How to relocate my tank

[texasjenn]

I have a question for all you experienced reef ppl. In about two months, we are moving to another house and I will need to move my 65 gallon reef tank as well. While this is very exciting, I have no idea of the best way to go about this without harming my animals. Have any of you been thru this before and if so can you share your experiences and/or thoughts? I appreciate it very much!

 

[dburr]

Put all the live stock in a tub, live sand in another. Save as much water as possible. Move add sand and water. Wait afew days for cycle.(thats all it will take, a few days) Add live stock. Pray. And then you'll swear never to do it again.:yes: :nervous:

 

[yellowtail]

there should be filtration(ieowerheads) in the livestock fish and corals tub right?

 

[streetdoc]

How far are you moving? I moved my 90 10 miles with the help of my brother and two friends several years ago. Drained and saved most of the water. placed in the bed of my truck at night and drove carefully. No problems. No loss. Good luck.

 

[texasjenn]

We're only moving about 20 miles away, it can be done in about 30 minutes. I can save all the water in different containers, and move the tank with the sand in it, right? as to the praying, I think it's gonna take praying AND fasting, or something drastic like that....and then pentance after that.....and good works, and giveing to the poor, and not bitching at my husband, etc. Think that will be enough?:thinking:

 

[dburr]

Word of advice: never move a tank full of sand. Not only will it be very heavy but it might blow out the bottom.

Yes, you need to have lights on the tub for a couple days if you have corals. If you change some water daily you wont need a filter, unless you have a high bio-load.

 

[streetdoc]

OOps. Thanks Dburr. I forgot to mention that the tank was placed/supported on a piece of 3/4" plywood. Looking back I might have been lucky, but I would think that a 60 gal shouldn't be a problem. Good luck

 

[jfloydr]

If the tank is on plywwod then just leave the sand in there with about 2 inches of water and you should be fine. It might be heavy though so get some help. I moved my 20 like this(on plywood)and it was fine although not as heavy. I just put everything back in and was ready to go. No cycle.Took about 45 minutes for the whole teardown and resetup. Good luck.
Jeff

 

[olsenjb]

I just went through this 3 months ago. I moved my 55 about 15 miles. Put all of my corals in 18-gallon tupperware containers and drained water from the tank into them to cover them. Drained the remainder of the water into various containers. Left about 2 inches of water covering the sand and moved the tank with that and the sand still in it. Set it back up immediately, filled it back up with the saved water, and everything is doing great. I can't believe how quickly it cleared up and everything traveled just fine.

 

[giraffemaster]

There is no way in hell you can move that 65 with anything in it at all, no water and no sand. I moved my 75 gallon a month ago(about 65 miles, or a 1.4 hour drive). I put all the live rock in a rubbermaid container that i had filled about half way with water. I put the coral in a styrofoam box, along with the starfish, crabs, and such. I had to leave the anemone in with the live rock because it's so big there wasn't room anywhere else. I put the fish in 2 buckets. The fish buckets and styrofoam container had airstones run by a rechargable air pump. I put the sand from the refugium in 2 separate buckets. I scooped out the top layer of sand in one and the bottom layer in the other(make sure to put the bottom layer back on the bottom).
When I got to the new house I mixed new saltwater and filled the tank most of the way, put in the rock and coral and started the system.
I kept the fish in a separate tank until the cycle was complete which took a week. Then I moved them back into the main tank. Everything lived and is doing great.

 

[jfloydr]

His tank is on a peice of plywwod. If they use the plywood to hold tank and had enough peple they should be able to leave sand in it and move. probably will take 4 people though.

 

[evilss]

i have had to move tanks quite a few times. im sure you can pull it off with no problems. just rememeber to keep lots of air in the containers that have the fish and corals. you may even be lucky enough to move the tank and put in fish the next day. i got lucky and did that. depends on your filtration and how bad things get mixed up. i would move the tank empty as well. less chance of any mistakes. the biggest piece of advise that i can give you is dont rush yourself. everything will work out great. good luck ont he move.

 

[scubasteve]

I just moved too. Here is my post concerning the move
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/128768/move-new-tank-setup

 

[escape2thewater]

I just helped my friend move his 110g 150 miles from FT lauderdale to Cape coral, FL. It was a lot of work! We rented an enclosed uhaul trialer then broke down the tank. We put all the corals & fish and some LR in a large cooler with an aerated PH for circulation. Then put the rest of the LR & water in buckets with lids and loaded it all up. We made the drive & set everything back up. BTW We had to remove all the sand b/c it was way too heavy to leave it in. The sandstorm settled the next night & then all the livestock was placed back in there. We had to mix up about 30 gal of new water that was lost during the move. All in all, no livestock was lost so it was a good move, but much more work then we thought. It took us all day from about 8am to 8pm including drive time with rush hour traffic. Just take your time & make sure not to forget anything & save as much water as you can. Good Luck!
KYle
:happyfish

 

[texasjenn]

Thanks to everyone for the very thoughtful advise. I am glad I have ya'll to turn to for such detailed and helpful answers. I'll let you know how it goes....

 

[texasjenn]

One more thing...this might be an ignorant question, but why do I have to make sure the sand goes back in the tank in the proper sequence, i.e. the bottom layer first, then the top layer? Won't it all get mixed together in travel even if I keep the layers in separate buckets? And why does it matter?

 

[ndpb6b]

I think he meant to keep the layers seperate in his refugium. I just moved as well. I moved from central Missouri to Gainesville, FL. about 1000 miles with my 125 SW and 55 south american FW. I agree with the others in taking the sand out. I went to Home Depot and Lowes and got buckets for the sand and water. Something I did as a suggestion from the owner of my old lfs was to not feed my fish for a couple of days before the move to clean out there bellies (less waste and bio-load). That though won't be as much of a problem for you going a shorter distance. The major thing that I did was to use cooler to transport the livestock. I put tank water in and then added the fish. I bought a few battery powered bubblers with airstones and drilled holes in the top of the coolers and ran the airline and stone into the water. I did loose a firefish and a dottyback. My shrimp, sailfin tang, yellow tang, royal maroon clown, sixline, and damsels made it though. I kept the livestock in the bed of the U-STAUHL and they are doing great now a couple of weeks later. The seceret to my success I believe were the coolers and the air stones and lots of holes in the lid of the cooler.
Good Luck,
Hope you can use some of that.

 

[texasjenn]

Thanks. I assume you have to drive very carefully (slowly?) to keep the fish from sloshing around in the buckets?

 

[ndpb6b]

We drove pretty normal, but yes you need to watch for potholes and the like. I lost water but had backup ready in a bucket.

 

[areijin]

I didn't read all those peplies but I had to move my 75 twice in a month. I got those rectangular rubbermaid style containers for your extra clothes. I think I used six and that was with some extr bucks, etc. The sloshing is less, they're less likely to tip over, and they are easier to move for two people. Have a lot of extra premixxed water at the new place. 20 gallons should be good. Have somce extra 5g containers to save as much of the old water as possible. Have a big plastic tarp for you floor. Have two big cars ready. It all might fit in one but not likely. And an extra person that knows what they are doing would be great. I even know that some LFS do this as a job but it coast a few hundred bucks.
So work quickly. First take care of the sump and any extras. Then your rocks and corals with some water from the tank. Keep it in some order. It takes a bit of time to reset the tank and depending on you sand it could be very clody and you wont be able to see what youir putting where. At least if you know that needs to be on the left side bottom and closer to the top on the right then it will take you a lot less time. Have some razers incase you have to cut coral from two different rocks. If you have a lot of rock then nothing will ever fit the same way again and don't spend too much time trying to make it.
So as long as the corals are in water the temp doesn't matter too much sicne they will close up and be fine. SO now the fish. Put them all togther in one container. Take a heater and a powerhead and once a nd a while have the powerhead a bit out of the water so it sucks in air and aeroate the tub. You can also add a rock but be sure you remove it before you move so they wont get crushed. OK now all the water is out and have some plastic bowls to help scoop out the sand . You have to remove it. The tank is plent heavy by it's self and the weight might hurt the tank unless it's on a stand. Put the stand, tank, sump first in your car. then the corals and last minute put the fish without the rock. This way they will be the first out of the car.
Make sure you know where the tank will go and have everything ready at the new place. I would do this early in the day and make sure your LFS is open just incase you have to head over there. Basicly do the same thing in reverse. Make user that all the plumbing will work and there is nothing that you need to get from Home Depot before you start. The fish will look freaked but they will be fin. Jsut use as much of the old water as possible. Check your levels often. Maybe use new dishwashing gloves if you thing that you have Mantis Shrimp or worms in the sand that might hurt you. I noticed the the pH took the longest to get back to normal. The water will have to recycle but as long as it's not too low and your other levels are4 good then it will fix it's self. Oh also make sure the nex location has enough power outlets.
Hope this helps you. It's all about planning, speed, and not worring too much. They can all servive a lot. They already have to get to you. Good luck.