MOVING----Need advice from tank moving veterans please***

[DanRhomberg]

so I will be moving at the end of the month.(will upgrade after established)

for now.... I have a 28g cube. 21lbs lr w/ lots of different corals. 4" sand bed.

lawnmower blenny, firefish, McKoskers flasher Wrasse, Neon Goby, Watchman Goby, Pistol shrimp, many different snails & hermits, ect......

I have never moved a tank before.

My biggest concern will be the GSP backwall I have created. 3 small frags I secured with gel have now grown togeather to form an entire living back wall of the tank.

The second concern is getting the pistol and watchman out. last time I re-arranged the LR they completely disapeared into the sandbed and for the life of me, could find them nowhere. I thought they had died.

What will I need to facilitate a move like this??? (time?/equipment?)

and lastly, how to actually go about it???

advice from the Vets here with many tank moves under their belts would be greatly appriciated!

This is me now.....

I dont want to end up like this.......

[vdubfiend]

Kiddie pool
Make up extra water. Move everything to kiddie pool... Disassemble and move tank..
Transfer livestock to bags/5g buckets/etc
Move kiddie pool to new location add water and livestock...
Setup tank and transfer over when u can

I moved 45 miles (went from a 180 to a 120)
I transported everything in large Tupperware bins and then into kiddie pool-
Worked out pretty good. No losses other than a few snails

[reefworldly]

i will be moving in approx a year so i will need to know this info too,
kiddie pool sounds like a great idea!

i guess you can also use the 50gal containers they have at home depot as well
since you have a 28g cube it shouldnt be toooooo much work

[DanRhomberg]

Originally Posted by vdubfiend

Kiddie pool.....

lol...... When I first read this I thought you ment it like"Childs Play".....

sounds like a good idea.

29G though..... wouldnt Kiddie pool be too big? I can picture it though...

that would be really cheap to move it that way. I already have 4, five gal buckets.... I'd just need a blow-up pool and 3-4 friends to lift it...lol

What about the GSP back wall. Have to scrape it , or what??? That would suck.

[BeanMachine]

How far?

Empty the water into jugs. Put the rock and coral in buckets and styrofoam cups. Drain the tank maybe an inch above the sandbed.

Move the tank and fill it back up. Done.

The gsp should be fine if not left to completely dry. An hour I think would be ok.

[firereef]

It's actually quite easy.

1. Figure out where the tank is going to be placed.

2. All livestock(corals, fish, etc) place in container or 5g buckets with powerhead(no heater needed depending on pump size or new home temp.

3. Leave sand in tank since it's only a 29g.

4. Have extra salt water ready and save as much tank water as possible.

5. Leave the gsp wall alone and transfer dry if not going to far.

6. When at destination, fill up tank with water and rock and let settle for about an hour then add livestock.

The frags that have grown together can stay as is and put in a container as well.


I moved 4 tanks and all of them turned out great. Goodluck!

[vdubfiend]

i used a kiddie pool to hold items at old house while i finished up install of tank at new house...

The kiddie pools was just a holding bin...

id do what others have said and you should be fine!

[laverda]

Get some extra water. Put your rock in one bucket, Corals in another in separate zip-lock bag if any are real aggressive, and then the fish in to a third bucket. Clear plastic containers are much lees stressful for catching fish then nets.
Drain the tank leaving just a little water in the tank to cover the sand bed.
Move the tank and refill. Your GSP should be fine out of the water for a little while. If your really worried and it it hot out poor a little water over them on occasion. You should be able to move it pretty fast. 3-4 hours max.

[DanRhomberg]

Sweet!

Thanks guys! I was hopen' you'd chime in.....

not going too far. Upgrading from a 1 bedroom in Fountain Valley to a home for rent somewhere here or into Huntington Beach. (insert jeffersons theme here....Movin on up!)


I'm thinking to get the livestock out I'll need to remove the rockwork first. last time I did that the pistol shrimp and watchman Goby completely disapeared into the sand bed.(insert NEWBE panic here...lol)

I was actually sifting the sand with my bare hands trying to bring them up to the top thinking they were suffocating or something for like 5 min....lol

I never did find them. after putting back the rock, 2 days passed, there they were like nothing happened.

If this happens again....any advice to prevent it??? or will they be OK for the move in the sandbed with just a little water?

Thanks again guys...

[davidngy01]

good luck with move Dan. Oh the bubble coral is doing great !!! thanks again

[aleonn]

Good luck with the move! 28 gallons is not too bad at all, but it just takes a little preparation. Home Depot 5 gallon buckets work great (especially for livestock), but 32 gallon Brute containers work even better for rocks. That way you can get all your rocks in one stroke. Just try to minimize disturbing the sand bed too much, as toxic stuff from the sand may affect your inhabitants.

[reefworldly]

what would you do with the sandbed if it was a bigger tank?
plus, transfer all the tank water with it, if its like 100g, then thats a lot of jugs...?

[BeanMachine]

Dan you'll be ok. The goby and pistol should be fine. Just leave and inch of water of the sand. You'll have everything back into that tank in less than 2 hours considering you are moving like 5 minutes away. Just make sure you have someone on hand to help you out.

Originally Posted by reefworldly

what would you do with the sandbed if it was a bigger tank?
plus, transfer all the tank water with it, if its like 100g, then thats a lot of jugs...?

You would need to take the sand out of the tank, especially if a glass tank. I wouldn't risk moving that sized tank with sand and a bit of water.

You would need to take the sound out and into another bucket... I've completely started with new sand in the past or reused old but you may or may not have a small cycle. The more live rock you have the better in that situation as it would allow the bacteria to catch back up and process everything. I would take the sand out in as big of cups full as possible and try not to mix it around too terribly much.

[Nathan.Titulaer]

When I moved my 30 and 60 acrylic I had GSP that I laid a damp towel over to keep it wet. I left the sand in with a bit of water and found it made the water very cloudy and it took awhile to clear before I added my live stock back in.

For my 240 Acrylic I had to completely remove everything. Even the sand just being wet made the tank way to heavy for two people to manage.

For glass tanks I would fully disassemble them as well I moved my brand new 220 glass and was on pins and needles the whole way hoping it would not break the first time. The second time I hired insured movers and actually hoped it would break so I could upgrade.

I have moved 3 times over the last few years with fresh and salt tanks from 5 to 240 gallons and the advise above is spot on, just take your time and plan it right. You should also be prepared to do a couple small water changes each day if need be.

[solitude127]

Make sure you have more than enough SW ready at the new place. When I moved my 90, I tried to capture as much of the tank water in jugs and buckets but was still about 15g short when transferring everything back in. Thankfully I had access to SW when this occurred.

[DanRhomberg]

Originally Posted by davidngy01

good luck with move Dan. Oh the bubble coral is doing great !!! thanks again

Great to hear David. Glad its working out. That was a pretty big piece.

Good to hear from you David.

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Thanks for all the advice everyone. I'm not nearly as worried any more.


Now on to the current emergency....... a ulcer the size of a golfball on the side of my 1' Oscar in the 55gal fresh tank.......

Thanks again Guys...

[davidngy01]

hope to see you soon .might be going to tongs ill see you if you still work by there.