./moving
Contents:
- How I Kept Saltwater Fish Alive for 5 Weeks While Moving
by markh/rocket.ssl.berkeley.edu (17 Feb 92)
- [M] Moving the Reef
by dbs/hprnd.rose.hp.com (Dave Sheehy) (Tue, 2 Feb 1993)
- [M] Moving the Reef
by mlitchfield/pimacc.pima.edu (R. Michael Litchfield) (3 Feb 93)
- [M] Moving the Reef
by AS.CCB/forsythe.stanford.edu (Christopher Bekins) (4 Feb 93)
by markh/rocket.ssl.berkeley.edu
Date: 17 Feb 92
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria
I moved from Palo Alto to San Francisco recently,
during what is a VERY busy time at work. I knew that I was not going to
have enough time during the moving process to tear down and set up my
55 gal reef tank quickly enough to sustain my delicate corals, anemones, etc.
Plus, I was losing interest in the inverts, and decided to set up the
tank in a mostly fish-only configuation in the new place.
I sold off most of the inverts, but could not bring myself to part
with a clown fish and royal gramma which I have had for a very long time.
Also, I had some chunks of live rock (probably 30# total) which for various
reasons I did not sell. So about a week before moving day, I siphoned
about 10 gal of water into a clean trash can, added the live rocks, the
two fish, an airstone, and a heater. I hoped this setup would keep the
critters alive for the 1-2 weeks I thought would pass before I built up
the tank in the new house.
Well, things got really busy at work, and setting up the tank got
postponed and postponed. In the meanwhile I would peer occasionally into
my bubbling trash can, not sure whether anything was still alive. I added
no food, but did top off with fresh H2O as needed. Anyway, when I finally
set up the tank and transferred in the live rocks (now rather bedraggled,
after 5 weeks in relative darkness), I found that both fish were still
quite alive. Neither looked especially skinny. Both seem to be doing well
in their new home.
The morals are: Live rock makes a great biological filter. The hardier
varieties of saltwater fish are not as sensitive as all that. Etc.
-Mark
by dbs/hprnd.rose.hp.com (Dave Sheehy)
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1993
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria
Robert Bennetts. (rbennet1-at-neumann.une.edu.au) wrote:
: Can anyone out there suggest how I should move my reef setup.
As a matter of fact, I just moved my 55 gallon reef just last month.
: I thought I would rap my liverock and corals in newspaper as they do at
: the fish store, and then put them in a large garbage bin and cover them
: with some of the water out of my tank, and then maybe place an airstone in
: the bin (I have a battery powered air pump) to get a little water movement
: and aeration.
I lined a plastic bin with a plastic garbage bag and filled the bin with live
rock. Tie off the plastic bag and it will stay nice and humid in there. You
don't need to have it submerged. I bagged all the inverts individually in bags
saved from the fish store (about 38 bags in all). The fish and echinoderms
(starfish, sea apple, urchins) went into a single 5 gallon bucket.
: I also need to move my trickle filter, Has anyone doen this and
: managed to keep the bacteria alive on the bioballs. I figured I
: could float my balls on the top of the bin, and have the bubbles
: moving them around a bit. Would this keep everything alive and happy
: for 4-5 hours?
I would just put the whole thing into a garbage bag and seal it so it stays
damp. The bag will breathe so conditions will remain aerobic (which is what
you want).
: My setup has about 50 lbs of live rock, some soft corals, a bubble coral,
: ...
: fortesque fish.
My setup is very similar.
: Do any of these inhabitants need special care when moving, ...
Be careful with the anemones attached to the rock. Don't try to forcefully
peel them off. That will injure them and they will most likely not survive.
My long tentacled anenome was attached to a piece of lava rock. There was no
way to get it off safely so that rock went on top of the pile in the plastic
bin (see above). Many anenomes and soft corals are shipped without water so
that's not as bad as it sounds. Their survival rate is higher if they are
shipped "dry". Luckily I was able to peel it off the rock before I put it
back in the tank (it would have been hard to place the rock without injuring
the anenome). The anenome survived the entire process and is just as happy
today as it was before the move. As a general rule, it is better to transport
live rock and inverts (except sponges) damp but not submerged. You want to
avoid stagnant, anaerobic conditions as much as possible.
: Thanks for any help from anyone who has reef moving experience, or just
: any suggestions from anyone...
Everything survived my move except the Tridacna clam. It died the next day.
I got a small ammonia spike about 2-3 weeks later and a gorgonian got infested
with hair algae at that time. I was able to save it by giving it a 2 minute
freshwater dip to kill the algae followed by a week in the sump of the
trickle filter (in the dark). It is already growing back over the tips that
died back (whew, that was a close one!).
Dave Sheehy
by mlitchfield/pimacc.pima.edu (R. Michael Litchfield)
Date: 3 Feb 93
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria
In article <16-at-grivel.une.edu.au>, rbennet1-at-neumann.une.edu.au (Robert Bennetts.) writes:
> Can anyone out there suggest how I should move my reef setup.
> |rbennet1-at-neumann.une.oz.au| __ The Fish|
In answr to your question,I have moved a 240 gallon saltwater reef
approximately 2 1\2 hrs distance,First off iff you wrap your corrals or
liverock in newspaper they will almost surely die.Corral is extremely fragile
and can die if you look at them wrong,anyways you can get a 30 or 40 gallon
plastic garbage can,1 or 2 and fill them with water from your tank that they
have been living in so as not to shock them anymore than you have to,I would
also suggest moving them at night durring thier dark cycle,then put your air
source in the water along with some of the gravel from the tank because you
will need alot of the bacterias on them for your new tank, you will also need
almost 1\2 the water from the old tank,not really 1\2 but a good amount because
fish and corrals are extremely sensitive to PH change in your water and as you
probably already know in a new tank your nitrates will go nuts for awhile so I
would use a good portion of the old water even if it seems a bit murkey it will
settle.try and move your corrals VERY VERY carefully.And put the lid on the
garbage can or you will lose a lot of water,I did.So the important things are
use a plastic garbage can and not a aluminum or rubber they will release toxins
into your water,try to move your corrals at night because they are extremely
sensitive to disruption in thier light cycles the, liverock just needs water
and little else to stay alive unless you have sea fans or fragile things like
that atached to them.And AIR,make sure you keep air going into the water with
your battery powered deal or something filtration is not important that short
of a distance.I would have the new tank set up and operational before you get
there with its new inhabitance but only fill it 1\2 - 2\3 full so you can add
some of your old gravel and water to it as well as your rock and corral.Well I
hope that helps,let me know how it goes.
Troy Allen
by AS.CCB/forsythe.stanford.edu (Christopher Bekins)
Date: 4 Feb 93
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria
Robert Bennetts writes:
> Can anyone out there suggest how I should move my reef setup.
> I thought I would rap my liverock and corals in newspaper as they
> do at the fish store .......
I've wondered about this; have you eve touched your eye after
reading the newspaper? That burning sensation, as I understand it,
is from a chemical in the ink that is used to make it dry more
quickly (so that the presses can run faster). Seem like it would be
harmful to critters. Anybody know? To get around it you can buy
"newspaper" stock for packing at U-Haul - it's the same pourous
paper, but of course without anything printed on it.
The Krib
Marine/Reefs
The Krib