Moving tank 3 miles... help

[Sparty]

So I'm moving in two weeks. It will be February in Michigan. Brrr... Its only a 30 long IM and I plan on doing it all in one day so I think I can pull it off.

 

Planned on the following...

• Use current water in buckets and totes with a heater in each for the fish and coral.
• I'm pretty confident I can leave an inch or two of water in the tank and unscrew the top of stand for transport. It's a thick live-edge piece of sycamore.
• I could use this opportunity to replace the sand???
• I do want to get rid of the big rock on the far right, but it has two rock anemones pretty securely attached... any chance they detach in the move? Never tried to get one off...

 

Any suggestions or insights would be appreciated.

[Joevember]

Sounds like you have a good plan thought out. Replacing the sand is a great thing to do. Make sure most of the particles settle out before putting things back in.

If you want to take the RFAs off that rock, my strategy has been getting a syringe and blasting the foot off. It only takes a minute, and they reattach in minutes after you take them off. I'd do this before the move.

Also make sure the tank has some sort of covering so you don't soak the back of your car  😁

 

[Donny41]

I would not leave water in the tank. I would also be wary of leaving sand in the tank. Trying to move tanks with weight on the bottom is very risky. It may work if you leave it on the stand but i still don't think it would be worth it. Replace the sand or transport it in 5 gallon buckets as well. I've never had a rock flower but i moved a bubble tip and it stayed attached. If possible I would remove everything into totes or buckets and leave it where it is, then set the tank up in the new location and then come back for everything.

[NanoreefingMP]

I moved from Kansas to Florida over a two day period, two years ago. Took everything with me. Put rock in a blue storage Container with water from the tank and put coral, anemones and fish in a five gallon bucket with bubbles. I would deff change out sand instead for using the old sand 

[Clown79]

What I would do is:

 

Get buckets siphon water from tank into buckets.

 

Fish in 1, coral in another, last is removal of rocks and they go in a separate bucket from everything else.

 

After removing rocks, discard remaining water(so make sure any water you want to reuse, is siphoned out before rock removal)

 

Ditch the old sand or wash completely(easier to use new sand)

 

Transport everything with lids on bucket. 

 

When u arrive to the new place, add heaters and airstones ro buckets 

 

 

Wash new sand(or prewash and keep in a closed bucket)

 

Start making new water(can be premade too)

 

Set up the tank, add rock, sand, new and saved water. 

Turn everything on.

 

If you are aquascaping, fill a new water bottle with sw abd spray your rocks time to time to keep them wet until you add water.

 

Once tank is clear enough to see back wall, salinity, temp, and alk match original numbers it's safe to add corals and fish.

 

 

Get an ammonia alert badge and keep prime on hand just in case( most likely won't need it but better safe than sorry)