Need some advice on moving my tank

[AnnafromtheLBC]

Hi there, I'm wondering if anyone could hook me to a thread with some advice on my moving my tank...I have a 1 1/2 year old 34 gallon RSM with lotsa coral/fishies/LR etc. and next week I am moving about 20 miles (~30 min. drive time) up the coast to a new apt. I guess my main concern is with the water, such as how much cycled water should I suck out and try to take with me, and is there some sort of "order of operations" for dismantling/reassembling everything?

 

thanks so much, Anna

[Mr. Fosi]

Dos

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- leave the tank for the last thing to be moved.

- remove all corals, bag individually

- remove all rock and put in a bucket (w/lid) with tank water.

- remove fish and either individually bag or put into another bucket (w/lid) with tank water.

- leave sand, disturb as little as possible.

- drain water from tank, keep as much as you can and make up the difference with well-aerated fresh SW.

- leave enough water to just cover the sand

- move everything to the new location, trying not to shake up the sandbed too much.

- setup the tank before everything else to minimize the time things are bagged/bucketed up.

- put in water, then rock, then corals, then fish (be sure to undershoot on the water to account for rock displacement).

- sit back and hope that the system will quickly go back to a state not unlike what it was before you moved it.

 

Don'ts

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- move rock in the tank; it could collapse and crack one of the sides.

- move tank with a substantial amount of water or rock in it; it could strain or split one or more of the seams.

- put corals and fish, corals and rock, or fish and rock in the same containers; separate everything.

[AnnafromtheLBC]

thanks man! I am nervous but most of my fave corals are really overgrown anyway LOL so I have hope that everything will recover eventually