Suggestions on temporary tank move

[KevinR840]

I'm getting a new floor put in my house and temporarily have to move the tank. The tank is a 55 gallon and I was wondering how y'all would suggest moving it?

The current plan is to get a large trashcan and fill it with new RO water and once it is filled place the coral, rock and fish in it. Then, drain the tank and move it where I want it and fill it back up again. The tank will have to be moved for a month or so, this is why I'm refilling the tank and not just leaving them in the trash can.

How should I clean the trash can so that it's ready for the fish, coral, and rock?
Is it alright if I use new RO water or should I try to use some of the tank water?
What do y'all think of this plan?

any suggestions on making this easier are greatly appreciated.

 

[reeffreak]

These are new trash cans,yes?All I did was rinse them outside with a garden hose.

Personally,I would use as much of the old saltwater as possible.At least maybe 50/50.If it is possible,I would leave the sand in the 55g and move it.

 

[Bifferwine]

Yeah, keep the fish, corals and rocks in their original water. You can shock them if you move them into a tub filled with new water.

 

[yote]

+1 Reef and Biff.

 

[PRC]

I just did this with my nephews tank, and I did a quick upgrade of my tank...Here's what we did.

1. Get (3) 32g rubbermaid cans from Home Depot. ($15.00

that gives you 96g but you're going to need it. Even with your 55g.

Pull about 20 gallons of water out of the tank and put it into 1 of the cans, put all your rock in there. At this point including all of your rock, this can is full.

Pull another 20g of water out and put it into your second can. Put the fish in it.

Fill the other can with new saltwater (approx. 30 gallons)

That leaves you with 10g of water and your sand...pick up the tank and move it to where it needs to be.... (We actually took a 65g down a flight of stairs)

Get the tank in place and start adding the water back in. Use something like a plate or a bowl to prevent the water from splashing all over the place. (This way the sand isn't getting too disturbed)

Once you get the tank 3/4 full, add in your nice new clean saltwater (approx. 15 gallons). BE mindful of temperature.

put in the rocks and fish.

In our experience doing this, the sand got disturbed a little bit, but nothing too bad. Nothing died.

The Following day once everything is settled down including fish, do a water change with the remaining 15g of water you made. Boom you're done.

PS- when you're adding the water back into the tank, use a hose attached to a pump...you don't want to be dumping 5g buckets of water into the tank shaking everything up.

 

[KevinR840]

Ya, the trash cans will be new.

Thank you for clearing up which water I should try to use I was kinda unsure on that.

Thanks PRC that's probably the plan I'm going to follow

 

[PRC]

Just plan it out and get everything in place before you start emptying the tank and you'll be just fine. Good luck.

 

[kwsm]

If you have a glass tank, be very careful moving it if it has any water left in them. Can't tell you how many tanks I've cracked in my FW days... Even with 2 inches of water in there.

 

[puttycat]

Here's a picture of my setup when I changed tanks. I used the power head in the front bin to put water in the bin on the right. the U-tubes were used like an overflow so I only needed one heater and one power head. They were in there for about 18 hours and everyone came out fine. Hope the picture helps

 

[KevinR840]

^Yes, thank you that helps explain everything a lot.:bowdown: