Ali February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 Hi all, I'd appreciate any suggestions or lessons learned folks have from moving cross country with a tank. I have a 90 gallon with a hippo tang; a couple of clown fish; and a orchid dottyback. And I have numerous pieces of coral and 50-60 pounds of liverock. My problem is that I'm moving across country in 10 days -- I'll be driving to the midwest, and wanted to get thoughts about how to do it. My actual tank won't be going with me; it'd be too heavy, and will have to wait for the movers. My current plan is to have 2 or 3 large plastic tubs in the SUV with me -- one for livestock, and 1-2 more for the coral/liverock. I'm hoping to run heaters and powerheads off an inverter during the trip. I expect it'll take 2 days, with an overnight stop at the midpoint. Any suggestions as to how to do this without, well, killing everything, would be much appreciated. Also, once I arrive, everything will have to reside in whatever temporary housing I use to transport them. I won't be able to move them into a tank until we get into our final home, which may take 2-3 weeks. Thanks for all of your thoughts and advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ford February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 Good luck with your move! I personally would sell the fish and just focus on keeping the rock and coral alive. Its one thing to travel and set up but 2-3 weeks in buckets its a lot for those fish to handle imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epleeds February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 I would sell everything and buy new once you get there. or see if one of the LFS would ship everything to you if you are attached to what's in your tank. The chances of losing all the livestock if something happens isn't worth the risk in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 Heaters will require a pretty stout inverter. If there are things you must have, find somebody to store and ship them when your tank is set back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lutz123 February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 Yeah, I was going to suggest possibly shipping and having them in a quarantine until you arrived but shipping this time of year is risky. I wish I had a suggestion. If you keep the car very warm you may be okay with circulating with an air pump and plugging in at night in a hotel. Not sure I would do that with anything bigger than a couple of inches though. Call a couple of the lfs. They may have suggestions since they transport year round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali February 23, 2015 Author Share February 23, 2015 Calling the LFS re: holding the fish for awhile is a great suggestion. The liverock and coral would be much less of a load, and easier to maintain in 55 gallon tubs. But the fish, though few, would be a concern. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 I would sell everything and buy new once you get there. or see if one of the LFS would ship everything to you if you are attached to what's in your tank. The chances of losing all the livestock if something happens isn't worth the risk in my opinion. +1 Maybe wrap the live rock in wet newspaper or towel and try to see if it makes it, otherwise you are going to have an interesting trip. Have you sen the outside temps lately? Not going ot be fun. Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camelcruiser February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 Are you doing the drive in one day? If that's the case your car will stay warm and you can get some battery operated air pumps to keep the water oxygenated just keep a couple sets of battery's. Coral and fish survive a trip overseas you can do it just keep an eye on everything maybe even put some heat packs under the containers for the ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 I would sell everything and buy new once you get there. or see if one of the LFS would ship everything to you if you are attached to what's in your tank. The chances of losing all the livestock if something happens isn't worth the risk in my opinion. This. Just sell it, start fresh. No tears, no tangles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fazio92 February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 This. Just sell it, start fresh. No tears, no tangles. This is exactly what I am having to do this go around, as hard as it is. I haven't sold off my coral, fish, equipment etc. in the near 20yrs of being in the hobby. I have moved numerous times, some 5hrs+ away with coral, fish, etc. but in the end...It's a huge risk to take. This go around, mainly due to the fact it is cross-country, taking the risk just isn't there for me. I rather see the corals, fish, etc. thrive in someone's tank here, versus risking them in a very long distant transfer where I wouldn't even have an established tank setup once I got there. If I did have an established tank in place prior to the move, that's a different story, where I would just FedEx everything to the new place... Just something to think about. -Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunWyrm February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 This. Just sell it, start fresh. No tears, no tangles. This is my advice as well. I moved only 45 mins away and because I was so attached to my fish, I hated to part with them. Lost all 40+ except for one freakin damsel. Still hurts. I would make sure your fish have nice homes and start over completely. It'll be much easier on you and them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 I moved a 40g reef about 17 years ago and had pretty good luck. I placed everything in buckets, drained the tank, moved it into the moving truck, filled it back up enough to cover the rock and tossed everything back in. I used a battery operated air pump and set sail. It should have only been a five or six our ordeal but ended up taking about 18 hours. It had to sit in the moving truck over night. I lost one of my clams but that was it. Was pretty amazing really. If I had known we would have gotten stuck over night I never would have tried it. This was a moved from CA to AZ in late September (toasty temps). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowsingle February 25, 2015 Share February 25, 2015 Sell everything and start over!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 February 25, 2015 Share February 25, 2015 Sell your corals keep fish and LR. If they can survive overnight in tiny bags then they can stay in a tub for a couple nights. Just test run the batteries out and make sure the cigarette lighter can support that much energy without blowing a fuse. Plan plan plan and prepare for unexpected. Remember tap water can be used if you get in a pinch and there is a lot of sloshing loss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime February 25, 2015 Share February 25, 2015 This. Just sell it, start fresh. No tears, no tangles. I still say this. I've moved x2 in the past 6 months. All close, but the stress of moving the tank each time is not worth it, IMO. Moving is enough work and stress, no need to add more to the pile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyfeet February 25, 2015 Share February 25, 2015 I still say this. I've moved x2 in the past 6 months. All close, but the stress of moving the tank each time is not worth it, IMO. Moving is enough work and stress, no need to add more to the pile. I wouldn't even move my tank 10' when Kate asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Rhoads February 25, 2015 Share February 25, 2015 I still say this. I've moved x2 in the past 6 months. All close, but the stress of moving the tank each time is not worth it, IMO. Moving is enough work and stress, no need to add more to the pile. I have moved my tank and everything in it 3 times now (longest move was from Charlotte NC to Alexandria VA). I won't do it again because, as reefopotamus mentions here, it is just too much stress to add to an already stressful time. And to top it all off, you run the risk of losing some/all of your livestock. IMHO, it is better to either sell everything and take your time rebuilding, or have someone ship you what you want to keep after you are established and ready to house them once again. Plus, at least 60% of the fun in this hobby is building the tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 February 26, 2015 Share February 26, 2015 This is something a lot of people don't understand but my fish are like family to me and if I move I will figure out a way to safely move them with me. I have moved twice with no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b February 26, 2015 Share February 26, 2015 Are you doing the drive in one day? If that's the case your car will stay warm and you can get some battery operated air pumps to keep the water oxygenated just keep a couple sets of battery's. Coral and fish survive a trip overseas you can do it just keep an eye on everything maybe even put some heat packs under the containers for the ride. I've tried running heaters off auto inverters and they did not work. I'v e seen some pumps not work off inverters also. Had something to do with "sine-wave". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2nhle February 26, 2015 Share February 26, 2015 Just like other have said, sell it and start again from fresh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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