Moving Tank 2,000 miles in 3 days- Any Suggestions?

[JandJ]

Hi Reef Tank,
I will be attempting to move my 27 gallon reef tank from Eugene, Oregon to Houston, Texas. The drive will take 3 days. I plan to pack everything as if for trans-shipping and set the tank back up exactly as it stands now in Eugene. I will not be restricted by weight and will pack the coral with a fair amount of water. I will also have digi thermometers coming out of the styrofoam boxes to monitor temperature. The live rock will go in salt buckets that seal shut and heat packs will be placed underneath the buckets to keep them somewhat heated. I will also be bringing about 20 gallons of the tank water in car-boys, I will not be able to keep those heated though.

I am looking for any ideas, help, suggestions, tips to make this go as smoothly as possible. (NOT MOVING THE TANK IS NOT AN OPTION)
Also if anyone can direct me to a site or faq that will give me ideas of how exactly to pack all the various different types of coral it would help immensely. I have worked in retail for a couple of years and have some ideas of how to do the packing but would really prefer to know more. what goes on once they are in the bag and how the packing conditions affect their health. eg. Oxygen with SPS or no? Floating them upside down on styrofoam, good or bad? Is there a better method?

Here is the info on my tank.

Tank and Equipment

27 Gallon Acrylic Tank (30"L x 12"W x 17"H)
4 Lamp Tek Light T5 HO Lighting Fixture Tunze Turbelle Nanostream 6056

1. PowerChrome Actinic+ 39watt 36in.
2. PowerChrome Pure Actinic 39watt 36in.
3. PowerChrome Aqua Blue+ 39watt 36in. (11,000 K)
4. PowerChrome Actinic+ 39watt 36in.

CPR CS202 Overflow. Flow rate 1500 gph. (2 x 1" bulkhead fitting)

20 Gallon High (24" x 12" x 16") AGA tank as Sump
18 Watt Coralife Power Compact Light (2 x 6500 K)
Red Sea 80 gph Powerhead
Coralife Protein Skimmer Needle Wheel 65 Gallon

Quiet One 6000 Pump (1506gph) (5800 lph)
SCWD

Ebo Jaeger Heater TS-75 watts
Marineland Stealth Heater 75 watts
30lbs Aragamax select sand

Inhabitants

1 x Sailfin Tang
1 x Yellow Tail Damsel
1 x Red Banded Prawn Goby
1 x Six Line Wrasse
1 x Bi-Color Blenny
2 x Cleaner Shrimp
1 x Porcelain Crab
Various Hermits and Snails

19 x SPS
(10 x Acropora, 4 x Montipora, 1 x Pocillopora, 3 x Seriatopora, 1 x Hydnophora)
26 x Zooanthid Morphs
4 x Ricordea (Florida & Yuma)
4 x Green Star Polyps
1 x Blasstomussa Wellsi
1 x Blue Crocea Clam
Capnella Soft Coral
Cream/Green Pacific Palythoa Colony
Pink Vein Clove Polyps

60-80 lbs Live Rock
(Aquacultured, Hawaiian Islands, Fiji Islands, Solomon Islands)

Tank runs at about 78-80 degrees Fahrenheit, with a salinity of 1.024
A 10 gallon water change is done once a week. Bi-weekly the tank is inundated with cyclop-eeze, frozen mysis and a mix of live adult and baby brine shrimp.

Some Inhabitants have been removed and new ones added since this picture-Yellow Leather, one Birdsnest and Green Favia have been replaced by various SPS. I will add updated pictures as soon as possible.

[JandJ]

Here is the link to the Specs with pictures. Thanks for looking.

http://thereeftank.com/forums/http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f7/27-gallon-mixed-reef-by-jandj-108747.html

Ps- How do I post multiple pictures? I mean, I have seen others that post in build threads with quite a few pictures, but I seem to have reached a limit with my allowable file space. Are they all links to other host sites?

John

[Fly Guy]

dont move the corals and fish that far. You are asking for it. Go talk to Joel or whatever LFS you are most familiar with, or better yet, a friend with a big enough system or spare tank running, and have them hold your livestock for you for a week or two.

Your sps and fish simply cant handle 3 days in a bag no matter how you pack it, and everything else is pushing it. I wont even ship zoanthids any other way but overnight as 100% shipping success is important to me.

Then get down there, set the tank up right, no rush and deal with/wait for any cycle you caused by moving the rock.

If you keep sand dump it all and start with new dry sand so there will be no cycling as a result of this, also to just take the opportunity to start with a fresh new sandbed.

Then when eerything is A-ok, have your livestock shipped down and all will be well, no risks, much less stress

jmo


Id do it for you and have the room at the moment. Im getting ready to break my 90 down temporarily anyway, as well am a pretty experienced shipper. I ship at least a couple of boxes a week. You would have to drive the stuff to me though, Im sure you can find someone closer

[JandJ]

I appreciate the concern Fly Guy, as I said though, moving the tank is the only option.
If I could go to a LFS or friend with space I would.

I know it is a risk but that is not what I am asking, I am asking for help in this endeavor that I plan to undetake.


I have seen many a coral shipped via cargo that have sat on the tarmac for a day or two after failing to make the flight and there was not that bad of a reaction by the coral. I must also point out that the coral goes through far worse in the collection and trans-shipping process, how do they do well in that case but not here? I understand that I will have a struggle, but I am asking what I can do to ensure the process I am going to undertake will go more smoothly. I know the local fish stores around here and no offense to any of them whatsoever but I just don't trust human nature. I have moved a few tanks around the country and always lose fish in the process, "they die or jump out or disappear"...can't imagine the horrors that could "happen" to coral in the care of others.
I have seen star polyps shipped in wet newspaper wrapping, and live in my tank after nursing them back to health. Much of the live rock I got wrapped in newspaper had surviving organisms, that are doing well in my tank now.



How should I bag the coral? Oxygen or none? I know to use heat packs in winter taped to the tops of the styrofoam. Should I go bare bottom when I re set the tank up to keep a minimum of decaying matter in there? Should I include the live rock in the re-setup or should I go with egg crate shelving and cycle the rock in a tub in the garage? I am going to seal the rock divided up between two salt buckets with heat packs underneath them. The rock will be fully submerged in the buckets. They can have lots of water or just enough to cover them, anyone have ideas what is best? Should I be bothering to take 50% of the old water with me in car-boys? Would it be better to bring mixed salt so I can set the tank back up faster upon arrival? Is my plan to bring 50% and mix it with some water I purchase there, or make some water there a good idea? Is it going to be a good thing?
I am looking for a healthy discussion on the topic, any ideas or veins of thought are welcomed!

Thanks

[Fly Guy]

im tellin ya. coming from someone who ships lots and has impeccable feedback on countless shipments.............. if you try to bag the stuff up for 3 days your mortality rate will be absurd

if you want to accept the mortality rates that those corals and fish go through on the tarmac as you put it, then that is one thing....but most hobbiests cant afford to lose a signifigant portion of their livestock and be ok with it

Now, that being said.....you COULD rig up a mobile tank with flow and aeration, and heat if needed and make this happen. All it would take is a inverter plugged into a cigarette lighter and a powerhead full time, and a airstone to turn on every now and then anyway

I would do the same thing with the rock so the cycle would be tiny.

Maybe even set up 4 different little buckets/containers each with their own flow and bubbler. softies, fish, sps and rock each in their own. thinking about it a little more now that is prbably what I would do if I couldnt just move the rock and have the rest of the livestock shipped

[JandJ]

Don't get me wrong Fly Guy, I truly appreciate the offer to help me.

[JandJ]

Okay I can set up something with inverters and air stones etc. How am I to keep the corals separated in the bucket? Egg crate cut and molded to fit into the buckets and have multiple layers with sections where the corals fit in?
What about SPS? If that hydnophora looks at its neighbor it starts digesting everything in a 6 inch radius!
Could the corals all the floating with bags that are full of holes to keep them from touching?
I could run air in buckets, can get lots of seachem sealed buckets, and run one big air pump split btwn a max of like 4 buckets. The air could run the 12 hours we are driving, go off at night and come back on 8 hours later upon driving. Unfortunately the buckets are not well insulated and temperature is going to be a problem. How would I go about keeping all the coral at an even temperature?

[Fly Guy]

first...hydnophora isnt a sps and he isnt allowed in with the rest of your stonies

honestly.......I just might get rid of that one before the journey as he needs his own bucket

no air/flow for 8 hours every night isnt ok. Yes its ok for frags that get shipped to you, its not ok for your entire sps, coral and fish collection for more than one reason, but mainly becasue those corals that get shipped have the fortune of being taken OUT of the water with ammonia and low ph among other things. These corals not only arent going to have that luxury, they arent going to be in a system with any kind of filtrations ystem to deal with it, so the water needs aerated and circulated 24/7. It doesnt need a full blown airstomne per bucket. I think your idea of one pump split to everything sounds perfect.

I would have several other buckets ready of your tankwater circulated and aerated as well, change the fishes water 100% once a day

Assuming you accomplish the above, temp is surely the next hurdle, more so important if you are one of those people who keep your tank at exactly the same temp all the time. Swinging your tank temp is good and corals will be more resilient in situations like this if they are used to a 3 or 4 degree daily swing....anyway.......you ahve just got to get some heaters you trust and keep them running.

i also think your frag rack idea with sections is a good idea. I would take all of your smaller frags and glue them to those little plastic things that fit tightly into the eggcrate...and just secure everything else the best you can.

[jennmac415]

Sorry, but I am with Fly... I know that you say you can't have anyone hold your livestock for you, but I think this sounds like an impossible task and I am afraid you will have many suffering fish and corals and many deaths as a result. Especially with the time of year it is...at night your vehicle's temp will drop drastically...the stress alone from this constant air on air off and temp going all over the place is enough to do most corals and fish in. Please reconsider and try and come up with another option. I lived in the Portland area for 8 years and I know there are many reefers that would be happy to help you out. Please call Joel at WAVES or Travis at Upscales Fish and Reptiles... they can help you.

[JandJ]

You know what, I hadn't even thought of WAVES or Upscales in Portland! I was thinking locally, and they just never crossed my mind. That is a fantastic idea! I'm starting to feel a little less panic now

[Fly Guy]

I said Joels...I should have called him Waves I suppose........

good luck with everything. I think you will be much happier in the long run if you do ship it.

It surely could be done, but it would be one heck of a PITA of a set up to move your family AND a bunch of livestock successfully down and across the country

[JandJ]

Sorry Fly Guy, I wasn't thinking WAVES when I read Joel. Its a good idea.

[Fly Guy]

its all good.

it makes for an interesting conversation, thinking about just how exactly it could be done successfully if having someone hold and shipping your corals to you truly wasnt an option.

Like i said, it COULD be done, but would take a little thought as 3 days in a moving vehicle creates all kinds of things that would need accounted for to ensure success, much more than one may think at first glance

1 day....even a day and a half...no problem...bag em up. its that next day and a half + the tank set up time thats the doozy



I just thought of this though...and may be much easier than what i first thought of....

Get a large container of tankwater and keep it aerated and circulated. then you could bag everything up in bags of water way bigger than you would use normally.........keep everything to temp, and change the water in each bag out 100% every day for the sps and fish, and you could get away with probably every 36 hours for the rest. I still wouldnt be comfortable shipping MY sps collection like that....but if someone wants to try it I would love to hear the results

[jennmac415]

ok...you owe me... LOL... by the way, tell Joel Hi from Jenni!

[JandJ]

One day this industry will be big enough that there will actually be a reason for us to think of the logistics in setting up a mobile unit to move coral and livestock! Just imagine how crazy it could get if people put enough interest into the world of Aquariums that true Design could be brought into the equation. To not worry about sustainability and think outside of the "box," so to speak, is an awesome thought to hope for.