All Those Who Have Had to Move a Reef Tank

[justinx]

I unfortunately have to move at the end of August into another apartment. Long story short, my landlord and I dont see eye to eye on rent increases. Anyway, so I have to move my tank . . . I REALLY dont want to do it, but am going to have to. No choice here. So let me list what I have, what I want to do, and then gather some info from those who have done this before.
20H Tank
3" DSB
~25LBS of LR (1 large piece, 3 med, 4 small)
2 false percs, hermits/snails, serpent star
1 capnella attached to small rock
1 frogspawn, unattached
1 open brain, unattached
1 pocillopora, unattached
1 xenia, attached to small rock
1 toadstool, attached to large rock
1 hydnophora, attached to tiny rock
1 maxima, attached to large rock (this is what worries me the most, being on that large rock)
polyps, zoo's, and shrooms are not of much concern.
I was thinking that I could just remove as many of the unattached corals into bags with original tank water (OTW) and place them into styrofoam coolers. I would then remove as much OTW as possible into large buckets that have seal tight lids and move as many of the LR pieces in there as possible. Place the fish into a similar bucket (no LR) along with cleaners, starfish, and maybe some sand. By this point, my tank would be nothing but a DSB, and an inch or less of water. My original thought was to move the tank as is any not disturb the sand bed at all, but I want to swap tanks. Same size, but a newer one with less scratches. So would I just scoop the sand from one tank to another (with THICK gloves of course)? I would keep as much of the OTW was possible, and try to set this up as quickly as I can.
I am moving literally about three miles away, not far at all. But I am worried about cycling, etc. Does anyone out there have any tips/suggestions on doing this? I will have a week to do it, so i plan on picking the coolest day, or doing it at night since it is so close.

 

[broncofish]

Just did it yesterday, my wife and I were seperated, and we got back together. Waited for a few months to be sure things were working, and then brought the 29g home. I filled one 20 gal bucket halfway up. Stuck a lot of rocks in it, along with snails crabs, and brittle star, filled second bucket half way up. Stuck frogspawn, bubble coral, hammer coral, mushrooms, and xenia in it, along with 2 firefish, scooter blenny, and cleaner shrimp, filled third bucket halfway up, stuck rock with Ritteri anemone and both clownfish in it. Moved tank stand canopy misc to Bronco, Then loaded up fish into bronco. Drove 10 miles, and did everything in reverse. Set alarm clock to wake me up every 3 hours to raise temperatur back to 79(it had dropped to72-74 while moving)

 

[broncofish]

Oh yeah, left a little bit of water over DSB, added water slow as to not disturb the DSB, lost a half gallon in -between destinations, so had some ready to go. HTH Checked water params like 6 times in 24 hrs...and everything is 0's

 

[shep]

agree with bronco I moved 2 55's into a 125 and had 1-2 day mini cycle which wasnt even truly a cycle. Things jumped around but never anything to really be concerned about.

 

[newreefers]

you can buy an air pump that will run on batteries, get one and put it in the container with the fish. they will need the oxygen. other than that, your plan sounds good. I just moved 5 tanks that way this month and didn't lose one thing.

 

[tangman99]

I just moved my 90 gallon reef to my new home. I had my LFS do it for me because I just had too much other stuff to do. Everything made it just fine and I did not notice a cycle, but then again I did not check with everything else going on.
1. They syphoned my water out into two 55 gallon barrels.
2. They placed all my live rock and corals submerged in the barrells and then caught and added the live stock to the two barrells.
3. They then syphoned the remainder of the water down to the top of my 4" DSB and stopped.
They loaded the whole tank complete with stand and sand onto a wheeled dolly and moved the tank as a single unit with only the canopy and lights removed.
4. They set it up in my new home and added some water back from the barrells, added the rock and livestock and then topped it off with about 20% fresh saltwater.
It was a little cloudy but was clear the next day. Everything worked out fine although they did scare the heck out of me moving it all as one unit with 200 lbs of sand in the bottom. He said he has done it many time over 10 years and never had any problems. Still scary though.

 

[daniel411]

Its a major pain and risk to move tanks. I may be wrong but I have always been told to never move a tank with anything in it?
A few inches of a dsb can be quite a bit of stress to the seams and corners of the tanks as its tilted throughout the move.

 

[broncofish]

Originally posted by Daniel411
A few inches of a dsb can be quite a bit of stress to the seams and corners of the tanks as its tilted throughout the move.
A good point. I carried the stand and tank together out behind my truck, and slid the tank off the stand into the truck. and the reversed when I got to my house

 

[kreach]

Justin,
The plan you laid out sounds like a good one.
We've had to move our reef 3 times in the past 5 years and with 2 of the moves we upgraded to a different/larger tank. The plan you laid out was along the same lines of what we did and we've had great success with our moves.
Good luck!

 

[saltyj]

I am moving in August as well. I have never moved SWF before but I plan to set up a ten gallon QT in my new apt. with the two damsels and the inverts. Is this a good I idea or should I just put them right back in? I plan to move at least 50gal of my 75gal.

 

[overanalyzer]

Originally posted by broncofish
A good point. I carried the stand and tank together out behind my truck, and slid the tank off the stand into the truck. and the reversed when I got to my house
A lot of work - but for a 20 you could use a rigid piece of plywood (1 inch thick at least) .....

 

[sinner's girl]

this info came at the right time. Sinner and I are moving (down the street) and have to move 55gl and 75gl. last time the 75gl was moved it went through a cycle and killed a fish. but the levels weren't perfect to start with (we bought the tank established).
So, my question is, if my levels are good to start with, and I do as ya'll did, I won't lose my fish/inverts?
Can I put the fish/inverts in a bag, and float them in the tank that's not being moved (so the temp doesn't change?).
also, can fish/inverts just be added back to the tanks after the set-up or should we accamate them back in? or is it best to put them in a bucket?
sorry JustinX to take over your thread, hope you don't mind too much.
tips, keep sand/lr/fliter wet at all times to prevent die off.

 

[clarkiiboi]

I might of over read something, but what about moving the sand to another tank, like mentioned. Can you just scoop it out and add to a new tank? How will that affect the sand bed? How long should you leave all the other stuff in the buckets after this, before adding to the tank? I agree with Daniel411 about not lifting the tank with the sandbed in it, so there is another question----what do you all do with the sand bed while moving the tank? JustinX not to step on toes with your thread, but I just am curious also and this will most likely answer some of your questions too.

 

[justinx]

Clarkiiboi,
No worries, in fact that is the main question that I have in this whole thing.
I am glad to hear that there have been so many success storys in moving a reef with the method that I have planned on, but my main concern is the DSB. I really want to switch to a new tank as I question the structural integrity of my current tank. I would feel much better knowing that it was in a brand new tank. I have a feeling that this is going to be somewhat caustic and create a cycle. Maybe not a full cycle, but enough to do damage to my corals and inverts.
What if I were to put all LR and livestock into buckets/rubbermaids with heaters and spare PH's. Move the DSB to the new tank and let sit for a week, then move the livestock.
I am planning on having a week or so to move the tank so this may be a good possibility. Any thoughts?

 

[broncofish]

I think it depends on how D your DSB is. You can get a really good build up of Hydro sulf. in a DSB. In that case make sure you windows are all open, cause man that stuff can reek, kill your sense of smell, and in extreme inhalation kill you. If you disturb it, I would geuss you would have to rinse it, my guess would be better to start with new sand in that scenario.

 

[justinx]

I have heard that the sulfide pockets are a myth, and even at that only develop in DSB's with poor infauna. My sand is only 3" at the deepest point, but starting a new DSB seems a little much. I was planning on adding a little, but not a whole new one. If that is the case, then I will probably opt not to move the DSB into a new tank.

 

[stupid_naso]

Here's how I did my 10 gal move to my friend's house. I emptied my tank, and put 5 gal of the water in the water jug, and the other 5 gal with the LR and LS in a rubbermaid container. My fish and corals were transported a couple of days before using individual ziplock bags. They were put in my friend's 125 gal, everything, including all the fish, corals, snails and crabs. After three days recylcling I moved everything back to my tank. Coraline bleached but it already started regrowing.
stupid_naso

 

[azeritis]

I moved a couple of weeks ago. Major operation to move a tank. And I only moved one block down the road..... My advise is plan, plan and then plan some more. I took my fish to lfs where they still are except my niger which I introduced back to the tank a week ago.
Keep as much original tank water as you can. Keep the rocks in containers with water, and your sand as well. If I am not mistaken you mentioned it is a 20 g so it should not be a major problem.
In addition, it is really important how long your rocks sand, etc will remain in containers. Will it be a few hours, or a couple of days? This is the most important factor.
If it is for a few hours, the tank should be the last thing dismatled from the old appartment, and the first thing set up in the new.
Best of luck.
PS. I lost my flagfin angel in the lfs. I wonder if I did the right thing to leave them there.....

 

[firefishspike]

I am renovating a local aquarium and I have to move really large tanks
I just use really big buckets lol

 

[justinx]

Originally posted by azeritis
If it is for a few hours, the tank should be the last thing dismatled from the old appartment, and the first thing set up in the new.
That is a BIG part of my plan! I had already stressed that to the girlfirend so she knows that I am going to be focused on that for a while.