Moving Cross Country

ophiura

Active Member
IMO, feeding the fish will really not be the consideration. 3 or 4 days without food is not an issue, IMO.
A consideration to me is ammonia versus pH in the fish containers. You have to be testing this. Ammonia becomes less toxic at lower pH. If you suddenly change water you could cause and issue with this by spiking the pH back up.
Temp control. Coolers are nice but they may not really be able to beat the heat. I would consider buying some instant cold or heat packs at the

[hr]
for use inside the coolers if needed. Keep thermometers in those coolers to know the truth.
I personally would keep the rock as mentioned in a container with damp newspaper. I would pack corals in individual containers, as well as fish in individual containers.
Water, IMO, is not so much an issue. You may have to pay attention to mixing it but realistically I have made water pretty quickly and used it without aging at all. So getting that done upon arrival is not so much a concern to me.
Truthfully I would probably just ditch (sell off locally) any sand except for enough to reseed the new tank sand...not sure if you even have sand so may not be a concern. I would just buy new on the other end. It is heavy, takes up space, and is not as critical IMO as other things.
Do you have bioballs in the system at all, or is LR the entire biofilter? Have you contacted hobbyists on "the other end" for assistance upon arrival?
I'm not sure I would bother putting much lighting on anything...it might be less stressful just to "keep them in the dark" lol
I would head over to a bait store just to see what sort of cool things they have to aerate and control parameters in bait systems.
I actually moved FW fish from DC to Houston over several days. I kept them in a cooler (not bagged) and each night was able to hook up a hang on filter to keep the system running well. This is another possible option for your smaller fish...if you have some sort of biomedia (heck even old filter pad or something) from your tank.
 

phxfishguy

Member
Today I built the crate to go into the big cooler that will house the fish. I need to keep them separate because, for instance, I have 5 tangs and if they are in a small container without any place to hide, they will probably fight. So I have concocted the "jail" that you see in the picture. I am going to put bioballs from my filters along the bottom and place this on top of them. One section has a plexiglass bottom for the shrimp. I have decided to get containers for the starfish, hermit crabs and snails.
I still haven't decided how to separate the corals. That is harder because they are on rocks of all different sizes so it is difficult to prep a container like I did for the fish. I might have to do that one on the fly.


 

veni vidi vici

Active Member
Originally Posted by PHXFishGuy
http:///forum/post/3095718
Today I built the crate to go into the big cooler that will house the fish. I need to keep them separate because, for instance, I have 5 tangs and if they are in a small container without any place to hide, they will probably fight. So I have concocted the "jail" that you see in the picture. I am going to put bioballs from my filters along the bottom and place this on top of them. One section has a plexiglass bottom for the shrimp. I have decided to get containers for the starfish, hermit crabs and snails.
I still haven't decided how to separate the corals. That is harder because they are on rocks of all different sizes so it is difficult to prep a container like I did for the fish. I might have to do that one on the fly.
That is a pretty fancy coral and fish condo you have there.
Im leaving Friday night 7/31 @12:00 am hope to be pulling into my driveway 1100 miles away at around 6:00 pm on 8/1 all my fish are going into a single cooler and i will have some icepacks on hand just in case.
All 200 lbs + of LR i have will be in tow in garbage cans ....im not looking forward to the transportation of my aquarium,equipment and all my live stock but
.
Good luck, hope your travels go well
 

phxfishguy

Member
Originally Posted by Veni Vidi Vici
http:///forum/post/3095983
That is a pretty fancy coral and fish condo you have there.
Im leaving Friday night 7/31 @12:00 am hope to be pulling into my driveway 1100 miles away at around 6:00 pm on 8/1 all my fish are going into a single cooler and i will have some icepacks on hand just in case.
All 200 lbs + of LR i have will be in tow in garbage cans ....im not looking forward to the transportation of my aquarium,equipment and all my live stock but
.
Good luck, hope your travels go well
Good luck with that move. I plan on getting in on Friday 7/31, go to my closing and get to the house around 6 PM. I have to pick up the temporary fish tank when I get to town too.
 

raymond_62002

New Member
I moved from Massachusetts to Texas. Just brought live sand and rock. Gave away all fish. Be interested in how you make out. Just starting up my setup here in Austin
 

grabbitt

Active Member
I moved a 30 gallon frag tank and a 3 gallon pico 350 miles to Michigan a year ago. It was a freaking nightmare breaking down, packing away, and setting back up, but I'm proud to say I didn't lose a single frag, fish or invert
 

lil.guppy

Active Member
Im so glad you posted this. I will be moving almost the same distance as you in a month 1/2 so I too am eager to see if this works.
 

phxfishguy

Member
This will be my last post until the weekend. I have spent the whole day getting ready. It has been a nightmare and I am not totally packed yet. I did however, get all the fish and corals packed away. They are all freaked out and some of the smaller fish didn't stay in their cages and decided they would rather spend the trip with one of their friends. I will post pictures on the weekend. Wish me luck. I am now officially dreading the drive!
 

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by PHXFishGuy
http:///forum/post/3097604
This will be my last post until the weekend. I have spent the whole day getting ready. It has been a nightmare and I am not totally packed yet. I did however, get all the fish and corals packed away. They are all freaked out and some of the smaller fish didn't stay in their cages and decided they would rather spend the trip with one of their friends. I will post pictures on the weekend. Wish me luck. I am now officially dreading the drive!
Get going...
 
J

justin podolan

Guest
I moved my brother from LA. Ca. to Kentucky.
every time we stoped gas he took some old water out and added new. It went fine i still have his fish and coral its been about a year and a half..
 

outsdr2

Member
Originally Posted by Justin Podolan
http:///forum/post/3102781
I moved my brother from LA. Ca. to Kentucky.
every time we stoped gas he took some old water out and added new. It went fine i still have his fish and coral its been about a year and a half..
Most excellent results! Hopefully Phoenixguy will fare as well. What time of year was the move?
 

salt210

Active Member
he said once he gets moved he wouldnt be able to get online till the computer gets setup and knowing cable companies it could be a while
 
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