How To Move A Tank?

[MVlk]

I will soon be relocating my 6 week old 125 tank within my house. I will need to break it down and setup it backup to accomplish this. I believe I have the basics down such as moving fish and live rock. I will have tubs ready with plenty of water... will save most of the existing water and will be adding ~75 gallons more for my new sump.

My biggest concern is the sand bed. Any special instructions to move this? I of course want to minimize the cycle that will result and danger to my fish. (No corals)

Any other hints or tips are appreciated.

 

[stagofdoom]

I would leave a little bit of water in the tank to keep all of the stuff in the sand in good shape. I had to move my little tank from my dorm room to my new apartment once, moving tanks is never fun.

 

[MVlk]

I will not be able to keep anything in the tank. I am moving it down a flight a stairs and around a tight corner which will necessitate standing it on end. Because of this I will need to remove all the sand.

 

[cthegame]

remove the sand into a large bucket and put water in it to keep it alive.

 

[MVlk]

Should I try to rinse it or do any other steps to reduce the gunk placed back into the tank once relocated?

 

[yote]

Just remove the rock and livestock first,then stir the sand up good.Then when you remove the rest of the water,you should get most of the bad stuff that built up in the sand bed.

 

[daugherty]

if the sand is not deep about 1 inch i would not wory to much about it it gets bad when you have a deep sand bed

 

[MVlk]

I have 2-3"

 

[daugherty]

when i changed tanks i kept about ten pounds of my old sand off the toplayer and dumped the rest. you could save much more than that but i would only keep the top 1in of it. but that is just me

 

[ccCapt]

When I moved my tank, I took all the sand out and rinsed it thoroughly in fresh water. You will have all kinds of crap settled into a 3-4" deep sand bed and I wouldn't use it without cleaning it. I only had a 1" sand bed and I couldn't believe all the crap in it.

 

[RAYRAY]

I would just remove the sand. Keep some is a bucket with water and just buy new live sand and dry sand. I kept all the sand in my tank when I moved and it turned out pretty bad. Nitrates went through the roof. I also think I lost my diamond goby because of leaving the sand in and it "dying" . Good luck

 

[JAG107]

Dude you are so lucky moving a 6wk old tank. I cringe at the thought of moving a year plus matured tank with corals and stuff! I think its probably healthiest to keep a little of your sand and just add some new dry aragonite [if you can find it cheaper than the bagged live sand]. You might even be able to sell the old stuff on ebay or something like that. I see auctions selling live sand all the time. Good luck with the move, try not to fall down the stairs with that heavy tank!

 

[MVlk]

Dude you are so lucky moving a 6wk old tank. I cringe at the thought of moving a year plus matured tank with corals and stuff!

That is why I decided to move it now. No corals and minimal fish... I am still dreading it though.

 

[MVlk]

Seems like I have a consensus from the group. Just keep a little of the sand, maybe 1/2" to 1" at most and add some new dry sand.

Any other lessons learned I should head besides have plenty of tubs and pre-mixed water?

 

[cthegame]

im moving in two months and im not looking forward to dealing with the tank at all.

 

[yote]

Just how ever long plan for the move to take,allow at least double the time.

 

[Bifferwine]

Be sure to have some heaters ready if it takes longer than planned and the temps in your fish holding tubs drop. The temp will drop pretty quickly in a small container, and a couple of the cheapest heaters you can find could save your fish's lives.

 

[Legacy26]

Try to have something that'll keep the water moving.. all I had when we moved the tank from my cousins house was a heater.. weather was freezing I think they barley survived, we literally moved water with our hands to keep them alive.

 

[MVlk]

How long would the fish be safe in the bins if I have heat and water movement? Should I use water from the tank or newly mixed for the bins?

Sorry to ask so many follow-ups... was up from 3AM last night agonizing over how to do all this.

 

[lightcs4]

Regarding water movement, those batter backup aerators do a decent job for short term use.