So we may be moving. Need some advice and folks to calm the reef tank moving nerves

Rjukan

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Main move is complete. 2 deaths during the "actual" move. 1 death this morning in holding tank as a heater failed sometime in the last 2 days and the basement is 66 degrees :(

Aquarium in place. New plumbing is finished. Base rock is in palce and about to move new sand then the transfer of rock and livestock starts.

I'll provide a detailed update later how everything went down as well as a proper homage to the 3 fallen

RIP
Lyretail Anthia (Old ruler of the tank)
Blue sided fairy wrasse (my favorite from the tank)
Tomini Tang

Hey! I'm really sorry to hear about your losses, and it's never easy to lose fish... but, only 3 isn't too bad for what you had to go through.

Glad to hear you're almost back up and running, sounds like you're really close to having everything finished! Can wait for some pictures when it's all up and running.
 
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TehBrainz

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Since I'm waiting on water production...I'll give a few pics and then follow-up with a more detailed review of the adventure

Being in the basement has it's advantages...also that outlet behind the stand has been disconnected and will be converted to GFCI once I get everything moved over.
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My lines were parallel until I measured the bottom overflow and had to elevate just slightly. Still well below the tank so not an issue at this time.
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Now the wait for water to pump in...
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TehBrainz

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Everybody is in the tank and seemingly happy about it. I can only imagine theyve been needing to "stretch" their fins the last week since theyve been in cinfined spaces and holding tanks.

I only have my gyre hooked up and running as my other powerheads are so caked with coralline Ill be cleaning them befire going into the tank. I figure this will allow for some flow acclimation as well.

20240609_202308.jpg

 
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TehBrainz

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Ok so this will be the long update of the events of the move for those curious (and more importantly for my recollection in the future whenever we decide another move). Apologies in advance for the length.

Pre-Move Events:
  • Wife received acknowledgement that she was chosen as the candidate of choice for a position that would require us to move 550 miles away.
  • First things first. I made this thread.
  • Fast forward ~3 weeks and our house was on the market on a Thursday.
  • 2 days on the market and we were under contract on Saturday.
  • Queue "oh #$%$ this is happening fast" realization
  • Drove to new area and left the wife, kid, and MIL to start packing the house while I looked for a new home.
  • Put offer on new house on Thursday, accepted on Saturday 1 week after our house was under contract.
  • Closing dates were 1 day apart and at the end of May (30 day close for BOTH houses)
  • Decided tank was going with us on the journey (not liquidating and buying new)
  • Called my local maintenance team in Charleston, SC for breakdown. They came out on LABOR DAY and took 3 guys 4 hours to drain, breakdown, store livestock, and put the 210 tank/stand/rock/fish in the back of a Penske truck.
  • Sand was thrown out.
  • Started calling around MD area once we were under contract to find help on receiving end for tank. Found FantaSea Aquariums after calling a few local LFS that recommended them. I worked directly with the owner, Dalton, for the entire project on receiving end. A+++ from this company.
Actual Moving Events:
  • DAY 1
    • Most of the house was packed in Pods and already picked up.
    • We picked up the 22ft Penske on Sunday and spent the entire day packing it until we got to the designated 8ft by 8ft at the door for the tank and reservoirs
  • Day 2
    • Monday (Labor Day) the tank crew (Aquatic Creations in West Ashley) arrived by 9AM and began the arduous process of breaking down my system and saving as much water as we could as I would not have access to fresh SW at receiving end and I needed as much as I could for the trip to mitigate nasties.
    • Two 45g Brute trash cans had some base rock put in and stacked carefully so that some bacteria was stored with the fish. Air stones were fed through the lid on battery pumps
    • 1PM the tank was cleaned out and loaded in the truck and put in its assembled state for sake of space (Tank on stand, canopy on tank). The canopy and tank were strapped to the side of the truck. AC went on their way to enjoy their holiday.
    • Rock was put into two 57g Hefty Totes with enough water to keep them mostly submerged. On transport to the truck one tote cracked and we had to act quick. I ran to Tractor Supply and bought a 100g Rubbermaid pond. We then transitioned both 57g totes into the pond within the truck. This took AGES with the pumps on hand. 100g pond had a tarp thrown over top and tied down to mitigate spillage during transit.
    • Final packing of the truck/cars, loading my car on the trailer behind the truck, and cleaning the house took until 8PM!
    • Oh and I had 2 cats in the cabin of the truck with me while my wife had our 3 y/o and the dog in her car.
    • We rolled out and the truck only going 55-60mph I arrived at the first AirBnB around 3AM. I was greeted at the door by my 3y/o who wanted to stay up until I got in. They got in around 1:30AM. No extension cord access for bubblers/heaters, but the weather was in our favor.
    • Time to Crash 3:45AM
  • Day 3
    • Wake up at 6:30AM (Toddler life rules)
    • We hit the road by 9AM
    • All going smoothly until we hit DC.
    • No issue until some jackhole cut off a 22ft moving truck towing a car...Auto braking kicked in and slammmed on the brakes. I learned we had 6inches that everything could move in the back of the truck (we thought our tvs were crushed, spoiler, they werent!)
    • Rolled into 2nd AirBnB (20 mins from our new home) around 3PM.
    • Ran extension cords to the brute trash cans for heaters and air stones as it would get down to 50F that night.
    • Time to Crash 9PM
  • Day 4 (Move-in Day!)
    • Wake up at 7AM (This toddler life is for the birds, but we slept in a little!)
    • Get to the new house by 10:30AM
    • Sign papers and house is officially ours by 11:30AM
    • Dalton (FantaSea Aquariums) gets to the house around 12:30PM
    • We start prepping and waiting on moving crew to arrive (around 2PM arrival-late from previous job)
    • We find the first 2 casualties of the move (Lyretail Anthia and blue sided fairy wrasse). They were crushed by a rock shift during the DC incident (my guess)
    • Fish and tank are in position and on "better" life support by 4:30 or 5PM. Cya Dalton!
    • Rest of the truck is dumped in rooms/garage.
  • Day 6 (Friday)
    • Realized my bulkheads were not going to work with new plumbing plans. I'm a doofus
    • Ordered new bulkheads. Arrival expected Wednesday of following week
  • Day 12 (8 days in temporary holding)
    • Plumbing of new tank is finished. Bulkheads installed.
  • Day 13
    • Start transfer of sand, rock, and livestock @ 5:30PM (Ya know, work and stuff getting in the way)
    • Honestly not sure when I finished, but at 10PM I have a picture of the pond with all the water still in it so maybe by midnight or 1AM?

Pictures from today. The 2 leathers are starting to look happy again. Not much PE from the big toadstool, but its getting there.

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