Welcome to my nightmare!!!

kdlbem

kdlbem

Member
Well, I'm about to face one of the things we all fear as tank owners.........
MOVING :eek:
I think I've read every webpage there is on moving tanks. I think I've got everything figured out. Still having trouble finding medical grade oxygen to fill the bags with.(you need a perscription to get it). I have less than three weeks till the big day. I talked to the lfs, and they are going to give me a few coolers that the fish are shipped in, and all the bags I need for the move. I am going to mix some saltwater at the new house(25gal) a couple days ahead of time, so it's ready to go.
The new landlord said I could cut a small hole in the wall so I can plumb the tank into a large storage room next to the living room. Woo-hoo!!!!! I get a 75 gal refugium sometime in the future(after the tank gets stable again after the move).
Any experiences or tips would be very much appreciated. The tank has been stable for about six months now, I hope it can survive this.
Oh yeah, another bonus..... Room for more tanks :D
Thanks,
B
 
ebeckels

ebeckels

Active Member
i'm a senior at Syracuse and i will be moving in may... I'll be keeping an eye on this post! Anyways...good luck. How far are u moving?
 
kdlbem

kdlbem

Member
Just across town, But I'm giving myself a day or so for the tank to settle enough to get everyone back in it. I figure the oxygen will buy me at least 24 hours before the corals get too stressed. Not too worried about the fish(false perc.,dottyback, and a mandarin), they lived in a rubbermaid tub for five days with a powerhead, heater, and some LR. I was reading a webpage that said a guy moved a 120gal. 1,000 miles without a single loss. So, hopefully I will do as well.
B
 
wally

wally

Member
I would get a few rubbermaid tubs and put everything in them in your new place while you are waiting for the tank to settle. It will be far better for everything than sitting in bags. This way everything will be in bags for only a few hours at most and you won't need oxygen.
I have moved 6 times in the last 7 years (we just bought our first house this year so we won't be moving anytime soon)And the best advice I can give you is if you can move everything else but the tank(s)and then get all settled in, then move the tanks a few days latter it goes much easier. With moving even with movers you already have SO MUCH to do that a tank makes it all so much harder. That will also give you a chance to make sure that all your furniture and tanks go where the fit best.
The other advise I will give you is to move as much water as possible. You can do this in the rubbermaid tubs, bags, jugs, whatever but the more water you move the better off you will be.
 
kdlbem

kdlbem

Member
Gotta move the tank first. It's in a very central location in the house we're in, and I don't want to put a bedframe or something into the tank :eek:
I have set aside a full 24 hours to move this tank, and nothing else. And I also have a couple other guys to help.
I definately plan on taking as much water as I can to the new place. Thanks for the tip.
Thanks again,
B
 
bobothewizard

bobothewizard

Member
Ok 75 gallon wont be that bad to move... Heres my suggestion... Goto the local wal-mart or home depot and grab 3 26 gallon tall plastic garbage containers "WITH LIDS"... Gotta have the lids... And a few of those coolers from your lfs. Ok, its a very painfull process, noticed i said painful. Anyway, the main thing you want to do is keep your water, I cannot stress this enough. Alright, back to the process, now what youll want to do is since these containers will be to heavy to carry once there filled with water, what i did was put them in the truck empty, run a garden hose out of the house and as close to the trash cans as possible. You will need 3 people for this. Now have one person hold the hose in the tank, the other person at the other end "sucks" to get the water going and when the water comse out of the hose, he/she starts filling 5 gallon buckets up (youll need 2 (5) gallon buckets also), then when the first gets full you take it and dump it into one of your 26 gallon trash cans, repeat this process till the tank is empty, you will prolly want to fill up one of the coolers before you start this process though for your fish and corals. Then once the can gets full put a hefty garbage bag around the top of the can and then secure the lid. This will keep spilling to a minimum, repeat this process till all the water is gone in the tank.
The thing I think you will want to do is prolly move the tank first, thats what id do anyway. Move the tank first, get it setup then move the rest of the house, just take a half of day to move the tank. Good luck its a pain in the ass.
[ November 14, 2001: Message edited by: Bobothewizard ]
 
tomato clown

tomato clown

Member
Bob thats a great idea, but wouldn't it be easier to just fill the cans then move them with a dolly? My boss moved his 400gal. once into a new house and he just did the dolly thing. worked great! :cool:
 
kdlbem

kdlbem

Member
The tank is upstairs now, so the long hose will work great for draining the tank(I was dreading hauling all that water down the stairs). Thanks Bobo.
B
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top