What are your thoughts on moving tanks?

[saltyDADdog]

Should I move my tanks when I move out of state or should I just sell and start over. I have 3 tanks that all have corals and livestock in them. 60 gal up to 110 gallon. I have some nice corals that could be lost in the move. I have moved tanks roughly a few hours away and took loses to a few torches. Any advice? Or should I just sell all corals and keep tanks and just start over when I get settled in?

 

[Hunna]

I’d say it depends on how far you’re moving. If it’s just a few hours, I’d try and keep everything. If it’s a state or so away, maybe sell the more finicky stuff and keep the heartier corals/animals so you aren’t completely starting over from scratch. If you’re going across the country, I’d probably just keep the dry goods and sell everything else and start over.

 

[billyocean]

Should I move my tanks when I move out of state or should I just sell and start over. I have 3 tanks that all have corals and livestock in them. 60 gal up to 110 gallon. I have some nice corals that could be lost in the move. I have moved tanks roughly a few hours away and took loses to a few torches. Any advice? Or should I just sell all corals and keep tanks and just start over when I get settled in?

If you were to sell them locally then you could have the caveat of whoever buys could frag them for you when you're ready. Several different frags from sps to several different people would be my strategy in that situation.

 

[civics14]

I attempted 1 move of my tank and things came up and lost everything. Moving sucks and you never know what's going to happen during a move that could delay setting up the tank. Unless you can be for sure you can prioritize the tank, I wouldn't risk it. I would rather sell it and rebuild. Just my thoughts and my personal experience tho. Plenty of people have moved tanks with no issues.

 

[ActiveAngel]

I moved ~1000 miles from Chicago to Atlanta. It was a lot of work and stress, but i dont regret it. Kept all corals and fish... minimal losses (1-2 rare mushrooms and 1 acro).... out of maybe 30-50 coral varieties.

Made a few frags of ALL coral colonies. Sold all except 1 colony, and kept all frags. Used the money to upgrade equipment.
Pre-cycled lots of live rock for several months; dosed regularly with food to slowly build up the bacteria. Set up the new aquarium for 1 week before transporting any livestock... Leveled the tank, checked for leaks, played with the aquascape, allow bacteria to settle from the rocks onto all the pipes/sand/etc...

Transported Livestock with a bunch of air pumps by car. zoas, softies, and clownfish first...etc... saved acros and sensitive corals for last. Never kept all my eggs in any one basket until the end (hence frag multiples). Very stressful, and everything gets wet.

Coral colonies dont fare well with moves. My 1 colony was so darn stressed... I ended up fragging it after a few months. Half the frags died, but others lived, so it wasn't lost.

EDIT: I've also moved across Atlanta (Dunwoody to Marietta) with minimal losses... same deal.

 

[billyocean]

@chuck

 

[Hardy Reefs]

I would say it depends on how much you like your current tanks and livestock honestly. If you have no desire to upgrade or go to something different you may be happy going through the hassle of moving it all. A few hour trip would be doable. But if it is a long trip it may be more work than you bargained for trying to keep everything alive during transport. Plus even more frustrated that you went to the trouble. Good luck with your decision either way!