Moving your Tank... Good or Bad

[seasalt_newbies]

So I bought a used tank from a fellow Canreef member about 3 months ago. It's set-up & running full speed ahead in our rental place in Stony Plain. I am in the process of having our new house built in Spruce Grove and I am curious, is there a limit to how many times you want to move/dismantle/set-up a tank?

I should be ready to move mine over to the new house around the end of April or May. Does anybody know of any threads or articles about what to do in order to move a system?

Also has anyone had great help from someone or a retail store that helped move your tank.

Some people said it was dumb that I set this up before moving into the house. Any thoughts on any of the above statements and questions?

All your feedback is greatly appreciated

Mike n Tiffany
587-988-1107

[Proteus]

It's a simple process. There are lots of threads on here if you use the search option

But all in all. Keep your live stock in a bin with warmth and flow. As well as rock keep it in water

I would suggest new sand unless you want to wash the old. Try not to take to long.

Anything else?

[Aquattro]

How big is the tank?

[Proteus]

Should also mention try not to stir up sand to much until livestock is out. If you do you can stir up some nasties which will stress livestock

[ScubaSteve]

I've helped a buddy of mine (who's a member on the boards here) move his tank 10 times. Seriously. 10 times!

It's pretty straight forward:

Don't rush, but don't dilly dally.

Been methodical so you don't crush your favourite coral or squish that fish.

If you can, keep the water buckets warm with heaters. If not, don't stress about it; they can get cold (to a certain degree). You only only run into problems if the temperature increases or decreases too quickly.

Don't seal off the buckets so that air can still diffuse into the water.

Try to keep as much of the old water as possible to reduce shock to the system with regards to water parameters.

As Proteus mentioned, don't stir the sand until the very end. My buddy and I drain the tank (with all livestock and rocks removed) until there is maybe 1 cm of water left (or how ever much you can manage to get out). Then swish the frig out of the sand and clean that stuff good! My buddy swears by it. It's like hitting the reset button on the tank.

You WILL have a small cycle and you will loose some 'pods. If you have fish like mandarins (which rely on the fauna in the rocks to survive) you should re-home them, if only temporarily, unless you can supplement their diet - otherwise they starve and that's not fun.

[intarsiabox]

Have a bunch of premade salt water at the new house before you move the old tank. I just used Rubbermaid totes to put my rock and coral in and added enough water to keep them submerged. Don't get really large totes as they get heavy fast when full of water and rock. If possible set up a holding tank to store the rock and coral at your rental place then you can take your time moving the old tank, getting it set up and cleaned before transporting the livestock. I don't know if a retail store could help you any better than just a friends second set of hands to carry the heavy stuff.

[seasalt_newbies]

Originally Posted by Proteus

It's a simple process. There are lots of threads on here if you use the search option

But all in all. Keep your live stock in a bin with warmth and flow. As well as rock keep it in water

I would suggest new sand unless you want to wash the old. Try not to take to long.

Anything else?

Simple HA If there is one thing I have learned so far from this hobby is that nothing is really simple or cheap LOL
I think new sand is a great option as I have heard more negative stories over using the old sand after trying to wash it.

Originally Posted by Aquattro

How big is the tank?

I have a 180g and 90g sump. Little guy compared to many on here

[seasalt_newbies]

Originally Posted by Proteus

Should also mention try not to stir up sand to much until livestock is out. If you do you can stir up some nasties which will stress livestock

Thank you, I will try to remove everything with as little disturbance as possible. When the time comes.

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

I've helped a buddy of mine (who's a member on the boards here) move his tank 10 times. Seriously. 10 times!

It's pretty straight forward:

Don't rush, but don't dilly dally.

Been methodical so you don't crush your favourite coral or squish that fish.

If you can, keep the water buckets warm with heaters. If not, don't stress about it; they can get cold (to a certain degree). You only only run into problems if the temperature increases or decreases too quickly.

Don't seal off the buckets so that air can still diffuse into the water.

Try to keep as much of the old water as possible to reduce shock to the system with regards to water parameters.

As Proteus mentioned, don't stir the sand until the very end. My buddy and I drain the tank (with all livestock and rocks removed) until there is maybe 1 cm of water left (or how ever much you can manage to get out). Then swish the frig out of the sand and clean that stuff good! My buddy swears by it. It's like hitting the reset button on the tank.

You WILL have a small cycle and you will loose some 'pods. If you have fish like mandarins (which rely on the fauna in the rocks to survive) you should re-home them, if only temporarily, unless you can supplement their diet - otherwise they starve and that's not fun.

So many different opinions on using old water or using new water. Same as sand.
I will look into getting some more totes when I start

Originally Posted by intarsiabox

Have a bunch of premade salt water at the new house before you move the old tank. I just used Rubbermaid totes to put my rock and coral in and added enough water to keep them submerged. Don't get really large totes as they get heavy fast when full of water and rock. If possible set up a holding tank to store the rock and coral at your rental place then you can take your time moving the old tank, getting it set up and cleaned before transporting the livestock. I don't know if a retail store could help you any better than just a friends second set of hands to carry the heavy stuff.

Yes when I bought my rock the totes got heavy very fast great advice.

[Aquattro]

As for water, new or old is fine, as long as it's a close match. Old water doesn't have anything in it you need other than the critters are used to it. If you do regular water changes, using all new water is just like a really big water change. If it's easier to have new water waiting, do that. If it's easier to keep the old stuff, then go that route.

[Madreefer]

All great advice. Your set. Good luck.
Only thing I might add is to not try to move the tank or sump with anyting in it. You can break the seal. I did that to a 90g