I'm moving. Need advice on how to move the tank without killing anything.

Richieboy · 09/05/2008, 02:16 AM

hi, I have a 75g sps dominated tank with a lot of lps and a few clams. My tank has been up for a little more than 2 years. It has a 3inch dsb. The new place I'm moving to is about 30minutes drive away. Can anyone give me advice on how to safely make this move without killing my Sps colonies. I guess what concerns me is the sand. Do I reuse the sand I already have or do I use new sand? If I am to. Reuse the old sand, I know it will get stirred up during the move(causing a cycle?).

basssnake · 09/05/2008, 03:25 AM

If the sand isn't horribly dirty, i would reuse it. Yes it will get stirred some, but at the same time if you use a filter(with maybe a polishing cartridge like on a magnum) you can clean some crap out of the sandbed. You are going to have a cycle on the tank no matter what. Probably a worse cycle if you use new sand. The key is to get it set back up as soon as you can after tearing it down. As far as the sps colonies, i am of no help. I know very little about sps corals. I have bought several systems already setup and moved them way further than 1/2 hour. I have moved them from about 4 hours away and brought in and setup and had little problems. Good luck!!!!

NewNanoDude · 09/05/2008, 03:54 AM

Ok I moved my tank 3 times. Never had a cycle because I moved the tank.

The last time the tank was down for 5 hours before I got everything to my new house. No ill side effects.

Had a bunch of new water at the new house. Salt and fresh. Made this the day before.

I started with a bunch of 5 gallon buckets. (thats what fit in my car). Placed all corals in bags, put them in a styro cooler.

As I pulled water out. I would pull a little rock and place in the same bucket. The key is to keep everything submerged, and work quickly.

Once I got everything into buckets. I made 3 trips from my old place, to the new. Once everything was at the new place. I took an old 40 gallon tank, placed all corals and fish in this tank.

Slowly added rock and water back to the main display, once filled I started power heads. Also a heater.

The next morning I hooked up all my filtration, skimmer, sump, reactors, etc. Monitored all params for a day. Once I seen that nothing was out of place for a day. I then added the fish and corals.

Also, it is a good time to rinse all the nasties off the rock before placing back into the display.

Tips, have lots of new water at the new place.

Move as fast as possible.

Have a couple of people to help you. I did mine with one person.

Oh one more thing. I did not disturb the sand bed. I left all sand in the tank while moving it. This is a 75 gallon tank. Was heavy but worked. If I had a bigger tank I would not attempt this. I would just simply tank some new salt water and sift through the sand before placing back into the tank to make sure to get most of the nasties out but not kill the whole bed.

Hope this info helps.

Quote:

Originally posted by basssnake
If the sand isn't horribly dirty, i would reuse it. Yes it will get stirred some, but at the same time if you use a filter(with maybe a polishing cartridge like on a magnum) you can clean some crap out of the sandbed. You are going to have a cycle on the tank no matter what. Probably a worse cycle if you use new sand. The key is to get it set back up as soon as you can after tearing it down. As far as the sps colonies, i am of no help. I know very little about sps corals. I have bought several systems already setup and moved them way further than 1/2 hour. I have moved them from about 4 hours away and brought in and setup and had little problems. Good luck!!!!

Richieboy · 09/05/2008, 05:56 AM

NewNanoDude, how much of the original water from the tank went back into the tank after it was re-setup?

manofcoral · 09/05/2008, 07:07 AM

I move from a 180 to a 260 and I used about half the old water from the 180. My advices is plan it out very well and stay relaxed. Doing it right can take a long time, but you will be a lot happier with the results. Keep he lights off for a few days to help the sps to recharge and recover. Good Luck. Oh, also DO NOT DRINK ANY BEERS UNTIL YOU ARE FINISHED.

nattarbox · 09/05/2008, 07:55 AM

Good advice on Melev's site:
http://www.melevsreef.com/moving_a_tank.html

eshook · 09/05/2008, 09:19 AM

I just moved my nano a few miles, because we bought a new house. I re-used the sand. In fact I put everything back in the tank the same day. I did have a small backup tank in case my tank params started going south.

I had a plan listed out ahead of time, because I knew I would feel rushed. So I typed out the order in which I would pull items out

1. loose corals
2. crabs/snails
3. rocks (with corals first, base second)
4. fish / shrimp
5. water
6. sand

Then I decided the best order to put them back in. I also set a timer when I started pulling livestock out. It was useful to know the time the livestock had been in the bags and reduced my stress level.

As it has been said: take your time and do it right. I would have tanks ready to go at the new destination to put livestock in. Setup the new tank and put the old sand back in and let it recycle.

Good luck! And post the results!

09/05/2008, 02:16 AM	#1
Richieboy Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: CALI-4-NIA Posts: 156	I'm moving. Need advice on how to move the tank without killing anything. hi, I have a 75g sps dominated tank with a lot of lps and a few clams. My tank has been up for a little more than 2 years. It has a 3inch dsb. The new place I'm moving to is about 30minutes drive away. Can anyone give me advice on how to safely make this move without killing my Sps colonies. I guess what concerns me is the sand. Do I reuse the sand I already have or do I use new sand? If I am to. Reuse the old sand, I know it will get stirred up during the move(causing a cycle?).

09/05/2008, 05:56 AM	#4
Richieboy Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: CALI-4-NIA Posts: 156	NewNanoDude, how much of the original water from the tank went back into the tank after it was re-setup? __________________ 180g Mixed Reef D.G. is the MAN!

09/05/2008, 07:07 AM	#5
manofcoral Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: socal Posts: 355	I move from a 180 to a 260 and I used about half the old water from the 180. My advices is plan it out very well and stay relaxed. Doing it right can take a long time, but you will be a lot happier with the results. Keep he lights off for a few days to help the sps to recharge and recover. Good Luck. Oh, also DO NOT DRINK ANY BEERS UNTIL YOU ARE FINISHED. __________________ It is never to late to do God's good work. Paul<>< Current Tank Info: 260gal Starphire Reef

09/05/2008, 03:25 AM	#2
basssnake Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Kansas Posts: 838	If the sand isn't horribly dirty, i would reuse it. Yes it will get stirred some, but at the same time if you use a filter(with maybe a polishing cartridge like on a magnum) you can clean some crap out of the sandbed. You are going to have a cycle on the tank no matter what. Probably a worse cycle if you use new sand. The key is to get it set back up as soon as you can after tearing it down. As far as the sps colonies, i am of no help. I know very little about sps corals. I have bought several systems already setup and moved them way further than 1/2 hour. I have moved them from about 4 hours away and brought in and setup and had little problems. Good luck!!!!

09/05/2008, 07:55 AM	#6
nattarbox Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Cambridge, MA Posts: 431	Good advice on Melev's site: http://www.melevsreef.com/moving_a_tank.html

09/05/2008, 09:19 AM	#7
eshook Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Kent OH Posts: 823	I just moved my nano a few miles, because we bought a new house. I re-used the sand. In fact I put everything back in the tank the same day. I did have a small backup tank in case my tank params started going south. I had a plan listed out ahead of time, because I knew I would feel rushed. So I typed out the order in which I would pull items out 1. loose corals 2. crabs/snails 3. rocks (with corals first, base second) 4. fish / shrimp 5. water 6. sand Then I decided the best order to put them back in. I also set a timer when I started pulling livestock out. It was useful to know the time the livestock had been in the bags and reduced my stress level. As it has been said: take your time and do it right. I would have tanks ready to go at the new destination to put livestock in. Setup the new tank and put the old sand back in and let it recycle. Good luck! And post the results!