moving cross country with corals?

[shcrimps]

has anybody moved across the country (or just far) with corals? trip is about 1,400 miles give or take and would be a 3-4 day journey
truck has outlets so i can plug in a heater / internal filter was thinking a 5g bucket with custom caddy as to keep things in place and some small chemi pure packs if needed.
my questions ultimately are

have you done this?

what problems would you consider or see arising throughout the trip?

would you do this if thought and planned properly?

thanks!
just have a handful of pieces i can’t part with for sentimental reasons & i have no clue how to ship + thinking price wise might be astronomical for that

 

[Pickle_soup]

Good luck to you. That sounds really daunting. I would go with something more rectangular, maybe bring a powerhead with you to keep the water moving, or at least use the internal to agitate the surface.

 

[Mike1970]

People ship/move corals thousands of miles all the time just have to have a good game plan ie over think it

 

[Tired]

Got any pics of the corals? It'll be different if they're frags vs palm-sized pieces vs sportsball-sized colonies.

But yes, people do transport corals long ways all the time. It's a bit trickier if you can't ship them overnight, but definitely doable. Water movement and reasonably stable temps will go a long way.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Size masters here. Moving my 300 will be a lot different than moving a 32 gallon bio cube. What are we talking about here?

There are many appropriate ways to move corals cross country. A lot of people have done it. The approach is very size dependent.

 

[iReefer12]

drove my fish and corals a 1000 miles in a move. Everything made it. Car cig lighter to outlet converter for a 50w heater, some battery powered air pumps, new batteries for the air pumps, and a cube-ish brute trash cans.

 

[shcrimps]

Got any pics of the corals? It'll be different if they're frags vs palm-sized pieces vs sportsball-sized colonies.

But yes, people do transport corals long ways all the time. It's a bit trickier if you can't ship them overnight, but definitely doable. Water movement and reasonably stable temps will go a long way.

most are just frags (zoas mostly) and a super orange hammer but there is one purple hammer “colony” i’m more worried about since the size
it’s only 5 or six heads but around softball size / bigger
definitely gonna have the heater hooked up to temp controller and as for water movement just a small internal filter (or powerhead) fixed to the side somehow to keep things going & have gaskets around the cords that come out to help minimize water loss

 

[shcrimps]

most are just frags (zoas mostly) and a super orange hammer but there is one purple hammer “colony” i’m more worried about since the size
it’s only 5 or six heads but around softball size / bigger
definitely gonna have the heater hooked up to temp controller and as for water movement just a small internal filter (or powerhead) fixed to the side somehow to keep things going & have gaskets around the cords that come out to help minimize water loss

this picture doesn’t do the purple colony justice but it’s a bit too big to be called a frag

 

[shcrimps]

Size masters here. Moving my 300 will be a lot different than moving a 32 gallon bio cube. What are we talking about here?

There are many appropriate ways to move corals cross country. A lot of people have done it. The approach is very size dependent.

DT is 65 gallons, most pieces coming will be on frag plugs (zoas and such) 10 or so of those
a good sized purple hammer colony, super orange hammer that’s a single head and a gold/green ring hammer colony (the heads stay pretty small)

 

[shcrimps]

Good luck to you. That sounds really daunting. I would go with something more rectangular, maybe bring a powerhead with you to keep the water moving, or at least use the internal to agitate the surface.

only reason i picked 5 gallon bucket really was ease of use making gaskets for the cables and also have some with a lid gasket
rectangular would probably work better
if i can find a reasonably sized bin with a gasket might go that route
definitely gonna bring enough extra SW for a couple water changes either way

 

[Kmst80]

only reason i picked 5 gallon bucket really was ease of use making gaskets for the cables and also have some with a lid gasket
rectangular would probably work better
if i can find a reasonably sized bin with a gasket might go that route
definitely gonna bring enough extra SW for a couple water changes either way

Planing is the major aspect here. Have a plan in place and backups for everything. By the way you describe it you got it under control.

 

[FrugalReefer]

I know people've done it and I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer, but personally, something like this would be too daunting for me with regards to coral and fish and I would just try to sell livestock (corals and fish), transport only live rock and equipment, and start all over again at the destination. Just my honest two cents on the matter.

 

[shcrimps]

I know people've done it and I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer, but personally, something like this would be too daunting for me with regards to coral and fish and I would just try to sell livestock (corals and fish), transport only live rock and equipment, and start all over again at the destination. Just my honest two cents on the matter.

almost everything will be sold and this isn’t necessarily something i want to do just because it’s such a big task but the select few that mean a lot i just can’t part with, considered having someone hold them then flying out with them
just would definitely need to read up on tsa stuff for the container that would have the hammers

 

[thangbom321]

It can be done. You just need planning. Try and minimize temperature swings in the coral. I personally would bag the coral and stick them in a cooler for the drive. Find a place where you can get some RO/di water to set up
A makeshift QT tank for the corals asap once you get to the new place. Then of course set up the main tank asap and cycle that thing more a month or so then move the livestock over. Best yet is to have some local reefer around the new place to babysit your livestock until your DT is ready.