Moving Advice - Help!!

[sroot17]

Hi everyone.

I wanted to see if anyone has any advice or tips and tricks to the best way to relocate a tank. I'll be moving apartments (fortunatly within the same building) next week and am stumped as to how I'm going to move this thing.

All of my corals are encrusted on the live rock in the tank, if I take it apart there is a good chance I'll lose a lot of coral and never be able to put it back together this way again. Anyone have any thoughts?

Heres an old FTS, everything is much bigger now.

 

[Astrick117]

First off, that is a gorgeous tank!

Now down to the nitty-gritty:

Whenever you move a tank you will need to break down everything, as you can't move a tank that has weight in it. That means all rock, water and inhabitants need to come out.

I personally would keep the sand undisturbed on the bottom of the tank, as you don't want to release anything that has been trapped in the sandbed. If you pull the sand out too, you will want to just completely replace it, to prevent a mini cycle.

As for moving rock and inhabitants, I would recommend getting large Rubbermaid storage totes and filling them part way with water. This way you won't have to stack them, like you would if you used buckets.

Unfortunately, you will most likely need to separate them in some fashion to move them. You may be able to keep 2 rocks together and move them carefully, but if all of your rocks are encrusted together, i think it would be very difficult to move as one piece due to the weight.

As for moving:

1. Disconnect all equipment and move it out of the way
2. Empty some tank water into the bins for transporting inhabitants
3. Place rocks/coral in a separate container from any fish or inverts to prevent them from potentially being crushed from shifting rocks
4. Empty the remaining water (and sand if you so choose)
5. Move the tank/ stand to the new apartment and place it where you want it to go
6. Add sand (if removed), half of water, and equipment
7. Add rock/ corals
8. Fill remainder with water (I recommend using new water, as a water change)
9. Add fish and turn on equipment

You will want to have a game plan before starting the process, as once you begin you will want to move as quickly as possible (without breaking anything, of course).

I've moved a ton of tanks and the one thing that you have going for you is that you aren't moving far. This will limit the chance of problems and you shouldn't have to worry about oxygen levels/ water temperature.

 

[reef lover7]

Very well said astrick...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Reefs

 

[sroot17]

Thanks for the compliment and really appreciate the advise! Will post one last final pre-move FTS tonight and keep everyone posted.

 

[Dre]

Setup another tank at the new ap if you can afford it...

 

[Elflaco112]

First off, that is a gorgeous tank!

Now down to the nitty-gritty:

Whenever you move a tank you will need to break down everything, as you can't move a tank that has weight in it. That means all rock, water and inhabitants need to come out.

I personally would keep the sand undisturbed on the bottom of the tank, as you don't want to release anything that has been trapped in the sandbed. If you pull the sand out too, you will want to just completely replace it, to prevent a mini cycle.

As for moving rock and inhabitants, I would recommend getting large Rubbermaid storage totes and filling them part way with water. This way you won't have to stack them, like you would if you used buckets.

Unfortunately, you will most likely need to separate them in some fashion to move them. You may be able to keep 2 rocks together and move them carefully, but if all of your rocks are encrusted together, i think it would be very difficult to move as one piece due to the weight.

As for moving:

1. Disconnect all equipment and move it out of the way
2. Empty some tank water into the bins for transporting inhabitants
3. Place rocks/coral in a separate container from any fish or inverts to prevent them from potentially being crushed from shifting rocks
4. Empty the remaining water (and sand if you so choose)
5. Move the tank/ stand to the new apartment and place it where you want it to go
6. Add sand (if removed), half of water, and equipment
7. Add rock/ corals
8. Fill remainder with water (I recommend using new water, as a water change)
9. Add fish and turn on equipment

You will want to have a game plan before starting the process, as once you begin you will want to move as quickly as possible (without breaking anything, of course).

I've moved a ton of tanks and the one thing that you have going for you is that you aren't moving far. This will limit the chance of problems and you shouldn't have to worry about oxygen levels/ water temperature.

Im planning on moving also in a week or 2 and im getting a new bigger tank, my question is in regards to the sandbed. I can see underneith and see different colors. Does all that color mean its alot of toxins being held under the sandbed? Will it be best to buy new sand? I know I'll have a mini cycle but is it necessary to get new sand or is it ok to keep this sand im upgrading from a 150 to a 180. Not a big change about 180 lbs of sand.