Tank Moving

**CraigH** · 10-08-2005, 01:15 AM

What is the best way to move a tank long distances? I'm moving from Portland Oregon to San Francisco and I am wondering if I should just start over or would it be safe to move everything in bags and icechests? I have a pair of clowns a cleaner shrimp and a bunch of zoos. It is about a twelve hour drive not including the breakdown of the tank. Thanks in advance.
Craig

***Rob*** · 10-08-2005, 02:38 PM

how large is the tank?
any coral?

**DJGonzo69** · 10-08-2005, 07:49 PM

Craig,
First off welcome to Frisco. I live in the Peninsula area- San Mateo to be exact. My suggestion would be to get one of those power converters that you plug into your car cigarette lighter. Get one that would power a heater & a small pump with airstone or even a small powerhead. If you have a 5 gallon or bigger bucket that would be good for your clowns, shrimp & zoos. I would keep the rocks if you have them & just buy new live sand. I know it's a long drive. My inlaws live in Junction City & it's a long drive sometimes if we drive up to see them. Hope all will turn out for your move. Let me know if you need any info on great local fish stores.

-John

***Rob*** · 10-08-2005, 08:23 PM

great info john.. but your steeling my thunder.. :wink:

Just kidding... i will discuss this stuff in a future show, i think its a good topic.

the power converter is a must for these long trips.. make sure you are using a truck or van that can handle the extra load that will be drawn from these converters. most utility truck/vans or conversion vans are ideal for this.

walmart is a great place to find large 10-40 gallon bins that will hold the water.

then just get some heaters and powerheads, small 100-200 gph heads should be fine.

**DJGonzo69** · 10-08-2005, 10:50 PM

Ooops did not mean to steal your thunder Rob :wink:

***Rob*** · 10-08-2005, 10:59 PM

its all good,

i am actually uite excited to see others getting involved in discussion here, so its good.

besides i have been extremely busy with my flatworm problem... will be doing a detailed show about that too soon..

OMG.. what a damn nightmare... but thats for a different thread...

**CraigH** · 10-16-2005, 03:07 AM

Thanks Rob and John,

I have been posting about this over on RC as well but have been trying to get as much input as possible. I have a 40 gallon that I will be moving. Not including sump and fuge. Minimal livestock, a pair of false percs, yellow tang and a cleaner shrimp. Then ofcourse the zoos and a couple of corals not worth metioning. I'm thinking of getting a thirty gallon icechest for everything. With the fish and shrimp in bags to protect them from getting banged around to much. The sand I will have to start over with. Not sure if a power head would be needed or not. I would think that the motion in the water from car movement would be enough for the journey. I'm thinking that just the heater would be all that is needed. Unless I can plug my MH into the car as well...KIDDING.

***Rob*** · 10-16-2005, 02:32 PM

yes, you should be ok, we have answered this in the questions and answer show #3. this show should be getting released soon.

**CraigH** · 10-20-2005, 02:50 AM

Thank you so much for entertaining my question on the show. I'm very honored.

I will keep you posted on the move for sure. Thanks for all of you help.
Craig

***Rob*** · 10-20-2005, 01:31 PM

no problem

and feel free to submit any other questions or thoughts you may have

**kernelg** · 10-21-2005, 12:56 PM

This is a very good topic. I am thinking over going to a larger tank and I am concern about the impact the whole move will have on my fish and coral. I have a 55 and I'd like to go 90. or 75. I have soft coral, 4 small fishes, live sand and a buch of invertebrates (shrimps, anemones, sea urchins,...)

suggestions are welcome

***Rob*** · 10-22-2005, 04:21 PM

check out Ep14 nd the suggestion in this thread shoudl apply to you to. if you have more specific questions jsut post them, we'll help ya out.

**CraigH** · 10-31-2005, 06:00 AM

Well, looks like the move will take place on or around the 12th of November. Give or take. Quick question. Do you think it would be safe to use my existing sand bed or should I start over? I was thinking it might be safe but I'm also worried about stirring alot of stuff up and having some nitrate spikes or something. Any thoughts?
Craig

**Matt** · 10-31-2005, 07:04 AM

Hi Craig
I would definitely use the sand you have as its already populated with good bacteria and will help massively in getting your tank stable after its move.
If you are worried about it being full of dirt etc then i would personally clean it while doing a water change (or removing the water) by using a gravel/sand cleaner pipe. As this should get rid of most of the trapped dirt etc and not effect the sand bed to much.
This might be worth doing a week before you move as hen you will have less to do on the move day.
Just treat the sand like the live rock and you should be fine.
I hope this helps
Matt

**CraigH** · 10-31-2005, 03:29 PM

OK I will give it a shot. I think I will just put the sand in a bucket and top it off with some extra water. I'm just going to suck off the top layer and discard that and keep the rest. Now I'm just trying to find a cheap pendant light to keep over the twenty gallon while the main tank settles. Anyone in the Bay area know where to rent or borrow on for a while?

**Matt** · 10-31-2005, 04:16 PM

Hi again
I personally would bother with a light if its only about 24/48 hours. Otherwise look for a normal bulb for a table lamp that has as higher K rating as you can find. Basically the higher the K rating the more blue it has and lower the rating the more reds and oranges it has. At the sea surface its about 5000K and lots of reefers use 6500K bulbs, so if you can get a normal 4500K table lamp bulb then that will tide you over for a few days. But as i said earlier, i would only make it about 48 hours and then you wouldn't really need it.
Matt