Personally, having moved several times and helped others move, planning is essential. I'm an advocate of having LR buckets as well as fish coolers heated and aerated for the entire time except while driving. (Unless it's a really long distance.)
To try to vaguely answer your questions:
1. Minimal. It's not so much the water, as keeping the rock alive. Keeping water mostly just gets you out of remixing new water. (Which does make things easier!) Transport the extra water separately from rock, as the water in rock buckets tends to foul pretty quickly, IME.
2. As long as they are aerated, and kept at a constant temp, a pretty long time. Overnight isn't out of the question at all. (We've done that, mostly because sugar-sized aragonite settles slowly and it's very hard to see in the tank) And I would plan on it taking a lot longer than you think it will. It always does. We managed a 200 mile move (just the 90g reef - we'd already moved everything else) in approximately 22 hours including 6 hours of driving time back and forth. A 40 won't take as long, but I'd plan for 6 hours to be safe. Having help will cut that down somewhat.
3. Honestly, it might be better to try to do that beforehand. Same for cleaning pumps, skimmers, etc. If you do have time, the toothbrush-in-a-bucket-of-saltwater seems to work.
As hot as it sounds like it will be, I'd invest in a dedicated fish cooler if you don't have one. A cheap Rubbermaid will work - put the fish in, your inverts (we have a seperate one for corals, but that's your call - just so they don't sting each other. Or you could bag them...) and a rock for them to hide under. That way, you get some temperature insulation, can run an airline in (cheap battery-powered bubblers can be a lifesaver in an emergency, and helpful in moving), and can close the lid to keep the fish in the dark.
Sorry to ramble on - if you have any specific questions, let me know. Good luck!
Danielle
To try to vaguely answer your questions:
1. Minimal. It's not so much the water, as keeping the rock alive. Keeping water mostly just gets you out of remixing new water. (Which does make things easier!) Transport the extra water separately from rock, as the water in rock buckets tends to foul pretty quickly, IME.
2. As long as they are aerated, and kept at a constant temp, a pretty long time. Overnight isn't out of the question at all. (We've done that, mostly because sugar-sized aragonite settles slowly and it's very hard to see in the tank) And I would plan on it taking a lot longer than you think it will. It always does. We managed a 200 mile move (just the 90g reef - we'd already moved everything else) in approximately 22 hours including 6 hours of driving time back and forth. A 40 won't take as long, but I'd plan for 6 hours to be safe. Having help will cut that down somewhat.
3. Honestly, it might be better to try to do that beforehand. Same for cleaning pumps, skimmers, etc. If you do have time, the toothbrush-in-a-bucket-of-saltwater seems to work.
As hot as it sounds like it will be, I'd invest in a dedicated fish cooler if you don't have one. A cheap Rubbermaid will work - put the fish in, your inverts (we have a seperate one for corals, but that's your call - just so they don't sting each other. Or you could bag them...) and a rock for them to hide under. That way, you get some temperature insulation, can run an airline in (cheap battery-powered bubblers can be a lifesaver in an emergency, and helpful in moving), and can close the lid to keep the fish in the dark.
Sorry to ramble on - if you have any specific questions, let me know. Good luck!
Danielle
