Pre moving help. 69 gal Red Sea max. 6 fish. Too many young coral. Can I set up a 20 gal tank with 6 cups of existing sand and tank water The C

Bubba002 · Sep 14, 2021

Can I set up a 20 gal tank Add 6 cups sand From my existing tank, Tank water, a few rocks, filters heater small light and save 5-10 gal tank water. Put balance of rocks and coral in buckets . Do they need heat and light and filter. CLEAN TANK, dump sand and prepare for the move. how many days in advance of the movers can I do this. Moving day put fish in separate buckets and rocks in separate containers with clean salt water. 7 hour drive temperatures normal for tank. I am doing this alone and can not do it all on moving day. Your wisdom will be cherished by this loan reefer

Fred2482 · Sep 14, 2021

Welcome! This sounds incredibly difficult. Just remember fish and coral are shipped over night, so putting them in a bag with limited ways for them to get beat up would work. If possible, I would keep rock live, get pre-made saltwater, bag fish/coral pack everything and upon arrival put up tank, add new water/rock and then live stock after Temps are good.

Nate Chalk · Sep 14, 2021

I moved my 200g 2 hours away. The tank is currently going through a recycle . Had cyano, now bryposis and gha, almost back to normal

I lost some frags all sps

thatone08 · Sep 14, 2021

Welcome! I have never moved anything. I would recommend listening to the newest episode of reef news network podcast. It’s all about moving.

PeterC99 · Sep 14, 2021

Welcome to R2R!

I moved up to a 90g from a 34g. Started the 90g and cycled aquarium before transferring.

Fish Think Pink · Sep 14, 2021

Bubbas said:
Can I set up a 20 gal tank Add 6 cups sand From my existing tank, Tank water, a few rocks, filters heater small light and save 5-10 gal tank water. Put balance of rocks and coral in buckets . Do they need heat and light and filter. CLEAN TANK, dump sand and prepare for the move. how many days in advance of the movers can I do this. Moving day put fish in separate buckets and rocks in separate containers with clean salt water. 7 hour drive temperatures normal for tank. I am doing this alone and can not do it all on moving day. Your wisdom will be cherished by this loan reefer

Welcome - WOW - that is gorgeous setup

We & LFS used big plastic storage bins to relocate our corals & fish - fish were in one bucket with airstone, corals were in another couple bins with more airstones

Don't feed the tank day before moving day, better to move on empty stomach and feed once setup on other side of move

Good luck & glad you joined - let us know how it goes!

Dom · Sep 14, 2021

Personally, I would arrange for the movers to come a day or two prior to vacating the premises (be it end of lease or closing on home sale).

Once everything else is out of the house, you can get to work. I moved a 40 gallon in this manner.

Remember, 5 gallon buckets are our friend in this hobby. And they will help you to break down, move and setup in the new location in one day. But you will need the help of a few friends.

For me, with the help of 4 friends and a van, the move, which was a 3 1/2 hour drive happened in one day. The van was equipped with a 1500 watt inverter which provided enough power for small heaters in each of the individual buckets along with air stones which provided oxygen and some circulation. No lighting is required for the move and it isn't a big deal if the fish miss a feeding. Place the lids on the buckets and you're good to go. All fish were placed in 4 buckets with original tank water.

All corals can be transported in the same way.

The remaining buckets are for rock and remaining tank water. I used all water for the transport; there were no water only buckets. And if you run out of water for rock, top off with RODI and remember that the salinity will have changed, so don't dump it back in the tank.

Leave enough water in the tank to keep the sand wet during transport.

Break down the tank and go.

With enough people to help you can get to the new location and setup in one VERY long day.

Good luck!!

Jeffcb · Sep 14, 2021

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

dwair · Sep 14, 2021

Welcome! Let us know h ow it goes!

KJ · Sep 14, 2021

Welcome to R2R!!!

Zach B · Sep 14, 2021

Welcome

Great advice above, best of luck!

Manny’s Reef · Sep 14, 2021

Welcome to R2R. We sure are glad to have you here.

Jimbhoy13 · Sep 15, 2021

Welcome to R2R. Hope the move goes well.

Brent Bohannon · Sep 15, 2021

I've moved a lot of tanks in my days. My wife and I divide the labor in that I move the tank and she moves everything else. It is going to take that much attention. A few things to keep in mind. Once you are ready it is good to have a couple of coolers so that temps are stable and you can move the rock still wet. Car trunks do not have heat or AC, back seats do. Bagging everything up is nice but not required. Just make sure all the fish are secured in bags. The sand generally has a bunch of detritus in it; and if you stir it up, it will turn clean water into deadly water. Tanks are always heavier after use than when they were new. Gremlins or something. Make sure the tank is padded underneath but flat and level. Second part is more important. Speed is important but not at the expense of mistakes. Something is going to go wrong, so just slow down and think. You can't help a traffic jam. Consider getting a couple of bottles of live bacteria to help reestablish the tank. Lastly, you are going to lose some stuff. Sometimes it's not even your fault. I've had fish with zero problems in the first tank decide to kill each other after the move.

Bubba002 · Sep 15, 2021

My problem is I have to remove fish etc. to 20 gal tank for 2 days while I’m still at home So tank can be cleaned out and moved from wall to repair saltwater damage done to painted wall behind tank Is it safe to set up the 20 temporary, then to buckets for the 7 hours? (please read original post) just a weird situation here. Thanks.