our offer got accepted! Now I need help moving

[Wiz]

We finally got a house. A perfect house. I am so excited. Except when I think about moving my reef. My baby. Everything I've worked so hard for. I can't lose everything. Give me help. Stories. Anything that might make it easier for me to get my corals a 40 minute drive away without killing them. And move my 6-inch DSB without killing everything in there. Now I am so scared. LOL This is not going to be easy

 

[Duke4Life]

Congrats!

 

[4FordFamily]

I have done it three times several hours away without any real issues. Just bring air stone and power inverter for heater and powerhead for fish if needed to keep temp up. Bring lots of prime. Rubbermaid bins and lots of help moving everything is the best way!

 

[4FordFamily]

Oh and congrats on the new house!!

 

[BummersReef]

Just keep in mind those dear fish and the coral had a much longer trip to get thru before they got to you! they will see it as a fun little road trip in comparison. I can't offer a story as I have vowed to NEVER move but .... just keep swimming! and let us know how it goes :)

 

[Wiz]

I am not so much concerned about the length of the trip. More so upsetting the bacterial balance and the balance of the ecosystem. I just hope breaking everything down and setting it back up does not throw my system so far out that the coral suffer. I am especially concerned about the refugium. I have no idea how to move that sand without disturbing it

 

[dbrewsky]

If possible, if you can set up a Rubbermaid stock tank at the house and get it set up as a temporary holding tank, it will make the transition much easier!!! You wont feel rushed to get everything set back up and you can take the time to clean and maintain the gear and tank before you put it back together.

I transported my live rock in a brute trashcan submerged in tank water and separate coolers for fish and corals. once arriving at the new home, I released the fish into the holding tank and placed the live rock and coral in the temporary holding tank as well. I took the opportunity to really agitate the rocks in the trashcan before placing into the holding system. Over the next week I did a couple 40% water changes and monitored for ammonia.

My recommendation would be to ditch the sand and dont even consider using it once at the new house. I would start with new sand or at the very least rinse and thoroughly clean the old sand.

It is always an ordeal but if you make it manageable, then it wont be difficult. This method allows you to take your time and move the tank in sections.

1 -set up holding tank a couple days ahead of time at the new home. Mix NSW to the same parameters are your existing aquarium. Install heaters and pumps ensuring that temp stabilizes at the same as your reef.

2- move livestock/rock/corals over and get them acclimated and situated, leave all equipment- make this phase focused on keeping the animals healthy

3- break down the aquarium and equipment and transition to the new home.

4- take your time to clean and inspect your equipment and make any modifications or changes that you have been wanting to do now. Take your time with this part. Re assemble the tank and start filling with salt and getting the gear ready to support your reef.

5- move everything back over and monitor for the next couple weeks to ensure a smooth transition.

 

[brandon429]

Nice summary.

High points for this impending move:

No consideration/planning for bacterial upset is required, nothing we do shy of meds or hard drying (not even partial drying) affects them. Detritus in mid stages of rot is the real risk, exposing partially broken down proteins to water where sensitives reside. When we disturb detritus a mini cycle happens, when we move no detritus the mini cycle is skipped.

As long as the live rocks are assessed for detritus and moved/stored on their own, and cleaned well before setup, they'll go fine


The refugium move is a challenge. It is the greatest store of detritus mid rot in the tank, clearly due to it maturing it has both zones of benefit and zones of liability. Moving it will mix the zones and let the bad overtake the good imo, I must vote for full rinse and restart/replace ideally and hands off maturing at the new place from a totally clean bed.

The only control factor you lose is some denitrification, which can be offset any number of ways until it re matures. Loss of denitrification isn't critical that's a rare luxury reefers seek. Risking nutrient upwelling and mini cycles from moving it unrinsed seems more of a risk to me.

 

[jd371]

I can see why moving that DSB refugium will be a PITA. If I was faced with moving that I'd look into renting one of those hydraulic tables and just slide the fuge onto that to move it around instead of breaking it down.

 

[4FordFamily]

I am not so much concerned about the length of the trip. More so upsetting the bacterial balance and the balance of the ecosystem. I just hope breaking everything down and setting it back up does not throw my system so far out that the coral suffer. I am especially concerned about the refugium. I have no idea how to move that sand without disturbing it

Every time I have moved my sand looked like a sand storm but settled in time just fine and everything was honkey dory

 

[Wiz]

I don't know if you have ever moved a deep sand bed but you are not supposed to disturb the different layers which perform different functions. And even the slightest agitation will kill off micro fauna. Which also causes a huge problem

 

[Wiz]

I thought about moving the entire tank. Draining most of the water and just trying to move it. But I live on a second floor apartment. And there is 80 plus pounds of just sand in there. That was when it was dry. Not to mention live rock and the fact that it is all sopping wet right now. And that tank is one of the oldest tanks I have ever owned. I'm not sure the bottom would even hold

 

[Naiad]

Your only options as far as I know are to remove the rock and any macrofauna and drain the tank to leave as little water as possible then move the tank without disturbing the sand majorly. I would still set it up and running it separately for a few days if possible to check for any cycle or crash. Option 2 is take it apart clean the sand and start over.

 

[Wiz]

This was my best plan. Hope i can lift it... lol

Your only options as far as I know are to remove the rock and any macrofauna and drain the tank to leave as little water as possible then move the tank without disturbing the sand majorly. I would still set it up and running it separately for a few days if possible to check for any cycle or crash. Option 2 is take it apart clean the sand and start over.

 

[dbrewsky]

I would recommend against it honestly. That is a lot of weight and stress for a glass aquarium. Your tank will transition just fine without the DSB to the new home. Think of it this way, that refugium has been collecting nutrients and detritus since you set it up. Depending on when that is, there could be significant amounts resting in there. If you were to try and move it, you will undoubtedly release some of those nutrients which will then again be available for uptake in the main display. This will force you to do extra work to attempt to remove those nutrients that could be easily removed permanently from your aquarium at this time. Just something to think about!

Please do reconsider moving an aquarium with the DSB intact!

 

[Wiz]

I can't afford another 100lbs of sand. I'm gonna have to try. And I think undesturbed is my best bet. I can close it off from the main system for a month or two and reinstall my reactor. But that's assuming it doesn't break. This house has a basement room with a sink and floor drains! :-) that's where the refugium and bulk of the system will be. So if it leaks it won't be horrific

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Now, you have more sand than I ever did in a tank, but I've moved 14 tanks 4 times in 5 years. I never removed the sand and left a little big of water over it's surface.... but yours is going to be way heavy. You don't have to "afford" new sand, but you can take the tank down and rinse the sand and start over. Keep mounds of it live in a bucket to re-seed. You're going to be so busy with a new house, you won't have time to pay attention to your tanks as they reestablish themselves.

Congrats, BTW. It's always nice to start fresh.

Are you changing jobs?

 

[Wiz]

Now, you have more sand than I ever did in a tank, but I've moved 14 tanks 4 times in 5 years. I never removed the sand and left a little big of water over it's surface.... but yours is going to be way heavy. You don't have to "afford" new sand, but you can take the tank down and rinse the sand and start over. Keep mounds of it live in a bucket to re-seed. You're going to be so busy with a new house, you won't have time to pay attention to your tanks as they reestablish themselves.

Congrats, BTW. It's always nice to start fresh.

Are you changing jobs?

No, it will be a 34 min comute. 37 for my wife. Stinks a bit. But the house is perfect! We are sooooo happy!

 

[Bunnee911]

Yup, I would save a 2 g bucket of live sand and wash the heck out of the rest. Or consider not having a dsb at all. Other ways around the denitrification situation.

 

[Wiz]

Love my dsb. No other way than natural for me. And hours of interresting critters!.

Yup, I would save a 2 g bucket of live sand and wash the heck out of the rest. Or consider not having a dsb at all. Other ways around the denitrification situation.