Question about transferring a tank

[vetschroger]

I am picking up a tank tomorrow that has been established for quite a while. The current owner says that he does not feed the tank at all. It has a large amount of pods. My question is that with moving it and all I will be taking most of the water in the tank but it will be in buckets for at least a few hours. Will this impact the pods and should I start feeding after I get the tank set back up? The current tank has only 1 damsel and some hermits and snails along with 2 corals. I will be adding my current livestock of 2 false perc's, a yellow tail damsel, orchid dottyback, a royal gramma, 1 cleaner shrimp, and a large bristle star. The tank I am getting is a 54 gallon with a 30 gallon sump/refugium. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mcoomer]

The key to maintaining that pod population while you're in bucket mode will be to provide some circulation and maintain a safe temp. If you can do that I think you'll find that a lot of those pods make the move with little difficulty. Once you get setup and ensure everything is working, feed your animals as you normally would and your pods will find food as they always have.

Good luck with the new tank.

Mike

 

[vetschroger]

I wont be able to supply flow during the drive which is a couple of hours! This is where my problem is I will be at least 2-3 hours with no flow or heat. The buckets will be in the back of a cube van for this time. Will this kill off the pods?

 

[Skimmy]

you can easily provide flow and heat...
either by buying a $30 ac/dc converter,
or just by running a battery powered airstones in buckets and then cranking up the heat in the car...
have a thermometer to regulate..

 

[scytale]

I've moved my tank across town twice--pods are actually pretty sturdy, I've found them swimming around in the bottom of the buckets the day AFTER the move (w/o any circulation or heat overnight).

Coolers work better than buckets at keeping things warm though (and large trash bags are an easy way to line the cooler w/o having to disinfect it first ;-)

Make sure you have plenty of extra pre-mixed salt water ready too though--you'd be amazed how much water get lost during the move--or how dirty some of the water gets (especially if the tank has a sand-bed.) You'll probably want to have an extra 20 gallons, or more, of saltwater ready.

 

[vetschroger]

Thank you guys for the advice. I already have my saltwater made up and ready to go. As for the cooler that is a great idea I never thought of using that for transferring. I have a few larger ones that will work great for this job. The converter will not work because the water will be in the back of a box van with no access to the cab.

 

[mcoomer]

I like that cooler idea a lot. You can move a larger volume, it's insulated, and if it has a good lid you're less like to slosh water out of it. I think I'll steal that idea and call it my own.

Mike

 

[scytale]

yeah I've used coolers a couple times with good results.

(first out of necessity, it was October and everything was moved in an open pickup bed) then for convenience during the second move (larger coolers, less carrying of buckets)--and those the rolling coolers w/ wheels are really NICE during a move!

Note: if you can find white or clear trash bags they actually work a lot better--I used black bags the second time and it was kind of a pain--the cooler turns into black-hole with black bags, so it's hard to see where things are.
I was afraid that I was leaving livestock in the trash bag!

 

[DTECH07]

You can also purchase HAND WARMERS and tape 2 to each bucked and put each bucket tight together, then cover them ALL with a moving blanket, the wrap the bottom with moving tape (it's worth your live stock). I helped a friend move this winter and it kept the buckets at 78 for 4 hours even had some sweat on the buckets and we lost nothing. This is if you have the room and money. Just a way

Dtech07

 

[vetschroger]

DTECH07

That sounds like a plan to maintain the heat. I hope that the bumpy roads will provide enough circulation to get me home! LOL

 

[DTECH07]

Take surran wrap and cover the top of the bucket before you put the lid on and you'll be "good to the last drop". Let me know how it works out:bathbaby:.

Dtech07

 

[vetschroger]

Will do. I am going to get it tomorrow afternoon and then spend the rest of the night setting it up probably. I will get some pics up after it is all settled in.

 

[DTECH07]

I'll be looking for them

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

Either way, you will want to feed your tank...it will provide more nutrients for the fish and will be needed once you add you planned livestock.

 

[DTECH07]

So did it work out for you??? Let us know.