Moving 55 gallon tank - HELP

[hondotech]

So we are moving our retail store down the street to our new building we just purchased. Our 55 gallon tank needs to move as well, and I am pretty sure I am in for one heck of a mess.
Any pointers, advice, etc. would be most helpful.
I am planning on draining the tank to the point where the water just covers the sandbed at the bottom and downing a 4-pack of monster energy drink to get the oomph needed to carry it.
I have a 10 gallon tank I can store the fish in (going to get the 10 gallons to fill it from the 55).
Can/should I reuse the 45+ gallons I am going to drain out or take the opprotunity to do a massive water change (normally change out 10 gallons).
If anyone reading this is in the San Antonio TX area and wants to make some extra $$, moving day for the store is this weekend (Sat & Sun)!

 

[rudedog40]

I live in SA, but it doesn't look like I'll be in town this weekend. What part of town are you in? I'm assuming the only thing you're leaving in the tank is the LS and a little water. How deep is your sand bed? I would imagine you'll have at least 70 lbs of sand and water. The question I would have is, can the bottom glass handle that much weight when you lift the tank up to move it? Does your stand have a solid bottom it sits on now, or is it open?
I would think you could still use your existing water. If you don't, you'll most likely will have to go through another cycle before you can put your fish back in. To make it easy to transport, go to the LFS over on Vance Jackson and 410. That's where I get my RO water. They'll sell you a 5-gallon jug for I think $7.95 (even comes with the RO water). Talk to Chris the owner. He may let you borrow 10 of them just so you can move your water from point A to point B. Go to Home Depot and get you some 5-gallon buckets for $5 each to put your LR in. If it's not gonna be that long to get your tank installed in the new store, you can just wrap the LR in some wet newspaper you soak with your tank water to transport them in the buckets.

 

[frankthetank]

I haven't moved a tank... however I've done some major re aqua scaping before where I drained the tank and cleaned it out. Virtually the same thing. First of all, while I would recommend using at least half the water in your tank... if you put established salt water (from an LFS) back into your tank, you will not have a re cycle.
You can keep or change out your sand bed... and do it without a re cycle. Again, I've done so. Your live rock will re seed the new sand bed very quickly! This is where you need to get some plastic tubs to place your LR in. Then put some of your tank water in each tub to keep them alive. The drive alone will keep current in the tubs.
As you mentioned, a great time for a water change. Keep half your water and add new water from there. You can always move the tank with the stand... or a good solid piece of plywood. 55g tank isn't that heavy.
This is actually an easy project... it's the 125's and bigger I dread.

 

[nitrousgoby]

What you ought to do is check out classifieds around your area for 50 gallon drums. My company goes through about 2 drums of glue a month. So when i bought my new house i took 3 empty ones and cleaned them out very well, they were only holding natural wood glue non caustic. I had a 55, 65, 20, 10, and a 5 to move. The 65 and 10 are my salt tanks, the other two are fresh. I used 2 barrels for the salt, one for the live rock and one for water and fish. The fish barrel was 3/4 full of water. The Rock was about 1/3. And i kept the substrate in 2, 5 gallon buickets after i drained the tanks and filled the barrels i had in the truck. Took a bunch of trips with the buckets but not too hard to do. Either that or load the water into big plastic storage containers. I like the barrels alot more though, used the containers when i bought my 65 and it sucked.

 

[sign guy]

I just mooved my tank earlier this summer and there are a few key pointers
1 dont mix up your sand bed if at all possible leve it in the tank
2 save as much water as possible
3 mix new saltwater a few days in advance just in case
4 take a buch of pics of your LR as you take it down so you can remember how it goes back in, your corals are happy where they are but by moving them and then haveing your lr rearanged it may be more than they can handle
I used a cupple of roughneck trash cans lots of ziploc bags and ots of buckets, I think thats it but if I think of any thing else ill let you know

 

[bigleman]

I had to move my 55g about a month ago and thought of this idea right after:
Go to walmart/lowes/homedepot and get 2 35g totes (only $15-20 each), drain the water into those, put all your LR in there also.
If you are moving down the road, i would put the totes on something before you filled them to make the move a little easier.

 

[topfins-mj]

I moved my tank to the basement recently and what a chore; it took 4 hours to get it done.
First save you water plus have some extra, make it so that it acts as a water change.
All of the live rock should go into two garbage bins (32 gallons each) so that you can be able move them slowly or else they will break. Since you are having your fish put on a separate tank, make sure that this tank is already in the new store, and all you have to do is move some water first, then run powerheads before adding the fish and livestock.
Proceed to grab 3 or 4 of your strongest friends to help you move the tank over. Be carefull not to swish the water too mcuh or you will get a mini cycle going once th esand settles.
When moving back the rocks, just take them out of the bins and bring them to the new location using smaller buckets before moving the rest of the water back to the tank. If you get a U-Boat or a leaning handtruck you can use that to move the garbage bins but becarefull not to break the rocks either. Before adding the livestock, make sure you have the water filled up and all equipment running to clear as much of the cloudiness. Add your livestock using the acclimation methods to ensure easy tranistion if you do a large water change.
I did this and my coral and fish were fine by the next morning. If your fish are healthy a move won't cause too much stress.
good luck.

 

[wattsupdoc]

I have moved a few tanks in my time. You need to realize that your going to stir thr SB up. At least a little. Moving a tank across town is not like moving it in the house. What I would do if it were me would be to take a container big enough to hold half you water and another to hold your rock and whatever water it takes to just keep it wet. Put both containers in the truck and begin puming water out of the tank to them, pump or syphon it out, this way you dont have to move the containers. Begin moving the rock as you are pumping syphoning. Prep some water before hand, you'll need it. Place you fish/corals in a couple coolers with small holes drilled in the top to provide air and keep 'em warm. Place these inside the vehicle if you can, especially if its particularly cool outside. In S.A,. though you'll be OK I imagine. Outside of the vehicle, water will cool rapidly as the wind from travelling sucks the warmth away. Even on a moderatly warm day this can happen. Regardless, unless they are in the cab, I would use the coolers. Drain the tank down the rest of the way, leaving only enough water to lightly cover the SB. The more water, the more swishing. Load the tank up and if you can wrap it in a blanket. You've probably got some varmits in that there SB, that would appreciate staying warm. Cover the tank also to keeep as much air from circulating around inside the tank. If you have a particularly long drive get an inverter and use a heater in the container with the rock.
When you get to the new location, unload and set up the tank and stand, dont worry about a bunch of equipment connects at this point. Then unload the rock after you've started pumping the water back in. Plug up a heater and powerhead to help with any temp issue you might have. Might use two heaters if you got 'em. Try not to stir the bed any more than necessary. You dont want a sulfur incident. Make sure your fish/corals inverts are all doing Ok. You might want to pop a heater/powerhead in there also. When the tank is full and has stabilized. Acclimate the fish to the newly set up tank. You can do this if you want by matching slowly the temp/ph in the container, or dripping. They will need an acclimation. Once your all set up and fish/corals etc. are in there, run some carbon to clean it all up for a while.
Have fun!