Best way to move a tank with livestock (Not yet, but in the future)

I dont have to move my tank right now, but around september my lease is up and will be moving into a new place. What is the best way to do this? I was thinking to siphon most all the water into a large rubbermaid (besides a few inches of it to cover sand), put Live rock in rubbermaid with tank water, put livestock in containers, move, then slowly fill tank back up with LR and water from the rubbermaid and slowly acclimate the fish again?

 

I'm interested as well, as I will be moving to a new state (Nevada to Colorado) when school is over.

 

I don't know the size tank your dealing with, of course the smaller the tank the easier. If you have a local guy that delivers salt water that would save you a whole lot of extra work.
Get about 8 - 5 gal pails from home depot again depending on how big your tank is. I'm figuring a 55 gal tank. Use Glad kitchen garbage bags with pull strings so you can tie them secure for driving without spillage. I would figure in my head a make believe large water change say 40% or 50%.
Toss all the old sand except for a cup or two for seeding and buy new live sand. Use a bucket half full with salt water to dip eack rock into. This takes the waste off it, this water will naturally be tossed afterward. Wrap each rock in a salt water wet newspaper (they can sit fine for a day in the newspaper). Rocks are heavy enough to carry without having water to add weight.
Sift off the top of the water down about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way. This will seed the new setup. Do not stir up the water prior to this step. The idea is to use clean water and sand with the transfer. Get a few 15 gal or so rubbermaid tubs. These are for your fish and corals. Again I don't know how big your tank is and how much coral and fish you have. Save your reciepts on tubs and pails so you can bring them back when your done if they haven't been used or scratched up.
If you have a refugium with a deep sand bed I might suggest you figure on new sand for it as the move will probably disturb the nitrate pockets in the sand.
Have about 25 gal of new salt water ready to add in (figuring a 55 gal tank). Add the rocks to the tank with some water and add water as you go up the rockscape.
Here comes the hard part put the sand in slowly in the front of the tank using a coffee cup holding it upright until you reach the bottom and then turn it over. When you are done you can slowly push the sand into the open areas within the rockscape. Remember that sand adds volume to the tank just like rocks do. You want to be able to start up the filtration ASAP after this step. Within hours your tank will look better than ever. Oh as far as tossing the sand goes think of it like if it was kitty litter. Catch my drift.. If you have any questions let me know. I moved a 65 gal tank from one city to another then I moved up to a 120 gal and then I moved up to a 210 gal tank. All within the past year and a half. You may want to consider laying eggcrate on the bottom of the tank to protect against an avalanche. Good luck!

 

If you are doing this in one day or are able to keep the sand wet there is no reason why you can't keep your substrate. I have move three tanks now and have reused the sand or CC without a problem ir cycle.

 

Sounds like u got some good info here. I am moving a 125g tank this weekend. So glad I saw this post, some good info I can use. I will post after it is done and let u know if I hit any other issues along the way u should be aware of. Slow and steady!!

 

How big is your tank? Your options vary according to tank size.

If you do a search on here you'll find some awesome threads. Do a general google search, and you'll find even more help. There are even youtube videos of people moving tanks.

 

I was going to say the same thing... how big is your tank?

When I last moved, I bought the house I'm living in now... I had a 55 Gal with no overflow or sump... I decided that it was time to upgrade the tank. What I did was set the new 120Gal drilled tank up with new substrate and cycle it with some water and rock from the 55 gal. Then, I transferred the fish and rock to the new tank, and threw out the old substrate.

This is the BEST way to do it, if you are considering an upgrade to your tank at all.

 

Exactly! Case closed!

 

Its a 20 gallon high tank.

 

You won't be needing 8 buckets. Maybe three buckets and 1 or 2 tubs will do. Much simpler than I previously described. I would get either 5 or 10 gallons of salt water ready. How deep is your sandbed? If it's an inch high it may be salvageable if you insist on being thrifty but if it's higher than that I'd dump it and keep a cup for seeding. Good luck!