please post your moving experience
- Thread starter LiquidBlues
- Start date
I invested in two 20 gal rubber maids (your case 2 30 or 2 40) placed as much rock and water as I could in both. I left the sand bed in the tank and moved it to the new apartment. When I was ready, I placed a few large clean garbage bags on top of the sand bed so I wouldnt disturb, and then filled the tank with the original water,I then removed the bags and placed the LR and replaced the water that I lost. I also had the live stock in seperate containers. The live stock went in last. I didnt sweat the small stuff and my live stock lost was minimal. I should also say that my tank move was just a few blocks and maybe 4 hrs to complete, so I couldnt offer any suggestions for what problems may come up in a long move.
[ November 22, 2004, 07:37 PM: Message edited by: 4angel ]
[ November 22, 2004, 07:37 PM: Message edited by: 4angel ]
The bottom of the tank is holding now, I have a 40brd that had about 80 lbs of LS. I moved it with a few friends sand bed inside. Get help from some friends(save the beer till the tanks on the stand in the new place) put it on a couple of dollys and roll. Hope you have an elevater. I mean The worst case senario is you have to remove the sand bed. repalce it when you set up the tank. I think whats key here is that most of your original H2O as well as the LR is saved. Time is important once the H2O is in the new place plug in a PH and the heater in the tubs. same with the LR.
- Location
- Ossining, NY
best case scenario is to upgrade to a larger tank and only use 1/2 what you currently have in sand and use all your rock - it'll live.
Livestock you should pay attention to and make sure it has circulation and heating all the time (except for the transition time).
I recently moved a friends tank about 10 blocks, and like Angel, was only about 6 hours total time.
Compartmentalize your work, smaller bins , but allot more of them.
House
Livestock you should pay attention to and make sure it has circulation and heating all the time (except for the transition time).
I recently moved a friends tank about 10 blocks, and like Angel, was only about 6 hours total time.
Compartmentalize your work, smaller bins , but allot more of them.
House
- Location
- Mount Vernon, NY
LiquidBlues,
I moved my 55 about 4 months ago from Hoboken to Westchester NY by myself, here's what I did.
I bought about 6-7 rubber tubs (pretty cheap at Target) and put my fish/livestock in a couple, corals and some rock in 2 of them with some water, and 3 others with sand and water. I also filled as many water jugs with the tank water as possible. (Got about 10-15 gallons of it in addition to what was in the bins). I then moved all this to my new place in 2 trips (I have a small car). (You can probably get away with less bins if you have help, I didn't so I tried to keep things reasonable in weight.)
Once I got to my new place, I condensed some of the bins, and added the tank water I took with me into the bins, put in my heaters and powerheads, and left my stuff like this for about a week. (You don't have to wait, but I had too.)
During this time I was able to get my tank moved, install a new GFI outlet, and make about 25 gallons of new water. I then added the sandbed back into my tank and let it settle for a day with about a half the tank filled with water (some new water, some of the used water) and a powerhead. Then next day I added the rest of my rock and livestock and topped off the tank with more used/new water combo. It was murky for about a day. But cleared pretty quickly overall.
I only lost 2 things, one cleaner shrimp who got too close to a powerhead, and 1 monti digita I broke when I put a rock on top of it by accident. Otherwise everything livestock wwise ell did just fine, I think the move and resulting large water change actaully helped, things looked real nice and bright within 2-3 days.
Well that's what I did... everyone will have a different way of moving, by my biggest suggestion is not to skimp on bins to carry stuff in. Carrying 150 (or more) lbs of wet sand in a tank is asking for trouble for the tank and your back.... for 20 bucks you can make it (4) 35-40 lbs loads, which in the end will be well worth the money, plus they work nice for storing extra fish stuff/suppies afterward.
J.
I moved my 55 about 4 months ago from Hoboken to Westchester NY by myself, here's what I did.
I bought about 6-7 rubber tubs (pretty cheap at Target) and put my fish/livestock in a couple, corals and some rock in 2 of them with some water, and 3 others with sand and water. I also filled as many water jugs with the tank water as possible. (Got about 10-15 gallons of it in addition to what was in the bins). I then moved all this to my new place in 2 trips (I have a small car). (You can probably get away with less bins if you have help, I didn't so I tried to keep things reasonable in weight.)
Once I got to my new place, I condensed some of the bins, and added the tank water I took with me into the bins, put in my heaters and powerheads, and left my stuff like this for about a week. (You don't have to wait, but I had too.)
During this time I was able to get my tank moved, install a new GFI outlet, and make about 25 gallons of new water. I then added the sandbed back into my tank and let it settle for a day with about a half the tank filled with water (some new water, some of the used water) and a powerhead. Then next day I added the rest of my rock and livestock and topped off the tank with more used/new water combo. It was murky for about a day. But cleared pretty quickly overall.
I only lost 2 things, one cleaner shrimp who got too close to a powerhead, and 1 monti digita I broke when I put a rock on top of it by accident. Otherwise everything livestock wwise ell did just fine, I think the move and resulting large water change actaully helped, things looked real nice and bright within 2-3 days.
Well that's what I did... everyone will have a different way of moving, by my biggest suggestion is not to skimp on bins to carry stuff in. Carrying 150 (or more) lbs of wet sand in a tank is asking for trouble for the tank and your back.... for 20 bucks you can make it (4) 35-40 lbs loads, which in the end will be well worth the money, plus they work nice for storing extra fish stuff/suppies afterward.
J.
the one thing i'm most concern is the sand...
i mean the other stuff i can easily put in bins and containers..
what should i do w/ the sand ?
i have a 75G w/ like 150lbs
should i put them in a container also...
should i put half of them in the container
or should i leave it in like angel said...
i definately don't want a broken bottom
i mean the other stuff i can easily put in bins and containers..
what should i do w/ the sand ?
i have a 75G w/ like 150lbs
should i put them in a container also...
should i put half of them in the container
or should i leave it in like angel said...
i definately don't want a broken bottom
Missy Johnson
Masta of Disasta
- Location
- Upper East Side
Hits and I moved a complete 110 reef setup from Brooklyn to Murray Hill about a year ago. It had a thick sand bottom - about 2-3 inches.....we moved ALL the water and all the sand....here's my advice on sand.....
After we had all the fish in 1-2 buckets with lids, and the liverock/corals in other buckets with lids, we drained as much of the water as we could into 5 gallon jugs. When we got down to the sandbed we used a tupperware container, scooped it out (get ready, it smells worse than anything you've ever imagined) into another 5 gallon salt bucket with lid. After we moved the tank and all the buckets/jugs to the new location, we set up sump and the equipment below, put tank on stand, and CAREFULLY poured the sand into the tank (careful not to break bottom). We then added the water and let the filtration work for an hour or so. The water was still somewhat cloudy when we put the fish/rocks in. However, everything survived with no evidence of stress. We've moved tanks several times this way....
IMHO - DO NOT leave the sandbed in the tank when you move it. The sand/water is heavier than you think and it is hard to carry it in a way that puts equal weight on all sides that are meant to support the weight when stationary. Your snails/gobies etc will have a field day when the sediment settles from your move. A day after everything is set back up I would change out some water and pull what you can off the top of the sand with your siphon.....do this for the next few days....
After we had all the fish in 1-2 buckets with lids, and the liverock/corals in other buckets with lids, we drained as much of the water as we could into 5 gallon jugs. When we got down to the sandbed we used a tupperware container, scooped it out (get ready, it smells worse than anything you've ever imagined) into another 5 gallon salt bucket with lid. After we moved the tank and all the buckets/jugs to the new location, we set up sump and the equipment below, put tank on stand, and CAREFULLY poured the sand into the tank (careful not to break bottom). We then added the water and let the filtration work for an hour or so. The water was still somewhat cloudy when we put the fish/rocks in. However, everything survived with no evidence of stress. We've moved tanks several times this way....
IMHO - DO NOT leave the sandbed in the tank when you move it. The sand/water is heavier than you think and it is hard to carry it in a way that puts equal weight on all sides that are meant to support the weight when stationary. Your snails/gobies etc will have a field day when the sediment settles from your move. A day after everything is set back up I would change out some water and pull what you can off the top of the sand with your siphon.....do this for the next few days....
- Location
- The Big City
Something very important if your going to place fish or corals in buckets, and are not going to put them back in the tank right away, you should either place an air stone, power head or filter in the bucket or otherwise you could lose your fish form lack of oxygen. This can happen very fast also so you need to make sure your fish aren't breathing heavy.
What I would do first is to place the fish or corals in the bucket and take it right over to your new place and place the air stone, power head or filter in the bucket then bring over the tank. Or you can place the fish in a bucket, at your old place, place the air stone, power head or filter in the bucket leave them there and then move the tank. Setup the tank and then get the fish and place them in the tank.
You can also buy the garbage containers that have wheels. You can fill them up with water and roll them to the new place very easy.
What I would do first is to place the fish or corals in the bucket and take it right over to your new place and place the air stone, power head or filter in the bucket then bring over the tank. Or you can place the fish in a bucket, at your old place, place the air stone, power head or filter in the bucket leave them there and then move the tank. Setup the tank and then get the fish and place them in the tank.
You can also buy the garbage containers that have wheels. You can fill them up with water and roll them to the new place very easy.
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