My Moving Plan: Advice Wanted!

[bur01014]

Hello All-

So I am going to be moving in 3 weeks and am worried about my tank. I am a new reefer (5 months) and have finally gotten a good setup going. (55 gallon) Now, the bad news comes....I have to move. Good news is- it is only about a 25-30 minute drive to the new place. Below is a list of things I plan to do to make the move safe as possible. Please provide advice, correction, etc. on what you have done or think would work best! Thanks.

Steps:

1. Take Pictures of tank- Helps me remember were I have powerheads, live rock, corals, equip, etc. placed.

2. Remove all lighting and equipment.

3. Drain HOB refugium w/ chato into tote 1.

4. Fill tote 2, place all corals in this tote- run powerhead, heater, until ready for loading.

5. Fill tote 3 and 4, place LR in these two totes- run powerhead until ready for loading.

6. Fill tote 5, place fish, run heater and powerhead.

7. Fill small tote 6- stragglers: snails, inverts, coral fragments....

8. Drain tank to save as much water as possible, leave 4-5 inches left above sand level.

9. Mix sand up vigorously, then hook up python sucking up remaining dirty water.

10. Transfer tank, stand, equip to truck. (Took advice from LFS, said sand should be fine and remain wet for the 30- minute drive....my worries: weight on bottom glass of tank? please comment on this)

11. Setup tank, stand, fill with 15 gallons pre-mixed water. (make sure it is level)

12. Return to previous place, unhook powerheads, heaters, etc. Load totes in truck and go.

13. Fill tank with previous water in LR totes, then add LR. Let sand settle, aquascape, meanwhile fish and corals -running heaters and powerheads in totes

14. Check water parameters

15. Add water from fish and coral totes, then coral and fish....hook up all remaining equipment...

16. Pray that everything lives, a cycle if occurs will be minimal, and that no equip is damaged....especially tank



What do you guys think? Am I missing something? Further advice?

 

[VAreef]

Actually sounds very thought out. If your only going to have the stuff in totes a few hours you really don't even need to worry about heaters and powerheads. Good idea on using lots of smaller totes. I moved a 55 with only 3 30 gal totes and they were freakin heavy.

The weight on the tank from the sand won't be any different than when it's normally set up and will be fine as long as you don't drop it.

 

[puttycat]

I left the sand in my 90 when I moved. It wasn't real deep only 1 1/2 ". I think as long as you don't twist the tank the bottom should be fine. I just noticed #8 I don't think it will be safe to move with that much water. I drained mine as much as I could get out and saved almost all water. I also had mew water made just in case of a problem
#9 I don't know it that is a good idea stirring up the sand. Maybe some one will chime in on that.
Good luck it looks well thought out. A list is the best way to go for me to.

 

[bur01014]

Ya, I guess I wasn't clear on 8 and 9. A guy that moves aquariums and does maintenance for a living told me to mix up sand with 3-4 inches of water, then suck out dirty water to dispose of, sucking the water all the way down to the sand. He said the sand should stay "wet" for the 30 minute drive and be fine. I don't know about this idea...?? Won't this cause a cycle.....then again he does it for a living, but charges $150 an hour. More than I can afford....just buy a new tank with that money lol....

 

[Bifferwine]

I think he's basically telling you to rinse out the sand before you re-use it, after you move. That's a good plan. The sand will have a lot of gunk in it. You don't have to suck it out with a python, you can also just rinse it in a bucket. It won't cause a cycle as long as the sand stays wet, but if you have a lot of sand and you don't rinse it, you could see a nitrate spike once you set the tank up again.

 

[Sharkie]

do you only have a few hours to move everything over? it might be easier to do like your planning with the totes but get the tank setup and the LR put in place, let it sit for a day and then put all your fish in.... they should be find with a few powerheads and a heater for a night... someone correct me if thats wrong but thats what I did with my fish for the move

 

[tankedchemist]

Also, don't fill the totes all the way full. They'll slosh all over the place. I only filled mine half full when I moved my 30 gallon.

Also, here's a useful article: Moving an Established Reef Tank, Part 1: Moving Out, by Marty Ziegler

I'm going to be doing the same thing for my 125 reef in September, so I actually appreciate you starting this thread-- very useful! thanks!

 

[bur01014]

Good advice...perhaps I could get fish, LR, and corals in totes the night before....then move tank the next morning and set it up with LR, let it stabilize for a day, then bring fish and corals over in totes....

Speaking of splashing water- good idea I will be sure not to fill too full, for bumps in the road will cause some waves....what about getting totes with lids? To put tops on these totes...is that a good or bad idea? Will it affect oxygen levels? Remember I am quite new at all this stuff.....

 

[daugherty]

i would get lids for all the totes. and the tank will be fine leaving all the sand in it for the move

 

[Bifferwine]

To prevent splashing, line the totes with garbage bags first. Then tie them at the top. That will really reduce the amount of water that escapes from them.

 

[puttycat]

If you leave the fish in totes overnight here is a picture of how I did mine. I used U tubes and a power head to keep the water moving and heated in 3 totes. I put a power head in the front tote with the hose going to the tote on the right. It worked like a double overflow. I have the fish and live rock in there for about 18 hours without any problems

 

[tankedchemist]

this is a total noob question, but.... how did you get the flow going in the u tubes?

 

[bur01014]

Wow, that looks like quite the moving setup.....perhaps in my case -25 minute drive/move, it would be best to just break it down and move it in the shortest time possible.....probably could break it down and move it all within an 1 1/2 or 2 hours....

 

[puttycat]

this is a total noob question, but.... how did you get the flow going in the u tubes?

I used an airline tube to pull the air out of the utube. As long as both ends are under water the tube will not loose its syphon. The clear tube is from my overflow box and the pvc is just pressed together, the seal was good enough to work as there wasn't that much flow. The pump is only rated for about 350 gph.

I did a tank swap- got tired of how noisy the overflow box was so I changed to a tank with an overflow built in. It took longer than expected because of the different plumbing which didn't go as planned.

I just thought I would show bur a way to keep everything happy if the move was going to take awhile

 

[mdsiman]

subd for when i have to move

 

[Homer]

I moved my 120 gallon tank...1 hour drive... in other words, it isn`t that hard... If You have sea cucumbers and sea urchins, be careful with them, they are sensitive to even slight changes..