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how do you move a 210 gallon tank

C

cmsurfr22

within a month or so i'm going to be moving and then moving again in october. this creates a problem as i have a very large, very heavy fully stocked 210 gallon tank. soo...how the h e double hockey stick do i move this thing?

so far what i've come up with as to minimize losses and amount of work to be done on the day of moving is i have a 30 gallon tank that i can set up at the destination and run a fluval on it. in this tank i was going to place all my corals which is about 15 or so. transport them to the 30 gallon tank with the rocks they are attached to all on one day. i would also have already at the destination about 100 gallons of fresh ro/di saltwater mixed. this way all i have to transport is 100 gallons of water, the remaining rock that didn't have any corals attached, the tank, the stand, the canopy, and other equipment. so the plan would be something like this:

day 1: create 100 gallons of RO/DI saltwater
day 3: start up 30 gallon tank with water and fluval using carbon and biomedia that has been in display tank's sump for a couple weeks
day 4: transport all corals, anemone and the rocks they are attached to in seperate 5 gallon buckets of water
day 5: the big move
a. break down all equipment (sump, protein skimmer, calc reactor, etc..) keeping closed loop on for circulation/aeration
b. remove remaining rocks and place in 5 gallon buckets with tank water
c. drain half of the water
d. place each fish in a 5 gallon bucket with an air stone for O2
e. drain remaining water (saving enough in buckets to refill tank once moved)
f. transport everything to destination and set the tank back up again

concerns:
1. stress on fish, will they survive?
2. the move is an hour drive will the fish have enough O2 to make the commute? should i consider battery powered air pumps?
3. will the large tangs(5") be ok in a 5 gallon bucket? i was thinking of puting lids on the buckets with some holes and an airstone.

Any advice or things to be sure to do would be greatly appreciated! As well as any/all 5 gallon buckets as i'm gonna need alot!
 
Edwardw771

Edwardw771

NJRC Member
I'll trade you my 12 nano for it. And move it myself. lol. just kidding.
good luck with the moves. I did it everything made it.
 
Edwardw771

Edwardw771

NJRC Member
Mine was no where near the size of yours.

But this is how I would do yours
Buy two of these 150 gallon rubbermaids.
http://www.njreefers.org/forums/index.php/topic,2837.0.html

put one in the truck. then pump 75 gallons of water from your tank right to the truck don't carry it in buckets.

Than move that where its going. Put the other one in the house. Pump the water from it to the other rubbermaid. Once you get the rubbermaid up and running with your water and get the temp correct and all that. Then move your corals and fish. to the rubbermaid. Once everything is safe. Move the tank. then move everything back to the tank.

Sell the rubbermaids if you don't need them. Or use them for a sump, like mine or Billy's or Phillys and John have.
 
J

jazzsam

I just moved a 55 yesterday and everything survived. The only thing I think you may be missing is keeping the water warm if you do this when it is cold out. You may have to get a couple small heaters.
 
JohnS_323

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Chris, good luck with move. I'm sure we have some buckets you can borrow, plus some 40g garbage cans, plus a spare one of those 55g white drums. I also have a bunch of Mag pumps and tubing you can use if you need it to help move water faster. We also have a spare 30g tank, 15g tank and 10g sitting around you could use if you need them. We have probably 5 or so heaters and maxijets that aren't in use right now also.

Ed's idea about the 150g tubs makes sense too, so if you can score those that would make moving a large volume of water a lot easier.

I think your fish will do fine in 5g buckets, with no need for an air stone. Think about the small bags they're shipped overnight in. Granted, there is generally some oxygen forced into the bag but I think the additional volume in a 5g bucket, along with the fact that you're only going an hour away, would offset that.

When do you plan on making this move and where are you moving to? If there's anything we can do to help let us know. Depending on the day for Day 5, I can probably be available if needed.
 
C

cmsurfr22

Ed, Good idea although $100 for each of those stock tanks is a little high for used ones considering new they are $120. I like the pumping of the water idea though, never thought of that.

John, those garbage cans/white drum will deffinately come in handy. I'm not sure when i plan on making the move but probably within a month. i'll let you know when i figure it out.
 
J

JRodrig692

I bought my 120 and moved it 1 hour from where I bought it to my house in the middle of a cold December. I then upgraded my 120 to a 180 this past September but that was in my house.

Couple points that I learned.
1. Moving is NOT a one day project.
2. Even when you think the rock is perfectly setup, its not.
3. Expect to possibly loose some livestock. I only lost one colony, lucky.
4. Prepare for a mess of water.
5. Take is slow.
6. Prepare everything ahead of time, because once you start draining, there is no time to run to Home Depot for a fitting.
7. Try to take as much of your current water to the new tank as possible,
8. Plan, Plan, Plan all you want, but don't expect it to work out just as you planned.

Priority Number one is water. I got 2 of those 110 quart coolers and set them up in my basement and made water the week before the move. Word to the wise, make MORE water than you calculate you will need.

I found that the best way to move water was in those 5 gallon jugs people use for water coolers.

Priority two, moving the livestock. In regards to the fish, as soon as you stick your hand in that tank to remove the rock, you are going to start stressing them. Remember that fish come to the pet stores after traveling miles in a bag, and lord knows the stress they endure after begin caught on the reef and shipped to the distributor. So my point is you really do not have to place each fish in a five gallon bucket with an air stone. If you have the tank up and running at the new location, scoop them out and drive them there. Get them back into a stable location. Stress there will be, but try to minimize it. The oxygen issue is not a problem if you can get them out of the tank and into the next in under two hours. If you are concerned, run the air stone while you are removing them and when its time to go, pull the stone, close them up and drive.

When you get them to the new destination if you can get your hands on a large cooler, dump them all in there, set up a powerhead or two to move the surface water and a heater if needed. I kept my fish in a cooler setup for two days. First time I did it though when I bought the 120, the heater went crazy and cooked my stuff a bit. Second time I kept the house warm and used no heater. Powerheads warmed the water. Close the lid over, leaving a little crack and do your thing.

Moving the rock in whatever containers you can. You don't need to fill them with water. I put the rock in buckets and covered them with a towel or newspaper that I wet down with tank water.

Setup:

You need to get the tank setup and get the water into it and verify there are no leaks. In addition you can take the time to play with the rock to get it the way you want.

Place coral in and place them where you want.

Place fish in.

Clean up mess.

Set back say to your self, "Nice Job" and lose about 2 nights sleep worrying about the tank.
 
B

billyr98

if u need any help let me know.... also last time i did something large, like empty my 210 and requascape, i borrowed 2 100g rubbermaids from ILC.. he would lend them to ya, i am sure.. if not I will grab them.. let me know if this helps out at all...
 
malulu

malulu

NJRC Member
like JRod said, make a lots of "EXTRA" water...!!!

last time when i re-aquascape of my 210 gal, i envision i only need about 90 gals extra, but it end up with about 200 gals. (cause the tank water are so cloudy while you removing the LR/LS...) which also prolong-ing the catching of the fishes because of the cloudyness (can't see no evil!).

i also afraid of the removing of live sands, put back it which may trigger a new spike, therefore i change a lots of water during and afterward... (oh, by the way, make sure you have enough filter media for your RO/DI, when it ran out/clog at that time is not a nice surprise...)

i also find with many extra heater, power head, hose did help to speed up the transition.

also like Ed's idea to have extra BIG containers to transport them, you will have many other things to do when doing the move (beside the fish tank), lay down rubber-tank and wait until your tank is setup and final, then put them back in - is an excellent idea.

when i did my re-aquascape, i am only moving the stuff to basement, so it closed to my refugium for temporary holding place, was thinking of about 2 days tops, and it end up with 2 weeks before i put them back in my tank...

good luck on your move, please post your moving day, if i have time for the day, i am more than happy to help...

-David

BTW:
those BIG robbermaid is well worth the $... when i done mine, i end up with used them as my sump.
under the refugium...
332_18_03_07_10_07_16.gif

;D
 
C

cmsurfr22

Thx David. The overal picture and why i am moving is basically this... i am currently selling my condo that i bought three years ago and fixed up. taking the money i make and buying a townhouse. however the townhouse isn't built yet, therefore i am moving back to my parent's house in PA for 5 months while it's being constructed. Plus i'll be able to save a ton of money for closing costs/moving costs. After i move into my new townhouse i plan on plumbing my fish tank into the basement. I'd like to use one of those 150 gallon rubbermaids for my sump and maybe someday i'll integrate a stock tank similar to john and phyl's. As much of a pain in you know what this is going to be, i think it'll all be worth it asuming i don't lose any of my favorite fish/corals.

one other concern i have is what to do with the live sand. do i leave it in the bottom of the tank? making the 300lb glass tank now 5-600 lbs? or do i take it all out? i'm affraid if i take it all out the "live" stuff will die and cause an ammonia spike. another problem is that this tank will eventually have to go up one flight of stairs during the second move. what do i do with the sand then. if the tank is going to be tilted i'll have a sand slide(haha kind of like a land slide but only a sand slide) ::)
 
J

jazzsam

I took out all my sand and YES it did cause a lot of nastiness in the tank but it all settled down and was fine. As long as you leave the sand with water you should be fine.
 
malulu

malulu

NJRC Member
may be time for you to set up a refugium, put all the sand it it (like the 55g barrel type of container), and you can move it around without problem? after you did your 2nd move in the future, you can then put more sand in your display tank, for now, just use bare bottom like Merv did...?

for my case, i remove all the sand, and then put them all back in, cause one of the initial problem was the sand got lay first, then rock second... after 2 years, the rocks started sift and de-form and i am affaid it is going to crash, so i redo everything... this time, i lay down PVC pipe then put rock on it with tie-wrap, then the sand (see before and after aqualscape pictures below), and i wait about a week, with alots of water change before i put back the live stock to avoid the spike.

now
i also reserved some space in between, so fish can be swimming inside, but i kind of make it too high, am now worrying what will happened after two more years, all the corals may start to grow out of the water surface... :-\
332_18_03_07_10_04_58.gif


then
i do like the old look better!! well, can't have everything perfect... i am sure i may be able to do it better if i need to do it again (for the record: me not like the idea to do it one more time...)
332_19_03_07_5_50_15.gif
 
JohnS_323

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
You beat me to it, David. I was just going to suggest going BB for this 5 months between moves.
 
J

JRodrig692

BB is the only way to go in your situation as others state. You risk too much. You are talk about a major disruption to the sand bed. Sand is cheap in comparison to live stock. If you can keep some sand in the 30 gallon do it, if not seed your new bed with other people's sand. There is enough to go around.
 
C

cmsurfr22

i do have a refugium with about 4 inches of sand it's about the footprint of a 10 gallon tank. do you think it's worth it to try and save the sand or just start all over with new sand and seed it from my fuge when i move again in 5 months?
 
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