First time moving my tank

i'm gonna be moving into a new apartment on friday, and was wondering, how i should do this. I'm thinking, put the water in 5 gallon pails, and also, put the sand and rocks in pails with some saltwater. I'm not sure how many pails i'll have, but can i put a fish or coral in each pail too, or should they be put in bags "like how i get them when i purchase them"? If that's how i should do it, what do i do for oxygen, since i don't have a compressor or mini tire pump. My tank is a 46gallon bowfront. the drive from apt to new apt should take roughly 20 mins.
Thanks
 

bonerac

Member
you could use some rubbermaid totes and get one or two battery powered air pumps for the fish the buckets should be fine for the rocks and sand as long as they stay wet.good luck with the move
 
ok, thanks for the tips, i'm off to work right now, but i'll read thru that thread once i get back.
Do I really need to do a water change once i'm in my new place? i just did one a couple days ago.
Thanks
 

flower

Well-Known Member

Before you begin
, have new mixed saltwater in the new place, just waiting. Make sure SG matches with the original tank water. Make up enough refill the tank, and also to replace what you waste when you acclimate your critters.
Sand is heavy...it will stay plenty wet for just 20 min ride...so just put it in a bucket, there will be enough water already in it and you will even see it on top.
Rocks, I put mine in a new plastic garbage can for a 2 hour ride...it will not dry out, so no need to put water on them.
Put coral in a tub filled just enough to cover the coral, that way splashing water will not get in your car....keep the coral in the dark, this will prevent damage and stinging each other... Same with the fish in a different tub. Use a heater in each tub with an air stone or small power head to circulate water.
Reset the tank, add only half water from the new mix....add rock FIRST, then sand, place your power heads where you want them (don't turn on yet). set up filtration...refill the tank using all the water you saved, top it to the desired level with the new if necessary. Start the filters and power heads...let everything settle.
Acclimate the corals and fish, just like when you first got them. This is why you need so much new mixed saltwater...in the end it should be like a huge water change, so no spikes.
 
thanks for the reply, but can't i just re-use all the water that's in my tank, and not use any new saltwater??? i just did a 15% water change. also, i understand that i can't put all the coral in the same tub since there's different kinds, but can i put all same corals together??? i have a lot of frogspawn.
Thanks
 

yearofthenick

Active Member
It's good to have new saltwater on-hand in case you need it. I've found that whenever I move, I always lose some water in the process. You may end up not using any new saltwater, but better to be safe than sorry.
It's good to keep your rocks submerged as well. My rocks are loaded with snails and slugs that only come out at night. If I kept my rocks out of water for hours, it could kill whatever is living inside them. Better to keep them submerged during transport.
Like the other thread says, you can keep your sand in the tank during transport.
 

spanko

Active Member
Originally Posted by YearOfTheNick
http:///forum/post/3166119
It's good to have new saltwater on-hand in case you need it. I've found that whenever I move, I always lose some water in the process. You may end up not using any new saltwater, but better to be safe than sorry.
It's good to keep your rocks submerged as well. My rocks are loaded with snails and slugs that only come out at night. If I kept my rocks out of water for hours, it could kill whatever is living inside them. Better to keep them submerged during transport.
Like the other thread says, you can keep your sand in the tank during transport.
There is a risk here though. Keeping the sand in the tank while moving it puts a lot of strain on siliconed seams. While the stress may not show up right away, it can compromise the seam enough to cause a fault some where down the road. Tanks are not built to withstand the stress that sand and whatever water is left will put on them during a move.
Just sayin.
 
ok, i think i'm mentally ready, gonna be a challenge, but atleast i ain't moving too far, it's roughly 20mins away. I'm gonna go to the local fish store, and see if i can get some plastic bags that they give out when u buy fish/coral. and i'm gonna put each fish in it's own bag, and the coral in individual bags. then i'll put the water in pails, with a rock or two in each. the sand will go in another pail with some water.
 
WOW, i hope i never have to do that again for a very very very long time. Everything seems to be ok, only thing is, i gotta re-figure out a good way to place my rocks, i'm having such a hard time. Thanks guys for all the help.... If anyone knows any good rock patterns, i'm very interested in hearing it. i heard from my local sw shop, that you want the least amount of rock touching the bottom of the tank, so if the rock is in a triangular form, then i should place it on its corner, is this true???
Thanks again :)
 

roastreef

Member
What I like to do before placing rock is lay down egg crate along the whole bottom of the tank. Then stack the rock, then put in the sand. If the rock is resting on top of the sand, there is chance it will shift when the sand is moved around. Especially if you have gobies or other fish that like to tunnel in the sand.
 
a lil too late for that, i don't wanna take everything out again, i'm sure that stresses the fish. i had my tank setup sort of like this for almost 3 years now without any problems of the rock sliding. and yes, i have fish that go in the sand "christmas wrasse". Things are finally pretty clear in the tank, maybe tonight, i'll move around some rock, till i'm happy.
 

reefkprz

Active Member
did you take any pictures from the move?
here is some from when we bought our house and I had to move my 75g
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/257413/im-back-pics-from-the-move
 
ya, i took some pics, but those didn't really help me much. i guess it's alright the way it is "for now", my hands are killing me from moving around the frogspawn "with cuts on my hands" :(
Nice tank, i was gonna do something like that, but i heard that the least amount of rock touching the ground is the best. so i have all my rock on the back glass, with just the points touching.
 
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