Tips on moving/Relocating but with TANK UPGRADE

[NJtoDC]

Hello Reefers,

I have the unfortunate circumstance of having to move, BUT i took the oppurtunity to upgrade my tank since I'll have to break everything down anyway.
I'm moving from Cape May, NJ to Washington, D.C. and currently I have a 38 gallon aquarium hooked up to a fiji 15 advanced sump, which i plan to use along with mostly everything else that I have. I did however buy a new tank (Fiji 57 gallon shallow rimless) and stand and have the luxury of setting it up at my new place a week before i make the move. I have a TON of new frags (less than 3 weeks old) and i'm mainly worried about having to stress them out again so i want to make the move as painless as possible.

Here is my plan-
Set up new tank in apt with NEW sand, fresh saltwater, and a few pieces of live rock from my current setup. maybe 5-10# live rock total of the approx. 35# i have.
there won't be a sump yet so i planned to fill the tank approx half way with the new saltwater and add bacteria, either fritz turbo start or something similar. Ill have a wavemaker and heater in there keeping the water moving and at 77 degrees. The whole idea behind this was to get the new sand in there and waiting long enough to where the water column no longer has dust from the sand, and also to give the sand a few days to get seeded with bacteria, hence the turbo start.

As far as the actual move, I figured i'd just transport everything the way i got it. Every coral in its own bag, the corals i'd put back on frag plugs, put into small cups, and put in a bag with the current tank water. the fish Individually bagged with tank water and put in a box. The live rock I was thinking i'd just throw in a big rubbermaid from home depot, as i don't really want to disassemble them, and i really like the aquascape i've built. id put enough water in there to cover the rock, and from what i understand the live rock water shouldn't be reused?

When i get to Washington DC, Ill have everything set up to where all I have to do is throw the sump underneath and add the live rock/top off with the rest of my tank water and start adding all the livestock after float acclimation.

My questions:
- Am i going overboard? is there an easier way to transport the corals/fish? It will be a ~4 hr ride..

-the water that i'm transporting all the fish/coral with-can that be dumped straight into the new tank? or should it be discarded? I was thinking stress chemicals from the corals may not be good and ammonia from fish might not be good... but I'd like to hear feedback.

-should I have LESS than half volume of new Saltwater in the new setup and just mainly rely on reusing my old tank water as to try to match the params of the old setup?
Should I do a hefty water change a few days before and save that water?

I'm just trying to make this as painless and most comfortable for my fish and corals, I've really grown attached to them and have been keeping a hawk eye on my parameters and i'd like to say my husbandry is decent but i'm new to this and i'd really really love to get some feedback from people that have gone through this and I'd really appreciate any advice you guys could give. TIA :)

 

[Reef.]

Your fish should be fine but your corals may suffer, essentially it would be a new tank with mostly new rock and new sand…trying to use as much of the old rock and ideally the sand too would give the corals a better chance, give the sand a good rinse in old tank water then reuse as much as possible, you could always remove the rock you don’t want in the tank later, once the new tank has settled down.


Don’t forget to add a tiny bit of food when you add the fritz for the bacteria to feed on whilst the fish are on their way…I wouldn’t add the bagged water, probably would do more harm than good.

Its not so much the bacteria that would be the issue for the corals but the stability of the water that would be the issue, with alk etc on a new tank being unstable.

 

[NJtoDC]

Your fish should be fine but your corals may suffer, essentially it would be a new tank with mostly new rock and new sand…trying to use as much of the old rock and ideally the sand too would give the corals a better chance, give the sand a good rinse in old tank water then reuse as much as possible, you could always remove the rock you don’t want in the tank later, once the new tank has settled down.


Don’t forget to add a tiny bit of food when you add the fritz for the bacteria to feed on whilst the fish are on their way…I wouldn’t add the bagged water, probably would do more harm than good.

Its not so much the bacteria that would be the issue for the corals but the stability of the water that would be the issue, with alk etc on a new tank being unstable.

Sorry for the confusion, I will be reusing all of the old rock. I will only be bringing about 10# over for the "cycle" that it will go through for the week it remains fallow. I would have preferred to re use the sand but I just dont see how i would take the sand out, and put the new sand in without making the water cloudy, and thats the main reason why i wanted to get the sand in the new tank and sitting for a few days prior. Also, I've read the horror stories about toxins etc. So i've just decided not to reuse the sand as much as I'd like to.

 

[Reef.]

Do what you feel best but rinsing the sand would not bring any toxins to the new tank and old sand will make far less cloudiness than new sand, both will clear within a day tho but yeah either way works, what way you feel best is the way to go.