Tank move. Urgent advice needed!

Patrick.S · Sep 24, 2017

So I got a great lead on a 75 gallon with rocks and fish and a few corals. There are some parts of the tank I love (rock and fish and life) and other things I will likely phase out pretty soon (hob overflow, wet dry sump). Now I really need some advice on best practices to keep everything alive on the 2hr drive home. My plan is to drain the water into totes, add the LR, scoop out the fish, throw the sand in a bag or just leave it in the bottom of the tank with a bit of water, hit the road.

Questions:

Do I need to keep the wet dry filter or could I shove some of the bioballs into a hob temporarily untill I get the gumption to drill the tank and build a sump?

Should I save the sand? There is an engineer goby and seemingly some sand dwellers. Can I just leave them a bit of sand in a tub or something till I replace it with new stuff?

Should I bag the fish for transport? That's how the pros do it. Bag em and stick them in a cooler. I feel like that could give me a bit more time before I had to deal with ammonia.

Any pitfalls I should be aware of?

Immeasurable thank yous in advance!

eatbreakfast · Sep 24, 2017

Bagging of fish is best. You're right, it pushes back the time to worry about ammonia.

I find it's much easier to ditch old sand and use new sand for a tank move.

tammieh · Sep 25, 2017

Ditch the sand. I evacuated Irma using food grade Brute containers (had to double up the containers as they bowed a bit by themselves). The fish did just fine for 16 hours in the bucket not being bagged - but it was a last minute decision to get out of dodge. I had an air stone and power head stirring the water in the truck and the trucks heat radiating up kept the water at a steady temp. Go ahead and have water made up if you can (or at least have the RODI water ready to mix with your salt) to minimize the set up time once you're home.