Im feeling your pain!! I have already taken down 3 of my tanks becuase I plan on moving as well...
I am hiring professionals for my 75 reef. It will cost 300-500 dollars BUT they do it all the time
If your gonna do it yourself well then here are some suggestions, (things I did with smaller tanks)
Buy NEW 30 gallon rubbermaid trashcans with locking lids AND wheels.
Mix some water ahead of time, (this will be used like a BIG water change for after the move, so you can do this at the new house, so you wont have to carry it there.
Syphone some water out to half in one of the trashcans and put heater & small ph in to keep the temp the same while packing up the rest of the stuff... Put the fish in there.
do same for inverts (can use smaller container (5 gallon many work) if your doing this within hours you wont need the ph or heater. wrap the 5 g in towels to reatin the heat of the tank water.
you can do the same with LR as well but if your lr has nothing attached to it, they can be put in strong plastic bags (double bagged and they will stay for about 12 hours. (which you wont need hopefully)
With any corals I used the rubbermaid longer deep see through containers with locking top. Carefully Scoop out a layer of your sand and line the bottom of it, syphone out tank water and then place the corals in there. YOu could bag them like the store does but easier to do it this way and they wont get bumpped around as much, take care to make the move as fast as you can.
You didnt mention how many gallons you are moving, I am thinking its a good size tank.. so make changes as needed.
TRY NOT to mess with the DSB if you have one, If your DBS weights a ton, your gonna break your tank bottom or its just gonna be too heavy to carry.. So, if you must remove it, do it as carefully as possible trying not to "MIX" the heck out of it. remove in layers and place in one of the flatter longer rubbermaids. Only remove what you have to, to safely move the tank....make sure its covered with your tank water also.
Then when you get to the new place , put the sand back, then the OLD water...... hopefully you have enough so that it is half to 3 quarters full. then add your LR back. Then, add your fresh water you mixed before, as if you were doing a big water change....... acclimate your fish and coral back to the tank.
Run your skimmer and filters full throttle for a few days. its gonna be clowdy but should pass in a day or two.
Hope this helps, I didnt lose anything but ONE blennie when I moved my 45G bow to my sisters house.
Kim
