Moving 150 Gal Reef Tank

[prpltang]

OK, I HAVE ABOUT 155LBS LIVE FIJI ROCK & SEVERAL CORALS, THREE CLOWN FISH & ABOUT 150 INVERTS.
I WAS TOLD TO PUT MUCH OF THE WATER & ROCKS & CORALS INTO ABOUT 2 LARGE GARBAGE CANS (50GAL), LINED W/ HEAVY DUTY GARBAGE BAGS & TO PUT THE 3 FISH IN A BAG. I HAVE A STYROFOAM BOX I CAN BUT THE BAG INTO FOR THEM.
I CURRENTLY HAVE A CRUSHED CORAL BOTTOM & AM THINKING OF GOING TO LIVE SAND. WHICH SAND IS BEST TO USE & HOW MUCH IS NEEDED FOR A 150 GAL TANK (IT'S 6' LONG BY 18" WIDE & 24" HIGH, IF THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE). I WAS TOLD IT SHOULD BE 3-4" DEEP. HOW MANY LBS IS THAT?
I AM MOVING IT ABOUT 300 MILES NEXT WEEKEND.
ANY HELP IN MAKING THIS MOVE EASY & NOT DEADLY.

 

[melbournefl]

One thing I'd consider is that each 50 gallon "can" will weigh more than 400 pounds. Personally, I'd spend the bucks and break that up into more reasonably sized containers. Going 300 miles is going to take about what 6-8 hours (I know I drive like an old lady LOL) but the rock etc will need air, circulation and needs to be kept cool somehow. hmmmmmmm interesting logistical problem here (itty bitty brain cells crunching) okay now I'm not sure but I think you can get fish transport boxes from one of the online fishy places, probably not cheap but then with that many livin' critters hey ... battery air pumps are pretty cheap, plan the move in the evening for the temperature factor. Small hole for airline in the top of each box, then for the duration of the move, duct tape the lid for a seal. Take as much water as you can handle in the fish transport boxes and trash the rest. You'll want to get sufficient "make up" water ready asap cuz the critters are going to have to live in the boxes until you can get your tank back up and running. I'd move the CC and plan the switch to sand down the road when things settle down and you have time to do it right, cycling a tank during a move is probably not a reasonable expectation. Now heres where I need a shark to jump in, assuming the transport boxes hold about 20 gallons each and he moves, say 5 of them with live rock etc, that would be roughly 100 gallons worth of "fill", that makes a 33% water change on top of the stress of the move, would that be too much for the critters? You'd have to let the livestock live in their boxes for the time it takes for the replacement water to "ferment". hmmm I'll keep thinking here but that's my knee jerk reaction to the problem.
Later, Paul

 

[azonic]

I dont think the 33% water change PLUS the stress would cause any ill effects on the fishies or critters, I just recently switched a 38 gallon to a 90 gallon, do the math, it works out to be a 68%!! water change, on top of that the fish,inverts, corals, etc etc were all in rubbermaid containers for close on 7 hours while I was doing the switch/setup. In the whole switch i had one casualty, a turbo snail.
About switching to live sand, I would NOT do that right now. One of the things I had to do when switching from a 38 to a 90 was I had to add 60 LBS more sand...and 52 gallons of new water....with that I had an ammonia spike of about 1.0...it did cause a mini cycle in the tank....in your case for a 150 gallon tank your looking at easily 250+ pounds of new sand to replace your CC. You would lose so much bacteria life from doing that and with the new water, your almost guaranteed to get a cycle, most likely much larger then the mini cycle I experienced. Dependent on the amount the tank would cycle you might be able to get away with it by the use of Ammo lock...but if it's a large cycle, the nitrite levels would no doubt go too high for your critters liking/well being.
Just my $.02 (Canadian Funds). Every tank is different, so take my advice and anyone else's with a grain of salt.
Cheers,
Matt