Moving advice?

[curiousphil]

Hey everyone, my big moving day is this Saturday and I wanted to see if anyone has any advice to share from their past moves...

Here's my plan:
-Fill the frag tank with water, set up the pumps and light on it.  Will use this as a temp holding tank.
-Move the loose corals and any rocks with corals into the tank.  Put the rest of rocks in rubbermaids with water from DT.
-Capture the fishies and move to frag tank or possibly rubbermaids.  (this part I could use advice on)
-Drain the display, tear down the setup.
-Move the setup to new place.
-Re-assemble the setup.  Fill with water and sand (going to go with a substrate this time - ordered some Florida Crushed Coral.)
-Add in majority of rock, let cycle for a day.  (cycle may not happen or be necessary?)
-Move rest of livestock, drain frag tank and move it to new place.

Am hoping to start the teardown tomorrow and finish the move on Saturday.  Anything I'm not thinking of, or things you would do different?

 

[dale]

i would use as much water and equipment as possible from display to start holding tank.. and when you transport, the corals will be pissed and will sting anything that comes near them inc. each other and fish  ,, i almost lost a scopas tang to coral stings during moving,, and when you get to the new place i suggest everything back into the display rather than back in the holding tank.. less moves..  think about your processes and do they make sense...
fish and corals can go in holding tank as long as its not too too crowded and there is some rocks for the fish so they dont hide amongst the corals
good luck!

 

[Poseidon]

Also every careful when removing rocks and fish, if you remove all the rocks and disturb the sand bed to much while the fish are still in the tank , you might release trapped gasses and it will not end well for the fish or corals for that matter

 

[curiousphil]

Well, the move went moderately well.  Slower than I would have liked, I didn't get the lights mounted again for a couple of days and still haven't got the sump and skimmer back online.  Running the tank around 3/4 full, with the waterline sitting just below my overflow box and return bulkhead - with the pumps, heater and lights going.  Haven't been able to give the tank near as much time as it needed due to all the other moving crap I've got to deal with - the house is chaos right now!  2 dogs trying to get used to 2 new cats, boxes everywhere, an unfinished kitchen, and an exhausted body!  ...  :-\  But things are starting to settle down now and I should be able to finish the tank setup this weekend.  Am planning to add a crushed coral substrate sometime in the next few days and do a bit of aquascaping, right now everything is kind of piled up against the back wall.

Everything that was healthy before the move remains healthy.  All the fish, crustaceans, and soft corals have fully opened up again.  Some of my sick SPS have died completely, however, and some of the healthy ones broke.  My only really healthy and thriving SPS is my setosa.  Oh well, I view this as part of the learning process.  Trial and error.  That heat wave really kicked the crap out of things.  Had a nutrient spike as well last month, with nitrates hitting around 40-80.  Next step is to earnestly stock this sucker and let it mature!  And finish the woodwork for the base and canopy... I suppose... it's been long enough lol.  I'm thinking about adding in supplemental VHO or T5 when I do the canopy - one or two actinic bulbs across the front.

 

[Neopimp]

Moves are always a learning experience.