Moving & Transporting SPS

[specialk]

Looking for some help and ideas on this one ...

I have a 125 gallon, sps dominant tank. Have some good sized colonies (6-8 inches) , and some frags that have grown into 4-5 inch colonies. I am looking at the real possability of having to take a job down south for a year (I do work for FEMA and FEMA type re-build type programs)...

I am not taking the fish and certainly not taking the 125 gallon tank. Just want to have a grow out tank and grow the sps out, as I have a 300 gallon rimless waiting for me when I do get into my new homeback up here when work is done.

So looking for help from anyone who has had to make the move and transport sps corals. I know that I will without a doubt be breaking some and creating new frags, this is for sure.

But any ideas in unique ways to get them transported so they are not flopping all over the place and totally breaking apart like a hammer to a bag of pretzels?

Look forward to hearing ideas ...

 

[ihavecrabs]

5G buckets, battery operated bubblers, heatpacks, and homemade light diffuser shelves so you can fit multiples into one 5g bucket!

 

[ihavecrabs]

I'd also recommend sending/giving a trusted reefer frags of your collection so that if any of yours don't make it, you have a backup.

 

[specialk]

5G buckets, battery operated bubblers, heatpacks, and homemade light diffuser shelves so you can fit multiples into one 5g bucket!

are these homeade light diffuser shelves easy to find on a web search so I can understand what you mean?

 

[reefwiser]

https://buildinganobsession.com/shop/
BAO racks like vendors use for frag swaps.

 

[ihavecrabs]

are these homeade light diffuser shelves easy to find on a web search so I can understand what you mean?

Home Depot and Lowes sells the light diffusers and they are easy to cut to any size you need. Use the scrap cuttings to build levels in the 5G bucket to stack additional shelves on.

You could even consider zip tying the colonies to the shelf itself if they don't have plugs to stop them from moving around or rubbing.

 

[acro-ed]

I know you don't want to hear this, but considering your explanation of being gone one year I just don't think it's worth it. You are proposing to move them twice and by the time they are re-acclimated and actually happy and growing well again you'll only have a few months before you're tearing it back down.

Are you leaving your fish/125g tank up and running and someone else is watching it, or are you taking it down anyway and this is purely a discussion of what to do with your coral?

If I we're in your shoes I would frag everything way back and cash out so to speak. Then make a nice big chunk of each as a backup and leave it with a reefer you trust. Then take another nice chunk of each with you and seal them up and put them in an insulated box just like if you were shipping them. Then set up a little tank (like a NUVO 25g or something like that) at your new temporary home. It will be way less headache than attempting to move and re-acclimate larger colonies (and then doing it again a year later). With this idea you'll have plenty of cash to put toward more frags in a year and still have some decent mini-colonies as well.

Just my thoughts. I've moved my tanks 8 times or so over the years and I hated every minute of it. lol