| I'm very sorry to hear about your fish losses.
I know it's a bit late for you, but maybe this will help someone else. Personally I would never try to move a SW aquarium all at once.
I feel that this must be done in stages, with a target aquarium set up at the destination. This can also be a reason to get that larger tank you always wanted. (smile)
This is how I did my move.
Obtain a tank and stand the same size or larger than the existing tank. Place this in the new location. If you want a deep sand bed, and not using live sand, wash the sand and put it in the tank. Then fill the tank with RO water, mix the salt into it and add a couple of powerheads to keep things stirred up.
After a few days, Move the lighting, some of the existing sandbed, if any, (just enough to seed the new tank and about half the live rock to the new tank. It may be desirable to put some sort of lighting over the existing tank. It need not be as good as the normal light.
Wait for the new tank to cycle, usually about 10 to 14 days. You may need to do some water changes if nitrate goes way up, but I didn't find this necessary.
Move filtration system, the rest of the liverock, fish, corals and other livestock, and everything else.
Yes, you do have a tank and stand left over from this process. However that's the cheepest part of a reef. You can always use the tank for something else, maybe even a second reef.
This method allows the new system to become established before the fish and delicate inverts are moved. |