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I'll be moving in about 50 days.

I have 3 tanks.

If I leave the substrate at the bottom with a bit of the tank water to keep it moist, and keep the filter media moist as well, can I thusly avoid a mini cycle when I set them back up at the new location?

I'm basically planning on moving one tank at a time, empty the tank, bring it to the new place, add water back in, check levels and then add fish. Repeat with next tank.

Will this be ok?

You have to be carefull while moving your tanks with gravel and water still in them. If you do this the stress on the glass could break it or cause a leak in the silicone. The best option is to keep as much of the original water as possible. I usually do this with Rubbermaid tubs. I've moved my tanks with all the gravel and just enough water to keep it wet like you are planning on doing buy I may have just got lucky. If you remove most of the gravel and put it in the rubbermaid tubs with the water and the filter pads you should not have to re-cycle the tank. Or you might have a very small ammonia spike. I haven't had any real problems with moving and I've been doing it for the past three years (college apts.) with no deaths. I'm sure others will be able to give you some more advice.

I wouldn't recommend leaving water or gravel in them during transit. I've heard of a nasty experience with that option before (with a new tank so can't even say it was old glass weakened). As mentioned above, I'd use containers (RO buckets are relatively expensive but you know the plastic wont leach chemicals) and although you will need to 'be careful' about the levels rising a little, it should help a great deal.

how far is your new place?
if it isn't too far away (a couple of hours or so), you shouldn't worry.
i moved my tank a few months ago, and the way i did it was to remove all substrate to another bag to keep the tank intact (i didn't risk lifting it with water in it, so i can't say whether it is possible). the sudden water change is a bitch to the fish (if you're going far, and the water quality changes, of course), so you might want to carry some of the old tank water with you in a bag too.
if your fish need higher-that-surroundings temperature, don't forget to pack them in a heat-preserving case.

Just remove the water & the substrate. Keep them in Rubbermaid tubs & don't leave anything in the tanks.

Iagree with your last suggestion:- I'm basically planning on moving one tank at a time, empty the tank, bring it to the new place, add water back in, check levels and then add fish. Repeat with next tank.


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