buckets but it’s largely unnecessary so long as you’re getting some tank water in the stock tank then to the new tank. Differing opinions on this.

If you do store used SW: you need a powerhead or good air stone in there. I don’t advise storing “live” sand for weeks or even a week in stagnant water in a deep bucket.

Source: I just did this. It went well.

frost17 · Jun 8, 2023

srobertb said:
1. Yes you should if you can.
2. 7 days is about the threshold in my opinion for macroalgae and corals- although others may have more experience and anecdotes.
3. Don’t leave water sitting in your house (or anywhere) stagnant. You’re better off mixing fresh.
4. I’ll tel you what I did below, and the answer would be no.
5. Your fish and inverts will be fine without light. Provide good flow, surface agitation, and stable temps
6. See below
7. No
8, 9, 10 see below

Go to a tractor supply store. Get a 100g stock tank. It costs $100. Give it a leak test.

Transfer a reasonable amount of tank water into it. (5 gallon brand new gas cans are great for transporting water. Lol, and you can return them. Place your live rock, Chaeto, etc. save some sand if you want in a smaller tote on the bottom of the stock tank.

Get some powerheads- either whatever you have or cheap ones off eBay. Get an air stone or two. Get a RELIABLE appropriately sized heater.

Add your live rock and corals, top off tank with fresh saltwater. Add your fish. Get some mesh netting or something to cover it all.

Monitor salinity daily and top off. I advise not leaving corals like this for more than 7 days. Same with the algae.

Do a couple 25g or so water change every few days. (I don’t know how many fish you have). Keep an eye on nitrates if you like.

You will probably see a mini-cycle when you set everything back up but it will mean your water will be a little cloudy, maybe some diatoms from the new sand, or a little extra glass scraping.

Don’t add cycle-crap to your tank. There won’t be a need.

You can store “seasoned” saltwater in buckets but it’s largely unnecessary so long as you’re getting some tank water in the stock tank then to the new tank. Differing opinions on this.

If you do store used SW: you need a powerhead or good air stone in there. I don’t advise storing “live” sand for weeks or even a week in stagnant water in a deep bucket.

Source: I just did this. It went well.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my long post and answer me.

This sounds like a much simpler setup / process than what I was thinking. I tend to overthink and over complicate so this is very much appreciated.

I do have a follow up question. I hope you don't mind me asking.

1. You mention doing water changes every few days. With this plan I'll have the tank moved in a week. I'll get the temporary tank setup at my mother in laws on the Sunday before we move. And the Sunday after we move I'll get the tank moved back over to the new place. That being said, if I have just 1 fish and 1 shrimp in the tank for the week, do I need to do any water change? Or should they be okay for the week?