moving time!

Hello all, I am happy to say that my current employer is moving me to Northern VA. and of course I woud like to take my little piece o reef with me. Its a 2.5 so fortunately not a whole lot to move. here are my thoughts:

Its a 2.5 to 3 hour drive from norfolk to woodbridge, I was thinking maybe a large Styrofoam cooler to put the whole tank in then surround it with soft packing peanuts to absorb as much vibration and jostling as possible. ill remove about half the water and put it in a separate container to help with any slosh loss. I figure the foam will help keep temp the same till i can get it set back up again and by covering it the dark will help calm the inhabitants. last step is to prey to the aquarium gods.

let me know what ya think.

and if their is any flaws here that are within my control

 

Get a power inverter for your vehicle and use a power head and small heater.

http://www.amazon.com/b?node=583328

 

removing water is going to cause the water to have more space to move and cause more mayhem. I would try to get something with a lid a five gallon bucket cut hole in middle of lid for Heater and powerhead plug

 

Styrofoam coolers will definitely help maintain the temp but I am not sure about moving the whole tank in it...although the tank is small. Water will slosh regardless.

You can buy the battery run air pump which you could use for oxygenating the water and do what others suggested for temp.

 

would it be better to just remove all livestock and water and transport them in a 5 gallon bucket along with heater and power head, I could leave just enough water to cover the sand. I could even put the LR in there with them and set all back up when destination is reached.

 

That is fine. Just be aware that aeration of the water and sand is necessary it stagnates very quickly. The safest way is to toss the sand and replace it with new when you finish moving it.

 

I transported my 55g cichlids tank and I moved them in a bucket of their water and the rest of the water was saved in other buckets. I emptied my tank and used new substrate.
I moved an hr away. Lost nothing. Took about 3hrs total.

For SW, I would aerate the saved water during moving.

I would get bags from the LFS and transport the fish in those, you can put them in a styrofoam cooler to maintain temp. 2.5 hrs isn't that long.

You can transport the LR in a seperate bucket with a bit of water.

I second the use of new sand.

Hopefully someone with moving a sw will chime in wirh more ideas

 

I would go with the bucket all together. Would go with new sand. What livestock will you be moving?

 

1 royal gramma
2 zoa frags
1 mushroom frag
1 feather duster
4 hermits
2 snails

 

ok so update i just purchased a 4 gallon cube to replace the 2.5. gonna put everything in a bucket with heater and powerhead and toss existing sand and replace with new sand. Questions is I want to use live sand to replace some of the beneficial bugs. Good idea or no? should i just use dry sand?