It's moving time!!!!

[crossxfire2]

I am moving, and I am obviously taking my tank with me..
It is a 55 gallon with lots of live rock, regular sand, a rabbitfish, 2 damselfish, 1 blackspine urchin, and 1 banded coral shrimp, AND 7 hermits. Here's the plan:

Get lots of buckets from home depot
Put the live rock in some
Put ALL of the sand in another
Put the fish in large bowls with lids, or put all the livestock in a 1 or 2 buckets
Take at least 1/4 of the water in there already.

Once at the new house:
Dump the sand in aquarium
Put live rock in, and arrange them
Fill with water, and salt
Adjust salinity, throw a heater in there to help stabilize temperature
Put livestock in.


Questions:
How do yall that have moved transported the water too? My dad's office uses those 5 gallon ozarka containers, and there are a bunch sitting by the dumpster which I will grab.... but there are no caps.

Does anybody know where I can obtain cheap distilled water? Did somebody say there was a place in front of HEB to get it? I also have a costco membership. Maybe costco would be a good choice to get about 20-30 gallons?

Oh, does anybody want some free hermits? They are reef safe, and they come from Port A. I will give away 3 or 4.

[Submariner]

You might be better off using a 35 gal trash can with the kinda wheels you that come with its own base. The trash can comes with a lid. You can get these at Lowes or HD. We move tanks all the time and these make it waaaay easier. Just make sure the wheels are locked on. Message me if you have any questions.

[LoneStar]

If you do buy a trash can to haul the water in, I HIGHLY recommend getting a Brute trashcan. They are built tough and will not collapse once filled with water (even while rolling it around or throwing it into a truck filled with water). I have seen cheaper ones buckle once filled with water. If you got the extra money, get the caster set too for it. Its a life saver. Plus after the move, it works great for storing RO water or using it for water changes.

As for the water, you could probably find a distilled water dispenser at a HEB OR just hit up a LFS. Most LFS sell RO/DI water. Some even have it premixed with salt.

[erikharrison]

Put your live rock in first then sand. That way if you have any burrowers the rock will already be at the bottom.