HELP - Relocating 10g Nano-Reef

[anizato]

NOOOOOOOOOO!!

 

Two days ago, my landlady gave us a call saying she is selling the house I have been renting for two years. I have about 60 days to move out.

 

I only have the 10g display tank, and a bucket to transport the 2 Clown and 1 Yellow Tang in.

 

Where my mind gets lost is with how to move the whole thing. There won't be a cycled tank to place them in when they arrive to the new house.

 

My idea was to empty the tank with enough water to leave the sand, inverts and rock covered; place the fish in a bucket, have a new mix of water made (heat it upon arrival) and add the water to the tank.

 

This is where I totally get lost. Will the fish need to be acclimated or can they be placed directly in the system? If they need to be acclimated that means that the water in the bucket is "bad" so how long does the tank with the new water need to run before I add/acclimate+add the fish (just until the temp is correct) ?

 

ANY AND ALL help is very much appreciated!

[Dark_ice]

So before I give out tips to help this move, you mean to tell me you have a yellow tang in a 10g...?

[Angel<3Nanos]

Lol seriously a tang in a 10g?

[Halo_003]

Go buy a couple of sealable 5G paint buckets for like $6 each. Put rocks in one bucket, fish and corals in the other with a heater and powerhead. Power them in the car ride with a DC-AC adapter. Drain tank to like .25" over the sand, leave sandbed as is for drive. Pick out all your snails and put them with fish/corals or in the rock bucket. Bag the corals, fill coral bucket to 3/4 and let fish swim. You can put a few rocks on the bottom if it's a long drive. Let the corals float at the top in bags.

 

Once there: move rocks/fish/coral buckets inside, plug in the powerhead and heater. Put some rocks in if you don't already have any. This gives you time to wash the sandbed in a couple G's of fresh SW. Once washed, place sand back in tank, fill tank with fresh SW, let it mix well for a few. Put heater/powerhead back in the tank, put lights over it, let it warm up, then move fish into the tank. Water should be 100% clear and the right temp when you do. You can drip acclimate as well but not 100000% necessary if all your params and temps match.

 

Once temp is right, float the corals. While they're floating if you have pests this is an okay time to dip them. When the bagged corals temps have equalized, put them in the tank.

 

At this point, dump your used old water, and rest. If you can have 15G of RODI waiting that's good. If you have 15G of SW made and ready to go at the new location that's even better. If you can replace your 10G for $20 and get a Deep Blue one with black seams, pick up a cheap powerhead and have the water already made and in the tank at the new place, that's great.

[RK_tek]

If you won't be moving far it is really easy, buy 2 more 5g buckets. Drain 5g into one bucket, put fish and coral in. Drain the other 5g into another bucket for rocks. Throw heater and filter in 3rd bucket so you don't get water everywhere. Drive to new locale, set up tank. I usually do wa water change after moving bc a lot of debris usually gets stirred up

[anizato]

Yes, an aquacultured Yellow Baby Tang (about 2-3 months old) 2.5" big - has grown 0.5" in the month he has been living in my 10g and is extremely happy. His name is Potro (word for 'colt' in spanish). He cleaned my 10g from near infestation in less than 2 weeks and now eats a mixture of what grows in the tank/rocks and what I have been feeding my 2 Clowns. He eats ALL THE TIME! and is extremely smart (:

 

I forgot to mention I have an empty 50g which I must also move (designed to be his home after hanging out with the clown & cleaning the 10g so they could be introduced all together to the bigger system).

 

However, the 50g had barely fishless-cycled (60 days NH4Cl treatment) and was ready for them, but now I must transfer both tanks to the new house (when I find it) and re-setup everything so my 50g can re-cycle properly before any life can be introduced????

 

Am I missing something? How would you do it?

[jc2014]

I moved my 10 gallon tank recently in June. Keep in mind though, this was a move of only 10 miles, but it was still a move.

Here is the process that I went through. Three 5 gallon buckets is about right, but you will also need 10 gallons of saltwater ready at the new site.

1. remove all larger specimens and coral and place them into their own containers (I used glad containers where I could) with tank water of course.
2. drain 3-4 gallons of water into a 5 gallon bucket in preparation for live rock shipment
3. remove large pieces of live rock and place into wet bucket
4. remove all equipment (pumps, heater, filters) place into another dry bucket
5. remove additional tank water until water level is about 1/4 inch above the sand
6. with the help of a friend, move the tank to a stable place in the vehicle along with all the other stuff.
7. ------ drive carefully and slowly to ensure minimal disruption to livestock and sand bed --------
8. set up furniture - level and place the tank.
9. rebuild your live rock landscape by placing the large live rock pieces back into the tank.
10. add back some old water to your tank to approximately 40-50% of the tanks capacity.
11. add newly mixed saltwater to the tank till it is full.
12. add your equipment to the tank.
13. power on all equipment and add more new saltwater if needed, sometimes filters and pumps have reservoirs that fill up thus lowering the water level.
14. test the water parameters.
15. add livestock slowly and carefully. You may need to acclimate, but I didn't
16. check back often and observe your tank for any signs of pending doom
17. test water and do more frequent water changes until things stabilize

When adding water back to the tank, do it very slowly and gently, I filled my tank 2 quarts(small bucket) at a time by slowly pouring on the largest of my live rocks. This helps slow the water down as well as minimized disrupting the sand bed.

 

I had a bacteria bloom (cloudy water) which lasted about a day, and then everything was back to normal. My tank is young and I didn't have much livestock, which made it a little more manageable. Everything survived, including a nassarius snail that I left in the sand. A couple weeks later, one of my hermit crabs molted and disappeared. I believe my 3 other crabs may have eaten him. I dunno what happened.

 

Moving any tank is a huge amount of work, but if done right, you can be back up and running with very few casualties. Just plan for a long night, I think I was up till 3 or 4am that night because I set up my tank as soon as everything arrived.

[Builder Anthony]

Buckets suck get wide Rubbermaid containers with flaps on the top.save what creatures u can from the sand then rinse it 100 times and put it in a bag.get a inverter from Walmart that plugs into your car lighter and this will allow u to. Plug things into the socket.there like 25 bucks then u can run a heater or air pump.carry extra water in a seperate Rubbermaid container in case u run into a problem.

[owenj]

You've already gotten some great step-by-step instructions, so I'll just add a few tidbits instead of a list.

 

+1 to Builder Anthony's suggestion to use containers instead of buckets at this point. Better footprint, easier to store in the car with other stuff if you're only able to make a few trips and with a ventilated lid you could store stuff on top if necessary to save space. They can also serve as holding tanks while/if your regular tanks have to go through a mini-cycle.

 

If you have to travel far, look into coolers or the insulated bait buckets fishermen use that have battery operated airstones for your livestock.

 

Depending on what kind of heater you have I'd be careful about putting it in with your rock; don't want to cruash/crack it.

 

Have as much pre-made water as possible available ahead of time

 

Depending on your budget, it might be worth it to scrap your current sand and start over with new at your new place. If it's well established then you're also at higher risk to have a spike when you inevitably disturb it replacing your rock and livestock. You could try rinsing it a ton to avoid the spike, but you're probably going to get rid of your beneficial bacteria in the process and it's a huge time-suck. During undergrad I made the 4+ hour drive home with fish after every semester and something always comes up where you have less time than you think to get everyone moved

[anizato]

Great ideas! Thanks for sharing your experiences!

 

I definitely went and got four containers with lids ! three for the 10g and two for the 50g.

 

With your input I have come up with the idea of setting up the 50g FIRST during the move. Set it up perfectly and let it run, everything is cycled so it shouldn't spike anything, if it does I have Dr.Tim'sBacteria as an emergency. That said, at the very end of the move I will transport the fish and coral/rock each in their container ready for transport, discard old sand from 10g. Next, I will dip all my rock+coral in peroxide/water mix before placing them in the 50g (to kill all red worms + algae). Meanwhile, I will have the livestock in the containers aerated and heated while the tank is ready.

Then the coral will be dipped into clean saltwater where they will be drip acclimated before going in the new tank.

Finally, acclimate the fish into their new home by dripping water from the 50g to the container. For this, I have been looking, to no avail, for a container that has a spout on the bottom (or near it) where the fish can be transported, so the bucket can be used for acclimating fish easier/better (by simultaneously removing the water from the bottom with a slightly slower drip).

 

YAY or NAY ? any input?

 

Cheers!

[jservedio]

I just moved 950 miles with a 20g tank full of acros (without losing a single thing, mind you ) and all the advice above is really good. If your move is more than an hour or so, make sure you use insulated containers to transport your coral and fish. Walmart, Target, or any grocery store sells those styrafoam coolers for a few dollars each - I used 2 of those for a 20g full of coral.

 

If it is a long move, don't worry about having water pre-made since everything can live in a bucket for a couple of days as long as you have a powerhead and heater in there to keep the temperature stable and keep the water moving.

 

Your rock should fit in a single 5g bucket - which will be fine for 3 or 4 days as long as it is filled partially and you put some wet paper towels or newspapers (saltwater wet - no just under a faucet) over the exposed rock and keep the top sealed.

 

Use the move as an opportunity to really clean the sand and rocks. Stir the sand as best you can with about 1" of water in the bottom (that you will discard) and get all the junk out of it. Use a toothbrush or some kind of cleaning brush on your rock to get any algae or pests off.

 

Make sure you temperature acclimate when putting your livestock back. Here is the thread about my move: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/347496-successfully-moving-reef-cross-country/

[anizato]

SUCCESS the move was perfect! Thank you all for your guidance and help.

[Begow]

Glad to see this went well for you.

[anizato]

Yes! It was not a bad experience.

 

I emptied the filters, placed them in a box with the heater and the pump. I emptied out 80% of the water. My biggest Zoa colony was exposed to air, no choice ..I was alone. I placed the Kessil in a backpack along with the extension chords and the fuge LED and timer. The tank was heavy as FCKU!!! Soon after a very slow 25 minute cab ride and a flight of stairs the tank was at its final destination.

 

I had 65 gallons of saltwater ready because I was also making water for the larger 50g tank.