Moving plan & questions

[money88]

So I have a move upcoming in 3-4 weeks so I figured I would lay out my plan for others to comment on & ask some questions.

I have done my research so far but want to make sure I have all the i's dotted and T's crossed and additional tips or suggestions from people who have done it before is always helpful.

Here is some information:

• It is about a 15-20ish minute drive each way so not too far.
• Currently have a 40 gallon breeder with a 20L sump
• Stand fits the 20L but without a whole bunch of wiggle room. So I have to have most equipment like my 10G ATO container, dosing containers and dosing pumps outside of the tank. Looking for suggestions here if possible but sorry I got side tracked.
• Current livestock:
  • Fish: 2 dartfish, 2 clownfish, a royal gramma, long-nosed hawkfish
  • Handful of corals with only a few attached to the rock mostly softies and LPS with a few easier SPS
  • Inverts: snails, cleaner shrimp, and bubble tip anemone

Plan:

• Mix up a brute garbage can of saltwater at the new place prior to moving
• Mix up a brute garbage can of RODI at the new place prior to moving
• I plan on throwing away my old sand and using dry sand instead (see question below)
• I plan on either days before hand or early morning start vinegar soaking a lot of equipment during the moving
  • ie. return pump, powerheads, clean the skimmer, heaters
• Have 5 gallon buckets for the transport and a rubbermaid container to put everything in while the setup is taking place
  • This holding container will have an airstone running and a temperature probe but it should be fairly temperate based on the time of year in the midwest
• Plan to move water and rocks in buckets
• I think I will ask the LFS for some bags for transport of the fish so I can put them in individual baggies
• I also have a few Styrofoam coolers from previous coral purchases I can use to transport corals in

1. Remove some rock and water in a few buckets keeping enough in the tank to keep fish and rocks covered
   • Should be close to ~20-30 gallons
2. Bag fish and inverts
3. Drain more water into buckets and place more rock in as well
4. Drive the fish / inverts and buckets to the place getting everything into the holding tank with an airstone running (potentially heater as well)
5. Drive back and empty sand from existing tank
6. Rinse tank to remove additional sand particles
7. Get sump out of stand
8. Quick clean of the sump
9. Drive sump, tank, and stand to new place
10. Get stand, sump, and stank put together and plumbing reassembled or whatever

Questions:

• I have a vermetid snail infestation currently so I was wondering as to the feasibility of using new rock would be or another way to remove the little buggers.
  • I was thinking if I can get new BRS rock soaking on heat today and add some ammonia I could kickstart a cycle but I worry that I would be essentially restarting my tank (which is currently about 1.5 years old). My main concern is the livestock and making sure I don't cycle the tank. And the other would be having to go through the ugly phase again (which I am still kind of fighting)
  • I have a 8” X 8” X 1” PLATE CERAMIC BIOMEDIA in the sump should I add more ceramic media if I planned to use new rock?
• Should I be using live sand or at least a bag of it?
• Should I be using something like turbo start or Dr Tim's one and only when I setup the new tank?
• How should I move the anemone?
  • Should I use an ice cube to detach it from the rock first? or leave it on the rock? If I plan to swap the rocks I'd need to detach regardless.
• Anyone have any stand recommendations with additional space? that works for a 40B and a 20L sump? currently using this stand and it gets pretty tight underneath and is sometimes hard to work with.

 

[ZoWhat]

Use the search function within R2R

This subject has been covered under every angle imaginable from a move 10miles to over a 1000miles.


.

 

[W1ngz]

I moved my 75 2 years ago, and more recently just finished a tank upgrade. I laid out my plan in advance just like you did.

Vermetids are a tough one to beat, once they're in they pretty well stay there. They'll be in the pumps, and the plumbing, in crevices you didn't know about, and even hiding in foam blocks. Changing all the rock and all the sand will mean the whole system has to do a full maturation cycle all over again, setting you back several months with the ugly stages, cyano and all the 'stuff' that comes with the first year of a new tank - and you'll still more than likely have some somewhere. They're filter feeders, so reducing feeding is the best way to control them. I have a few of them, but I don't see them. I used to have them all over the place when I was feeding flakes.

For the actual move I'd switch the sequence around to limit the stress on the fish. They'll be ok for a few hours in baggies if there's any possibility to move the tank and stand first, or with a friend's help (another car), bring everything at once. That way you can just put them right back into the display with as much old water as you can.

I used new, live sand when I changed my tank. I skipped that when I moved the tank 2 years ago and regretted it.

Some Dr Tims wouldn't hurt. Get an ammonia badge, or if budget allows, I bought a seneye reef for live monitoring of my ammonia levels. It has the added bonus of being a hobby grade PAR meter so you can dial in your lights, and figure out where you have higher and lower par levels.

I don't have an anemone, but I'd think it would be best to just move the rock with it attached. Sink a small bucket into the tank to prevent or at least limit air exposure to a few seconds.

Stands: build your own. Smack in the middle of moving is probably the worst time to think about this, but I find commercial stands just don't meet the needs of a reef with a sump and gear. I ended up with a steel frame supporting my tank, and just built wood panels with magnetic strips on the back so I can pop them off, and have full access from all sides.

 

[money88]

Use the search function within R2R

This subject has been covered under every angle imaginable from a move 10miles to over a 1000miles.


.

Yep, I've been reading those over the last week or so. Just had a few questions and to double check my thought process

 

[money88]

I moved my 75 2 years ago, and more recently just finished a tank upgrade. I laid out my plan in advance just like you did.

Vermetids are a tough one to beat, once they're in they pretty well stay there. They'll be in the pumps, and the plumbing, in crevices you didn't know about, and even hiding in foam blocks. Changing all the rock and all the sand will mean the whole system has to do a full maturation cycle all over again, setting you back several months with the ugly stages, cyano and all the 'stuff' that comes with the first year of a new tank - and you'll still more than likely have some somewhere. They're filter feeders, so reducing feeding is the best way to control them. I have a few of them, but I don't see them. I used to have them all over the place when I was feeding flakes.

For the actual move I'd switch the sequence around to limit the stress on the fish. They'll be ok for a few hours in baggies if there's any possibility to move the tank and stand first, or with a friend's help (another car), bring everything at once. That way you can just put them right back into the display with as much old water as you can.

I used new, live sand when I changed my tank. I skipped that when I moved the tank 2 years ago and regretted it.

Some Dr Tims wouldn't hurt. Get an ammonia badge, or if budget allows, I bought a seneye reef for live monitoring of my ammonia levels. It has the added bonus of being a hobby grade PAR meter so you can dial in your lights, and figure out where you have higher and lower par levels.

I don't have an anemone, but I'd think it would be best to just move the rock with it attached. Sink a small bucket into the tank to prevent or at least limit air exposure to a few seconds.

Stands: build your own. Smack in the middle of moving is probably the worst time to think about this, but I find commercial stands just don't meet the needs of a reef with a sump and gear. I ended up with a steel frame supporting my tank, and just built wood panels with magnetic strips on the back so I can pop them off, and have full access from all sides.

Yea vermetids are really just an annoyance more than anything and yes they come in waves a lot of times. I was thinking that I will most likely use some new rock though to change the scape around as I wasn't overly pleased with it.

In terms of the sequence I suppose I wouldn't need the holding tank if I just put them right back into the display which could save me some money.

So you are suggesting to use new live sand? I planned on new sand just bought dry instead of live

In terms of building my own stand. I just finished that for my 75gallon freshwater tank which ended up taking 2 months to build so unfortunately I don't have that sort of time. I'm really pleased with the result though and almost made me upgrade my reef to the 75 with a bit of drilling that could happen haha

Thanks for the tips!

 

[W1ngz]

Yea vermetids are really just an annoyance more than anything and yes they come in waves a lot of times. I was thinking that I will most likely use some new rock though to change the scape around as I wasn't overly pleased with it.

In terms of the sequence I suppose I wouldn't need the holding tank if I just put them right back into the display which could save me some money.

So you are suggesting to use new live sand? I planned on new sand just bought dry instead of live

In terms of building my own stand. I just finished that for my 75gallon freshwater tank which ended up taking 2 months to build so unfortunately I don't have that sort of time. I'm really pleased with the result though and almost made me upgrade my reef to the 75 with a bit of drilling that could happen haha

Thanks for the tips!

With a tank that's only 1.5ish years old I'm sort of on the fence when it comes to the sand. I'm not sure if there's any advantage to changing it. If you regularly siphon it when you do water changes, then there's probably no big buildup of detritus under there. I think I'd tie the sand into the rock decision. If you decide to change more than 50% of the rock, I'd keep the sand to try and stabilize things as much as possible. If you decide to keep the rock, then change the sand.

As for the possibility of upgrading to a 75, I say do it!! ;Woot The 40 breeder could make a nice sump.

 

[W1ngz]

And just a general warning, since I've seen a few articles recently where people aren't aware, if you have zoas or palys, be aware of the possibility of palytoxin if they get damaged or stressed. There's all kinds of threads on here you can search for about it.

 

[Blutspitze]

I did a similar move to you about a year ago and had a similar plan. Biggest differences were my tank was younger (a bit over 6 months), so I kept the sand, and I didn't put fish in baggies, but kept them in buckets. I didn't use a holding tank, as I had battery-powered aerators for all the buckets with coral, fish, sand, and rock. Most of the water was moved in a can, and I scrubbed the rocks at the new place to remove any nasties. Left an aerator on O/N on the first day, then got the full filtration thing going the next day. It worked well and smoothly, and I didn't need to add anything to help the chemistry along.

As @W1ngz mentioned, dealing with the snails/rock/sand is a tough call and mostly depends on your preference. If you swap out either or both, though, you'd definitely need some Dr Tim's or the like, maybe even some Prime for more immediate effect.

 

[money88]

With a tank that's only 1.5ish years old I'm sort of on the fence when it comes to the sand. I'm not sure if there's any advantage to changing it. If you regularly siphon it when you do water changes, then there's probably no big buildup of detritus under there. I think I'd tie the sand into the rock decision. If you decide to change more than 50% of the rock, I'd keep the sand to try and stabilize things as much as possible. If you decide to keep the rock, then change the sand.

As for the possibility of upgrading to a 75, I say do it!! ;Woot The 40 breeder could make a nice sump.

I'd love to but even that is a bit of an undertaking, I'd need to drill the tank, and most likely re-plumb the tank due to the height difference in the tanks. Plus with the purchase of a new home I'll need to wait till I feel like I have a bit more funds to populate it etc. Definitely plan to though. Want my 75 planted and reef to compliment each other

And just a general warning, since I've seen a few articles recently where people aren't aware, if you have zoas or palys, be aware of the possibility of palytoxin if they get damaged or stressed. There's all kinds of threads on here you can search for about it.

Yep thanks for the friendly reminder I've read my fair share and plan to be careful with those pieces with air exposure and if I don't reuse some rock I plan to let it dry safely

I did a similar move to you about a year ago and had a similar plan. Biggest differences were my tank was younger (a bit over 6 months), so I kept the sand, and I didn't put fish in baggies, but kept them in buckets. I didn't use a holding tank, as I had battery-powered aerators for all the buckets with coral, fish, sand, and rock. Most of the water was moved in a can, and I scrubbed the rocks at the new place to remove any nasties. Left an aerator on O/N on the first day, then got the full filtration thing going the next day. It worked well and smoothly, and I didn't need to add anything to help the chemistry along.

As @W1ngz mentioned, dealing with the snails/rock/sand is a tough call and mostly depends on your preference. If you swap out either or both, though, you'd definitely need some Dr Tim's or the like, maybe even some Prime for more immediate effect.

I was thinking just keeping them in buckets too but my biggest concern was not having enough air pumps or heaters, whereas a single holding tanks would limit the amount of life support equipment needed. Thanks for the tips, I'll be sure to pick up some prime too just in case!

 

[Blutspitze]

Certainly doing the one holding tank reduces the need for support equipment and makes things much easier overall. For myself, I just didn't have the option of a holding tank of any sort so had to make due. Since the move was only ~20 min heaters weren't needed.