5 hour move plan. Crazy???

[memphistom]

I may soon be moving from Memphis to St. Louis - normally a 5 hour drive.
Here's my new plan to move the residents of the 150 gallon reef tank.
1. Buy a new/used 100 gallon tank.
2. Put the 100 gallon tank in the back of our station wagon with a pump & filter that will run off a power inverter plugged in to the lighter.
3. Take about 1/2 the water from the old tank and put it into the new one.
4. Move the live rock, fish & coral into the new tank and start the pump & filter. Some rock could go into a styrofoam container but a lot of it has desirrable things (e.g. coral, baby cocoa worms) on it.
5. Put reasonable amount of additional water in the new tank from the old one.
6. Cover the tank with a piece of plexiglass that has a hokle cut into the center and seal the edges with silicone sealant.
7.Put the remaining water in a 'cured' tupperware bin of some sort.
8. Discard the sand substrate from the 150 gallon tank.
9.Load the 150 Gallon tank into the station wagon.
10. Drive to St. Louis and reverse the process.
Lot's of details to work out like avoiding tipping over but that's the general plan.
This seems to me like a better way to keep the critters alive than doing all the bagging, etc.
What does anyone think?
Thanks,
Tom
Residents of the tank
2 Yellow-tailed damsels
4 Percula Clowns
4 PJ Cardinalfish
1 Yellow Tang
1 Lavendar Tang
1 Dragon Goby
1 Flame Hawkfish
5 Green Chromis
Lot's of mushrooms
Lot's of Pulsing Xenia
1 large Torch Coraal
1 Lobo Brain
1 Open Brain
1 Tooth Coral
A few Zoanthids
A few Parazoanthids
2 Acros
3 Feather Dusters
1 cocoa worm
2 emerald carbs
2 peppermint shrimp
1 Anemone
Acouple frags of bubble coral
Couple hundred punds of live rock

 

[scsinet]

Frankly, I think it's asking for trouble by attempting to use a glass box filled with 75 gallons of water as a transport container. ALL aquariums are meant to be in a fixed position will filled. Imagine what 75 gallons of seawater would do to your car....
Instead, I'd use one of the big holding stock tubs the big vendors use for stuff like this. I know rubbermaid makes some. I attached a picture. They are brownish in color, huge... maybe 100 gallons or more even. That, or use plain old rubbermaid storage totes.
One other thing you might try... Build yourself a box of the appropriate size out of 5/8" exterior grade plywood. Caulk the seams, then line it with 3 or more layers of good 5+ mil plastic from Home Depot or Lowes. Then, line it with styrofoam insulation board to keep the rock from piercing the plastic. If something does pierce the plastic, the caulked plywood will likely hold the water. Viola!

 

[kogle]

I agree, I wouldn't use glass. The rubbermaid containers would likely be cheaper than the used tank anyhow.
Good luck, I dread the day I have to move.

 

[memphistom]

And it all seemed so reasonable.
Thanks for pointing out the potential problems - and - for providing additional ideas on doing it the right way.
Tom

 

[macjmc]

IMO it is still risky I moved my fish only 5 miles down the road. I had to carry them down 3 flights of stairs though. It was a big pain in the butt. Once moved everything looking great only to wake up the next morning and have my 2 clowns, damsel, puffer, and wrasse dead

 

[bhfccsr198]

just a suggestion why dont you see if you can sell the fish to your lfs and just keep rocks and corals that drive and stuff would prolly be pretty stressful on the fish plus ytou could get a 55 gallon polly drum put rocks and water in that and then just put sand in buckets and stuff

 

[scsinet]

I might disagree with that. I'm thinking that fish that you've had a while and are healthy are more likely to survive in a new tank than a fish that you buy from the LFS that has just been netted a dozen times in 3 days, shipped around the world... etc.
Most deaths occur very soon after the fish is purchased or a few weeks after due to shipping stress or cyanide. When you have a fish that actually survives that time period, you probably want to hang on to it. What's more, you don't really have a rapport with any of the LFSs at your destination, so you have no idea the real quality of the merchandise. For example, the LFS near my house sells all kinds of fish, but I'd NEVER buy a tang from them again. Their tangs die... every time.
My advice would be keep doing what you are doing. Plan ahead, revise, plan, revise until you have really thougth the whole thing out and have a complete process documented. It's when you try to shoot from the hip that you go wrong. Some animal loss is inevitable, but I believe a healthy fish, transported carefully with a bare minimum of handling, should survive most of the time.
BTW, I'm not sure I'd discard the substrate as you mentioned. It's key to your biological filtration, and dumping it could throw your tank into a cycle once you are set up at destination.
One last thought... you may try, in the two weeks leading up to the move, slowly offsetting your lighting timers to get it to where the lights run at night, and keep the room darkened otherwise. That way, your fish will perceive the move to be happening at night time, and if the moving container is dark, it will minimize stress.

 

[bronco300]

defeinitely plan like non other...i moved my 20 gallon 2.5hrs and what a PAIN...not only did i run out of room in my car hauling 4-5 5gallon buckets, plus my tank, plus the refuge...i really started to worry i wouldnt be able to get it all in one trip...but i did, and thankfully i think i only lost one sexy shrimp...all fish good to go and corals...so just plan as much as you can and make sure you have room for everything....I should have planned a tiny bit more than what i had, but it went pretty good i thought....but mine was only 20gallons...compared to 150

but good luck and let us know how it went! :happyfish

 

[memphistom]

Thanks to everyone.
I 'll let you know how it goes.
One option I'm considering is "renting" a tank at a really nice LFS I've visited in St.Louis and bring the critters up a couple at a time over the next month or so. Then when I'm all set up and, if necessary, cycled again I go get them a few at a time and bring 'em back allive.
As wa said above - plan, plan, plan.
thanks
Tom