Tomorrow I move house. I need advice.

[laezur]

This is the first time I’ll be moving house with saltwater fish and I need all the advice I can get.

I have a Red Sea 170 with two clownfish, one cleaner shrimp, various snails, sand, rock and a bunch of bio diversity, even some bad (flatworms) and coral.

As this is my first time attempting a move I’m going to need as much advice as I can get!

I’ll be moving at 8am tomorrow morning and plan on breaking down about 6am, hoping to have the fish moved into bags for the 8am deadline. I will be driving 1 and a half hours to my new home, where I will set the tank up immediately. I’m hoping that I will not need a heater in this time since I don’t have a transformer and can’t afford to go buy on. I will be putting the fish bags into a thermal bag instead.

Thank you

 

[Crustaceon]

This is the first time I’ll be moving house with saltwater fish and I need all the advice I can get.

I have a Red Sea 170 with two clownfish, one cleaner shrimp, various snails, sand, rock and a bunch of bio diversity, even some bad (flatworms) and coral.

As this is my first time attempting a move I’m going to need as much advice as I can get!

I’ll be moving at 8am tomorrow morning and plan on breaking down about 6am, hoping to have the fish moved into bags for the 8am deadline. I will be driving 1 and a half hours to my new home, where I will set the tank up immediately. I’m hoping that I will not need a heater in this time since I don’t have a transformer and can’t afford to go buy on. I will be putting the fish bags into a thermal bag instead.

Thank you

How many trips are you taking?

 

[Roli's Reef Ranch]

Put oxygen in the fish bags if you're going to do it that way.

 

[vetteguy53081]

This is the first time I’ll be moving house with saltwater fish and I need all the advice I can get.

I have a Red Sea 170 with two clownfish, one cleaner shrimp, various snails, sand, rock and a bunch of bio diversity, even some bad (flatworms) and coral.

As this is my first time attempting a move I’m going to need as much advice as I can get!

I’ll be moving at 8am tomorrow morning and plan on breaking down about 6am, hoping to have the fish moved into bags for the 8am deadline. I will be driving 1 and a half hours to my new home, where I will set the tank up immediately. I’m hoping that I will not need a heater in this time since I don’t have a transformer and can’t afford to go buy on. I will be putting the fish bags into a thermal bag instead.

Thank you

ive done a lot longer trip and also moved my Pet store 3 times as we continued to grow. I left 2" of water in the tank to keep bacteria alive and salvaged 50% of the water (if feasible for you) and placed the fish in coolers making it easy to acclimate fish and equalize salinity which the fish and coral should easily be good for 12 hours

 

[((FORDTECH))]

This is the first time I’ll be moving house with saltwater fish and I need all the advice I can get.

I have a Red Sea 170 with two clownfish, one cleaner shrimp, various snails, sand, rock and a bunch of bio diversity, even some bad (flatworms) and coral.

As this is my first time attempting a move I’m going to need as much advice as I can get!

I’ll be moving at 8am tomorrow morning and plan on breaking down about 6am, hoping to have the fish moved into bags for the 8am deadline. I will be driving 1 and a half hours to my new home, where I will set the tank up immediately. I’m hoping that I will not need a heater in this time since I don’t have a transformer and can’t afford to go buy on. I will be putting the fish bags into a thermal bag instead.

Thank you

For what it’s worth with a move like this being so short it will be very easy so don’t stress. The fish will be 100% fine for that short period. We are only talking 5-6 hours from start to finish. When I pick up fish from the store and they are bagged sometimes 3-4 hours go by and I don’t even think about it

 

[((FORDTECH))]

IMO as stated a large cooler would be best and no oxygen is needed for that short time

 

[((FORDTECH))]

The number 1 thing that you need to worrie about which I’m surprised has not been already said is the sand you reuse will have to be cleaned before put back into tank to try to avoid nutrient spike from old dirty sand

 

[Dom]

This is the first time I’ll be moving house with saltwater fish and I need all the advice I can get.

I have a Red Sea 170 with two clownfish, one cleaner shrimp, various snails, sand, rock and a bunch of bio diversity, even some bad (flatworms) and coral.

As this is my first time attempting a move I’m going to need as much advice as I can get!

I’ll be moving at 8am tomorrow morning and plan on breaking down about 6am, hoping to have the fish moved into bags for the 8am deadline. I will be driving 1 and a half hours to my new home, where I will set the tank up immediately. I’m hoping that I will not need a heater in this time since I don’t have a transformer and can’t afford to go buy on. I will be putting the fish bags into a thermal bag instead.

Thank you

Well... you've kinda waited until the last minute...

5 gallon buckets with lids are our friend in situations like this because you should plan on moving everything, including water.

1. Store all live rock in buckets with tank water.

2. You can fit all your fish in one bucket. There is no need to worry about air and circulation for such a short trip. Just open the top of the bucket and give the water a good stir somewhere along the way.

3. Place the remainder of your water in buckets.

4. Some people suggest new substrate. I'm good with using the old stuff as long as you thoroughly rinse it before using it again.

I've abbreviated steps as you are working on short notice. You didn't mention corals, so, I am working under the assumption that there are none.

I've moved a few large tanks with friends. One was 280 gallons, and we took everything, including water. We used about 50 5 gallon buckets with lids.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

This is the first time I’ll be moving house with saltwater fish and I need all the advice I can get.

I have a Red Sea 170 with two clownfish, one cleaner shrimp, various snails, sand, rock and a bunch of bio diversity, even some bad (flatworms) and coral.

As this is my first time attempting a move I’m going to need as much advice as I can get!

I’ll be moving at 8am tomorrow morning and plan on breaking down about 6am, hoping to have the fish moved into bags for the 8am deadline. I will be driving 1 and a half hours to my new home, where I will set the tank up immediately. I’m hoping that I will not need a heater in this time since I don’t have a transformer and can’t afford to go buy on. I will be putting the fish bags into a thermal bag instead.

Thank you

It’s pretty much simple. Catch and remove fish and corals and inverts place into appropriate bags and transportation vessels. Remove rock and place into buckets fill with enough tank water to cover rocks and put lid on. Then drain and discard rest of water. Then scoop sand into bucket. Now tank is empty.
when set up tank use garden hose in the bucket of sand and turn on hose low enough so sand does not blow out if bucket but high enough to mix sand around. As water over flows out of bucket sand stays at bottom and waste flows up and out of bucket. Do this till sand is clean. Drain sand and rinse with rodi now.
reassemble tank.

 

[laezur]

How many trips are you taking?

It will be one single trip

 

[laezur]

ive done a lot longer trip and also moved my Pet store 3 times as we continued to grow. I left 2" of water in the tank to keep bacteria alive and salvaged 50% of the water (if feasible for you) and placed the fish in coolers making it easy to acclimate fish and equalize salinity which the fish and coral should easily be good for 12 hours

I’m trying to take the entire volume of water with me if I can, I’ll be filling up Jerry cans so I can hopefully fill the tank with exactly the same water once I reach the new place

 

[RedoubtReef]

from the title, I image the whole thing happening like this

 

[laezur]

Well... you've kinda waited until the last minute...

5 gallon buckets with lids are our friend in situations like this because you should plan on moving everything, including water.

1. Store all live rock in buckets with tank water.

2. You can fit all your fish in one bucket. There is no need to worry about air and circulation for such a short trip. Just open the top of the bucket and give the water a good stir somewhere along the way.

3. Place the remainder of your water in buckets.

4. Some people suggest new substrate. I'm good with using the old stuff as long as you thoroughly rinse it before using it again.

I've abbreviated steps as you are working on short notice. You didn't mention corals, so, I am working under the assumption that there are none.

I've moved a few large tanks with friends. One was 280 gallons, and we took everything, including water. We used about 50 5 gallon buckets with lids.

Unfortunately I only found out yesterday, these are strange circumstances.

I do have coral, would the fish be better in a bucket or bags in a thermo bag/cooler?

I’m worried about the bucket sloshing around everywhere while driving and losing all the water in the back of the van and not noticing

 

[laezur]

from the title, I image the whole thing happening like this

This is how it feels lol

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Unfortunately I only found out yesterday, these are strange circumstances.

I do have coral, would the fish be better in a bucket or bags in a thermo bag/cooler?

I’m worried about the bucket sloshing around everywhere while driving and losing all the water in the back of the van and not noticing

With proper lids this does not happen

 

[((FORDTECH))]

I’m trying to take the entire volume of water with me if I can, I’ll be filling up Jerry cans so I can hopefully fill the tank with exactly the same water once I reach the new place

And I Understand you’re trying to take all the water but after something like this you may want to consider a 20% water change at least

 

[((FORDTECH))]

This is how it feels lol

And you have not replied to anything I’ve said about cleaning your sand which was the best info given before using it but whatever it’s your tank

 

[Crustaceon]

I think one of the highest priorities will be keeping the sand and rock sufficiently warm and covered in water. You want to prevent a bacterial die-off at all costs. I'd consider placing heat packs into whatever bucket you choose for that.

 

[laezur]

With proper lids this does not happen

Yes it should have a proper lid. I bought the bucket specifically from Swell so it should be designed for this. The fish will be okay in largely turbulent water won’t they for the trip then?

As for your other message, of course I will do a water change once I reach the house that is perfectly fine

 

[laezur]

And you have not replied to anything I’ve said about cleaning your sand which was the best info given before using it but whatever it’s your tank

Lol there’s a lot of messages here, I just didn’t see it, so no need to be passive aggressive. Yes I will clean the sand before re-using. It will retain its bio diversity, yes?