NEED HELP MOVING TANK IDEAS !!!!

[njstillwell]

OK so me and the wife are trying to buy a house in lanoka harbor. Now on top of being first time home buyers, I must move my 120 gallon reef tank(MY BABY). From a second floor apartment with trying to keep everything alive. I was looking for suggestions on how to move a tank.Here is what I'm going to have 1) a truck or trucks. 2) I have a dual rubbermaid tub that can handle 2 kegs. 3) 2 buckets of salt mix 4) a ro/di hookup already in the new house to start making saltwater in the new tank.I was thinking this would be an all day event with moving the fish and coral to the rubbermaid holding tank then to the main tank.I will keep flow in the holding tank with a tunze powerhead. Don't know if i need to hook up a temp filtration system on this thing being that its just a temp setup.Move the tank to the house,setup the tank. Should i carry some old water from the tank, To jump start the new and rubbermaid holding tank water again?will the fish and coral be OK without any filtration for more than a couple of hours? I'm open to any suggestions and help. I know i can count on mike-chad-matt-to help move and setup right fellas lol...let me know what you have done and what I'm over looking... thanks for any response in helping chad i know you are moving soon to i will be there for yah buddy....we plan to close within 45 days from now so i have lots of time to even get it down to the minute in planning...just my military training kicking in... mike be quiet...lol thanks again everyone...

 

[TanksNStuff]

Hello njstillwell. I'm extremely new to reefing myself (my tank is only a few weeks old) but I'll put my 2 cents in from my limited experience of moving an active tank. Take this as you wish, but keep in mind I'm certainly not a pro.

I just moved a 75g setup from Allentown to South Jersey. It took about 2 hours to empty the tank and load it up (I kept about 55g of the old saltwater and all of the live sand), then about an hour and a half drive to my house, then about an hour more to setup. From there, I had to add more saltwater (I started rodi saltwater mixing as soon as I got home) and then let the dust settle before putting in the lone clownfish that I also got from the previous owner.

Basically, it was almost a half a day between tear down and having it back up and running. It may take you a lot less time considered your knowledge of your own system and depending on your drive time as well.

I think it's very important to keep as much of the old water and live sand/rock as possible to make sure your eco-system remains the same for your livestock. I'd say try to keep about 75% of the water, and when you set it all back up it will be like doing a 25% water change.

Now, as far as livestock go, your fish will probably be fine just riding in 5g buckets of the old water. I'd say try to keep them separate if possible, or at least keep only friendlies together. They shouldn't need any filtration as long as you are back up and running in the same day.

I can't comment on moving corals as I am new and have no experience with them. However, I'd suggest that you have a temp tank up and waiting at the new house so that you can bring them over and keep them wet while you setup the tank. For the temp tank, it might be a good idea to fill it up using only old tank water (25% or so) the day before (if possible) and then your current tank will get a fresh water change before the move. This will give your corals a familiar home for temporary storage.

Well, hope that helps. I'm sure more experienced movers will have more/better advise. I did read a thread on the forums yesterday that had a link to "Karen's Aquariums" or something like that. This was a great site explaining in detail about moving tanks and stuff. I bookmarked the page on my home computer and will reply with the link tonight if noone else does before me.

Good luck with it and with all the time you have to plan you should be fine.

 

[Buffalowing]

People ship corals & fish all the time so I wouldn't worry to much about the livestock, put them into coolers, transport to new home, toss a powerhead / heater in while you setup the tank. Keep the live rock & sand as covered as possible in water so you don't have much die off & start another cycle, if you can get new water made up at the house ahead of time awesome. I guess my biggest fear would be the temperature in the coolers during August / September so I wouldn't leave them sit in the car for long periods. You could even keep them in the coolers overnight & be fine I'm sure w/ a heater / powerhead. It's going to be a long tedious project, I don't envy you. Also maybe have some spare plumbing parts laying around incase you break some of the plumbing moving it? Dunno. Take what I said w/ a grain of salt as i"ve never moved a tank but there are a bunch of threads on nano-reef & reefcentral basically saying the same thing I said above.

 

[ds4x4]

you can just put the old water in trash cans (clean) and pump it into the tank once you get there. Thats what joe (guyfromnj) did when his tank was moved off a second floor apt.

 

[adesimone1]

We have done quite a few moves we set up Joe (Theguyfromnj) a little while ago. We used trash cans 2 storage bins a mag12 pump and a long hose. We had everything taken out of the tank and almost every drop of water saved. We started at 8:30 in the morning. We had the tank set up in the house with all the plumbing done into the basement with all the livestockand corals and let me add there was a lot of coral. We were done by 4:30 in the afternoon. The only casualty was a chromi that was living in the overflowbox we found him at the bottom of the stairs on the pavement. No powerheads were used everything stayed on the truck covered in the shade til the tank was plumbed. Good luck with the move ;D

 

[Hirobo]

My tank is available to hold stuff for you brotha if you need it i just need some racks to put the stuff on

 

[Gecko]

Sounds like a solid plan to me. If you need some help let me know. BTW I still have that frag for you. I'll hold onto it just let me know when you get settled.

 

[njstillwell]

thanks everyone for their ideas, pretty much as to what i was thinking just wanted to make sure i wasnt over looking anything.Mike thanks for the holding tank, i think i will just setup a day or so early and move everything over in one shot. tahnks again everyone and feel free to keep giving ideas. ;D

 

[njstillwell]

tony your the man thanks again buddy, i know who to call when time comes i will try to give you a guys atleast a weeks notice when it comes down to it. thanks again

 

[Scottyrock]

cant count on me huh? thanks
MOVE YOUR OWN TANK!
hahahahaha

 

[panmanmatt]

cant count on me huh? thanks
MOVE YOUR OWN TANK!
hahahahaha

You can never count on family.  lol

Unless you need help holding the furniture down or making the beer disappear.

 

[Hirobo]

Well if you run into troubles i'm here for ya let me know when your doing this i'll give ya a hand

 

[njstillwell]

cant count on me huh? thanks
MOVE YOUR OWN TANK!
hahahahaha

You can never count on family. lol

Unless you need help holding the furniture down or making the beer disappear.

AINT THAT THE TRUTH . LMAO

 

[Scottyrock]

damn matt
i only met ya twice and ya picked up on me like that!.... your an awesome judge of character, now wheres the couch and beer