How to move a 180G tank?

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barkdog

Guest
I've got a 180 gallon FOWLR tank in my basement that needs to be moved. I had a malfunction in the sump plumbing that caused a few gallons to leak out into the stand, and eventually leak through the flow of the stand to the carpet beneath, The basement smells awful now, so I need to get this tank moved to a new location at least temporarily so I can get the carpet cleaned.
So my plan is to buy a bunch of 45 gallon rubbermaid bin's and fill them with rock, sand, etc. And put the fish in a 55G tank that I have handy. Quickly move the tank, add the sand, rock, then fish.
Is this a good plan? Does anyone have any tips?
 
T

tizzo

Guest
As soon as you pull the rocks out, trapped ammonia will most likely be released, causing another cycle if you reuse that water.
My advice, if you wanna keep as much water as possible is...syphon out as much as you can before you even touch one single rock.
When the level is as low as possible, remove the rocks, one by one and rinse them in a set aside bin of saltwater. This bin you will not keep.
When your done rinsing off each rock, then place your sand in that very bin.
You will need to rinse that sand as much as possible before adding it to the new tank.
When you do add it, you may still have ammonia that you will need to wait out, but with the LR hopefully the wait shouldn't be more than 2 or 3 weeks.
Just remember to test, test, test!
Thank God for the 55 huh?
 
pjlovesbaskets

pjlovesbaskets

Member
As I was reading this ...the song came on the TV..." I get by with a little help from my friends!" That is my suggestion! I dream of a 180! Let me know how the carpets look when you pull them up. See vacation disaster thread.
 
T

tizzo

Guest
Oh yes! And post pics!!
Thanks PJ, now that songs in my head. I'm gonna wail it throughout my house so that EVERYBODY has it stuck in their heads!!
 
otley 1975

otley 1975

Member
I just switched tanks and all I did was suck as much water out into rubber bins. As the water got below my rock I took it out and put in the bin. I did this until I got about an inch above the sand bed. After that I sucked that water and tossed it. I also got new gravel because you never know what your going to release when you move it. I had about 10 gallons of new water on hand just in case. When the new tank was in place and plumbed I placed some of the base rock on my new gravel and put all the new water in. After that it was just a matter of putting all the old water back in the tank and placing the live rock. It was very cloudy in the tank but I figured the corals and fish go through this in the wild after storms so what the hell. All is doing well and I didn't lose one thing. Hope this helps.
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
I moved my 180 once with no problems, other than ALOT of work. What I would do is move the water out first, into your 55 gallon, stick the fish in there. Then move the live rock into your containers while pumping out the water, Make sure they are somewhere where they can stay without getting in the way. Then drain out the rest of the water. Depending on how far you need to move the tank. You may need to remove the sand. Do what you need to do with the carpet. I'd make sure the stand is good, and doesn't have structural damage because of the water. Then refill the main tank. Let it cycle then go from there.
 
kurtymac

kurtymac

Member
bro i just moved a 90 gallon tank today, i feel bad for you haha, Good luck though bud. Just watch those inverts i lost a few crabs today, they didnt take well to the move.
 
kurtymac

kurtymac

Member
Just syphin the water it goes a lot quicker and should be fine since the 180 gal will be higher then the buckets and the 55. I did the same, put the fish in the 55 gal, rocks and corals in buckets and inverts in the other. Also the plumbing to my over flow box is messed up and it leaked everywhere i hope i dont get the rug problem eather :(
 
onyx

onyx

Member
One piece of advice that I am not sure was mentioned. Moving a sand bed can cause the creatures and bacteria at lower levels die from oxegen/oxygenated water exposure when moved. For this reason, it is always a good idea to carefully scoop off and save the top inch of sand since most of the bacteria and creatures there can handle the process of moving. After that, you should thoroughly rinse all sand below the top inch before reusing it. Its just a suggestion, but it lessens the chance of a massive die off in the sand bed and the bacteria will not take long to repopulate the lower levels.
 
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