Moving to Des Moines in November

Welcome @coreenm! I'm in WDM myself.

Regarding the move, it can be done but it's one of those things where you would probably pack up the tank last, and set it up first. If you are looking at temporary housing, I would seriously consider taking a short break and starting over. It's a lot easier to set up as a new system. Any changes you make like moving rock around, changing flow patterns, etc will throw a mini cycle even in an established tank, so a total move is going to throw a big wrench in things.

If it were me, what I would do is sell off the fish and corals, and maybe keep as much of the rock as possible. You can store the rock in partially filled buckets and keep it submerged, then once you arrive you can put them in Brute cans and get the water circulating and heating. Essentially, you'll "cook" your rocks in the process (which might be a benefit, long term, actually). Very low maintenance. Maybe a few water changes and some filtration like GFO or carbon, a skimmer if you can swing it.

Then once you are in a final place, you have time to get all your plumbing done right, get an RODI system, find the local stores, meet up with some of the club members, and get it back on it's feet the right way rather than rushed.

Maybe if you have some prized corals, you can put those in a separate bucket for the move, with a battery powered air pump and a heater on a power inverter, same with a special fish possibly. Then get a 40 Breeder at Petco and set that up with lighting and filtration. You would have a decent chance of saving it.

As far as tank maintenance services, there are a few and you may get contacted on here, but there's not anyone that is really on here and a sponsor for that purpose, no one speaking up a lot at least. I might be able to point you in the right direction and can definitely point you away from the wrong people.

 

There used to be a couple guys in WDM that were doing maintenance, but I'm not sure they are still doing it. I don't really know why there isn't a company that advertises/sponsors on here, because there has to be at least a couple in town that are worth recommending. I would start by contacting the owners of a restaurant in downtown Des Moines called Splash Seafood Bar & Grill and see who they use. They have about 10 big saltwater tanks and have gone through a couple of different maintenance companies over the last few years.