About to move tank, suggestions?

[ludiNano]

Hello all im about to move and of course will be moving tank, im only moving about 1 mile away so im sure no problems will come aboutl.

I just thought i would throw out how i plan to move it and if any of you; who have moved tanks see anything to plan for that ive missed shout out.


Its a 29 gallon Display and has a sump and refugium behind it.

I plan to have replacment hard plumping and bulkhead ready since its glued. I will have 30g new salt ready. I will be moving all of the live stock in 5g buckets. And i plan to get a couple extra heaters to go with my battiery air pump in case live stock has to sit in buckets longer than expected.

I don't want to risk tearing every thing down and moving it all at once and since its not a far move i will do it in sections.

I plan to simpy tear down sump and refugium move those and sump stand to new house, Fill back up w/ mostly old water. Get temp. right.

Then move coral to sump and i'll add my 3 cromis to refugium so there easier to catch ( i keep LR in sump too).

Then tear down Display maybe clean it up a little coraline. Get out the small pile of sand so its a real BB. Then reconect hard PVC.

I would like to wiegh my LR since i bought it as dry marco rock and get an idea of what it wieghs wet.

Any thing you guys see i should watch out for.

 

[iaJim]

This is definitely the time for you to consider a bigger tank. Tanks aren't very expensive, and you could just start anew. Set up the new tank and move your livestock and then sell the old stuff on RC.

 

[ludiNano]

Oh trust me i have a build in mind. But just buyin a house it will come with time. The basement is unfinished and will one day house my monster, need to plan out walls and get flooring down.

 

[Modemagic]

Last fall I moved a 55 gallon tank from Bettendorf north of 53rd street to approximately Locust and Marquette st. here in Davenport. Start to finish, took roughly eight hours. We completely tore the tank down, boxed up +- 100lbs of LR, captured the purple tang, clown fish, and chromis, and moved the corals to buckets, while draining the water into containers to put the inhabitants into. The carpet anenome rode in the tank along with the sand and enough water to keep him submerged. Loaded the tank, stand, sump, everything from the power outlet from the wall out, into the back of the truck and off we went. Got it setup at my house and put everything back together. When all was completed, didn't loose a single thing.

Best advice I can give you, do it on a day with NOTHING else going on, because it will take you all day. Then you can take your time, do things right, and not be rushed.

On a side note, if you need help, I live in Davenport and could probably help with the move of your tank if need be.

 

[xmasia]

+1 on doing everything in one move

 

[llebcire]

Don't know when you're doing this, and as today is Sunday you may be in process or finished.

I've done this once or twice, and would do it in one move if possible.

The other thing I noticed is that you're going to re-do the plumbing?

2 things:

1- Do as much as possible before the move, i.e. dry fit and glue whichever pieces you're 100% certain with. If you remember, the fumes from the PVC glue are horrid - I prefer to give 24 hrs before subjecting my tank to the smell. Sounds like you'll need to glue some pieces once everything's in place, but subjecting the tank to 2 fresh glues is better than 7 or 8.

2- As you'll be fabricating the plumbing on-site, plan for the worst. You never know what you may run into for issues, and if something happens later at night, you may end up killing livestock.

Move is simple-
*Rock into buckets, cover with tank water (I only go about half full of rock)
*Corals into buckets, cover with rock (take care keeping agressive corals separate)
*Fish into bucket, add water
*Take apart, move, assemble in reverse order

Wal-Mart sells larger "buckets" with rope handles, usually blue/orange/etc. (guessing 2.5' diameter, 2'tall) that would be good to have on hand at the new location (or something similar) to move things into if need be. You could place the rock, corals and fish into this container, with tank water, powerhead and heater, and you're good for several days if something comes up. Fish don't need to be in a fancy glass box, and corals can go days without light.

I would also use as much tank water as possible, but you will need some fresh on hand - whenever I move I always come up short on water.

You'll also want to do a water change within a few days of setting up.

HTH!

-Eric

 

[iaJim]

*Corals into buckets, cover with rock

Really?

 

[llebcire]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14855622#post14855622 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by iaJim
*Corals into buckets, cover with rock

Really?

That's funny...I was typing with one ear on my son and the other ear on the dogs...

Good catch!

How about covering with water...

 

[matt the fiddler]

i have a 75 gallon, stand and hood i would let go for cheap

 

[ludiNano]

Thankyou all for your input I had forgot i would need 24hrs to let glue on bulk head/ plumbing to dry. Well im still not convinced to move it all at once. It is a very short distance that im moving im talkin under a mile.

And any way i go, i have to drive up a very steep hill and i don't want to have to watch or have watched 4 tanks and many buckets.

Im going to finish replacement plumbing this weekend. I will be able to move that back area -sump/ refugium, and leave live stock is Display w/ power.

And then i can put live stock is sump while plumbing is drying. And i can leave water level below overflow in display. To leave rock covered w/ a heater and powerheads.

As i said i am mixing up 30 gallons to make up for any water lost.

Fiddler if its real cheap i'll think about it. I can use it as a refugium later on.

 

[tholton33]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14879791#post14879791 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by matt the fiddler
i have a 75 gallon, stand and hood i would let go for cheap

how cheap is cheap

 

[ludiNano]

Made replacement plumbing. Should be moving it this weekend or the start of next week.

 

[ludiNano]

Well i moved the tank weekend befor last and just got camera out, thought i would update. Move took about 6hrs. I will get some sheets to separate display and sump untill i finish basement. I also need to clean up the cords still.

Heres my Squami to show how big it is.

Heres new FTS.

New addition too. Rainbow wrasse.