moving a complete 120g - looking for advice - Vancouver

[fishyfolks]

Hi guys,

I have decided to upgrade from my 90 to a 125 (again) lol. Anyways, I am going to be moving an entirely set-up 120 tank and 55 gallon sump (incl livestock, LR, LS....ect ect)

Basically, since I have done 2 moves before like this I am fairly confident in what my plans are, but I'm ALL for any advice that anyone else has :) I know a lot of other ppl have taken on this job, so I'd love to hear other ppls experiences or things that really worked for them as well as things you'd maybe do differently.

All fish (1o) and corals (approx 20) will have their own bucket in the heated cab of a mini van, I will run an inverter as well for heaters and pumps since the LR (approx 150lbs) will be transported in tank water in garbage cans in the back of a uhual that I'll be renting. The drive should only take about an hour.

I have a cycled 90 gallon tank that is set up with only about 40 lbs of LR (to hopefiully help them feel comfy with places to hide) I will be putting all the fish into the 90 with some of the water from the original tank (im thinking 1/2 and 1/2). i was thinking I'd just 'dump' them in since I cant really acclimate with them in a bucket and even if I did try acclimaiting them first, dont you think that the extra time spent in the buckets while acclimating may be more stressful than just putting them in the tank? Any advice would be awesome! The corals are all attached to rock so the same 'problem' applies.

My main goal from this thread is to obtain any advice that you guys might have that could make all my little passengers as happy as possible and to minimize their stress as much as I can (any tips you have that may help lessen my backache at the end of the day are more than welcome too) lol

Also, I would really love to know if anyone has a truck rental place they recommend other than uhual. The truck is going to run me $200 when its all said and done. So, if anyone knows of a cheaper route that'd be sweet as well.

I really appreciate any input :)

[FitoPharmer]

My first big transfer was a 120G. I used new rubbermaid garbage cans to help transfer all the rock and some of the water. Half filled with rock and water they are very manageable with two people. Everything delicate fish/coral/invert wise was bagged up and put in coolers. Any extra water was put in 5G water jugs. Everything was taken out of the tank super fast inside the warm house, I needed help from about 3 people. As the tank drained I passed out live rock and bagged coral and caught easy slow inverts like snails and crabs. Once the tank was nearly drained I caught the fish and shrimp. Then it was a quick transfer of the tank, equipment and livestock into a van, a 30 min drive, and another quick transfer to my warm house. I quickly drilled the tank so the livestock sat around for almost 2 additional hours. I put everything in the tank afterwards and the livestock was all fine. A quick scrape of the tank and a 40% water change I had waiting at home made the tank look several times better then it did originally only a few hours after being setup. In hind sight, warming packs for the coolers and maybe some small heaters and pumps for the LR would have been ideal.

HTH

[fishyfolks]

Seeeee????? THIS is why I posted this thread. I love the idea of coolers and bags instead of buckets.....that will definitely help keep them warmer!! I'll look into heated packs too. Great advice. Thanks :)

[FitoPharmer]

I get my heat packs from J&L, they do not have them on the site. But if you ask in store they should have em in stock.

[fishyfolks]

i will. thank you!!