Moving adive and tips.

[seahorsedreams]

Well, I just moved into a house.... with my 12 tanks in tow. It was one of the worse experiences of my life. Not only did we do very little in the way of sleeping and eating for 4 days but the move was very stressful on the fishy friends. Looks like I could loose my awesome bubble and my big ole clam. One of the frogspawns isn't doing to well. My fav euphyllia frag is also looking pained. The foxface looks like he is pacing at the moment... I better test the water again.

Oh ya, I tore the main claw off of my CBS! I transferred him by hand so he wouldn't get tangled in the net and the little barbs stuck in me and he ripped his claw away.... so sad. The Mantis then had a snack......

Anyone want to add pointers to this thread about moving tanks... multiple tanks.... in one day. Like the timeline of prep beforehand and then tips for the day of and maybe the next day?

[Whoyah]

Sorry to hear of your problems. I moved a 75 recently and you are right what a pain. I can't imagine 12 tanks.

[lReef lKeeper]

the only 2 tips i can give are these ...

1. move tanks AND WATER. when i moved last Feb. i moved over 100 gallons of water with me !! most LFS will be glad to give you the styrofoam boxes that thier shipments come in. we used about 20 of them !! they are good for moving water AND corals at the same time. when you get to the new place, you can just add the heater and a PH and they are good until you get the tank redesigned. just remember to keep enough water in the tank to keep the sand bed barely submersed, so it survives the trip.

2. plan out your move of the tanks in detail !! we put our tanks in the moving truck last ... and moved them in first. this way, you can fill it right back up with the same exact water that was in it before, thus =ing less stress on everyone and everything. it always takes longer to get the tank back to your liking so plan for this !!

[seahorsedreams]

I could look at my tank and cry. Everything looks so unhappy. The foxface's pacing in literally driving me nuts. None of the other fish looked stressed, just him.

[lReef lKeeper]

hmmm, so he has the brown spots all over him ?? give him a couple of days with no stress. did you try to feed the tank ?? if so, is he eating ?? if he doesn't come around in a couple days, we COULD have a problem, but they are a pretty hardy species.

you would be amazed at the hardiness of this fish, one of my books says that they can fair well even in newly established tanks, and they have even been known to survive total tank wipeouts that kill everything else in the tank.

hope that makes you feel a little better !!

[seahorsedreams]

Any fish that will eat newspaper and their own poop with such excitement wins the hardy award in my book. He has stopped the pacing. He has eaten a cube of mysis and is now grooming the rock like a cow out in the pasture. Whew.

[graphixx]

that is good to hear, I know when I moved my 92 gallon the fisher were not at all happy. It took a couple of days for them to settle down. you might want to leave the lights off too. that sure reduces the level of stress on them. But on the bright side I bet you sure are glad the move is over!!!! :D

[lReef lKeeper]

glad to hear it worked out for you both !! congrats !!

[Sweetpea]

I'm glad to hear the foxface is perking up... moving is stressful enough without worrying about your babies! :)

[PurpleAardvark]

just anthor thought, have a company move your tanks that offers ins. You break the tank your up the creak with out a paddle, they break the tank well they will be kissing your dairyair to make things right. On a big tank or multipul tanks I think it is worth while IMO.

[seahorsedreams]

Put my tanks in the hands of a non-tank person!! *faints* Sometimes I wonder if non-tank people are even worth talking to, let alone touch my tanks (he he).

[PurpleAardvark]

Huh, you must be an AQUATIC SNOB!!!! just kidding. hey if they break it and I get a new one or if it makes there in same condition than it is a win, win situation. No one is to good to touch my tank if they are willing to pay for it.

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

When I moved my 125G I saved all of the water. I used brute cans with clear 50G bags in them. I filled them within 3 inches of the top and then rubberbanded the bags closed to stop the water from splashing out. I put all of my live rock in there too. All of the corals were bagged in fish bags and packed in styro boxes with bubble wrap. My fish were all transported in salt buckets with holes drilled in the tops just big enough for airline to fit in and I used the battery operated airpumps. The sandbed was left in the tank with plastic sheeting over it and wrapped bricks holding it down.

I moved the tank this way for a 6 hr trip. I didn't loose a single thing and everything was back in the tank and reset up in 10 hrs. I was tired and cranky and sore all over, but it was worth all of the work. The fish got a comfy home right away, we all slept on the floor because we were too tired to unload the beds. ;) The only bad thing about the trip was the fact that I could never get the rockwork to look the way it did before the move. I even took "before" pics, but it didn't help.

Angie

[lReef lKeeper]

that is a problem i have too, Angie !! they NEVER look the same as before the move. but to look at that on a positive note ... you can take time to make it look BETTER than it did before.

[seahorsedreams]

The clam is a goner. One of my tubastrea is toast (I have no idea how that happened).

[Sweetpea]

Aww, I am so sorry to hear that!

[seahorsedreams]

Thanks. I'm sad about the clam... he's been around for years.

[PurpleAardvark]

When you move a big clam take water from the top of the tank and poor a little Dts in the container give it a little snack for the long ride so to speak. You can almost always reuse that water too because it is cleaner than when it was put in unless it doesnt make. Lossing big clams sucks when I lost my 10" teardrop maxima from a move I almost cryied. I had grown it from 4".

[seahorsedreams]

The clam is officially dead.

This was him a couple of years ago.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y248/seahorsedreams/clam.jpg

[mutts]

i'm sorry renee, he sure was a nice looking clam

[jojo22]

I'm so very sorry for your loss.

[Sweetpea]

That's too bad, Renee... such a shame.