Moving a saltwater aquarium out of state.

[sgtmyers88]

Okay life has thrown a few curveballs and I have been doing my best to either hit or dodge them accordingly. Anyways I am moving from Tulsa Oklahoma to the outskirts of Fort Worth Texas. I have regretfully decided due to a lack of funds and space that I am selling all of my aquariums except for my 55G GSP tank and maybe my 10G DP tank.

Question: What is the best way to go about transporting and temporarily housing my GSP's in a cycled SW environment while I move and reset the aquarium to the place I am moving to? I know the SW cycling process is much more complicated and it takes a while to properly recycle a tank. Plus I have been reading about how the GSP's HATE being moved around and having their home tampered with. Please don't tell me I need to rehome them. I am terrified of getting rid of my puffers to the LFS or risk giving them to a negligent owner because I have not been able to find any GSP's that look anywhere near as healthy and beautiful as mine are.

[sgtmyers88]

Thoughts?

[Terrance]

What kind of stuff did you have in your 55g system? Luckily its almost summer for an easier move, but its probably started heating up in the south.

Keep your live rocks submerged in a container with tank water. The environment will keep it warm. Also keep any other filter pads submerged as well.

The drive would be around 8 hours? Its do-able.

[sgtmyers88]

Yeah its been a daunting predicament for me. And fortunately the drive is only 5-6 hours depending on traffic according to googlemaps. I can fit my 55G setup in my little car and it is capable of towing a 4x8 uHaul trailer too. I do have a little green 20 gallon storage tub that I am thinking to use to house my puffers and live rock in. I also modified my marineland biowheel filters and removed the old media and replaced it with pillow fluff material as per PP's suggestion that I had read somewhere.

[sgtmyers88]

Current setup includes the following:

1x Emperor 400 Bio Wheel Filter (Modified for Saltwater to meet PP's Specs)
2x Penguin 550 Powerheads operating a RFUGF
Undergravel Filter Plates (yes I am planning to ditch the system when I switch to a sand substrate after I move)
20lbs Live Rock (rough estimate)
20lbs Dead Rock (rough estimate)
1x Top Fin Dual Flow Air Pump
2x Air Stones
1x Fluval 300W Heater
2x 18" Florescent Lights with colormax bulbs.

[bertie 83]

When I move I am going to replace my largest tank and have spare smaller tanks, I am gonna set up the new/ spare tanks at my new address and collect the fish and filters and then go back and empty the old tanks.

[sgtmyers88]

Yeah sounds like a good plan and I totally wished I had that luxury but I cannot take all my tanks and all of my fish. I still hope to get that 120G for my GSP's in the future with a proper SW setup in place. I have worked out a deal and will be giving my two favorite goldfish to my parents. I just cannot get past the thought of letting my big Oranda or my GSP's go to some random stranger!

[J-P]

don't sweat it. get the live rock in a bucket, cover it enough with water just to keep it wet or use soaking wet news paper.

The fish should only be in about 4 ~ 6" of water and in a deep bucket. I use a cooler to transport mine. You can bag yours in a few inches of water. Keep the water level low. That will provide the aeration. A full bag of water will deplete the O2. Or if you're really worried, you can sedate the fish.

Upon arrival, rebuild the tank first. It should all be good.

[GSPicthus]

I had the same exact scenario as you and it wasn't as bad as it seems. 5 gallon buckets from Home depote will be your best friend.

1. wrap live rock in wet newspaper and put in plastic bags.
2. put all filter media in bucket and fill with tank water put lid on.
3. fill another bucket with tank water halfway put fish in.
4. drain tank leave about .5" inch of water above substrate and move tank

After move set up tank.

1. fill tank with dechlorinated salt mixed water to the same salinity as you had it before.
2. Set up filter media.
3. few hours later ad live rock and drip acclimate fish.

I am sure people have other suggestions that's just what worked for me. My puffer survived 2 moves that way.