Moving 180 gal sps tank

[portjeffski]

I will be relocating in about 3 weeks and would like to hear any suggestions from anyone who have moved a large sps tank. I am thinking I would like to keep all the water from the tank, so when I set it up at new house, I can refill and move in the live rock and corals.
I can get styrofoam boxes from LFS to put rock and corals into for the move. And I was thinking of getting eight 32gal garbage pails from Home Depot to put water in. I have a spare 55gal tank to maybe keep 10 small fish and some corals in until 180 is setup in new locale.
Would really appreciate any suggestions on how to make move to new house.
Thanks

 

[dragon_slayer]

i took my 180g down and moved it about 6 yrs ago and just saved half the water and after the move added 100g of new water roughly, was like doing a 50% water change, the tank seamed happy and most corals were open within a few hours of getting back in the tank.

kc

 

[portjeffski]

I forgot to mention that the move is only about a 20 min ride away.

 

[dragon_slayer]

I'd still recommend the larger percentage water change as allot of curd gets stirred up in the water when you goto taking your rock work down and moving it around. i also like to use a couple of buckets of the tank water to dunk/swish/swirl/etc.... the rock to get any sediments that may have accumulated out of it.

kc

 

[portjeffski]

Thanks Dragon_slayer that sounds like good advice.

 

[mike660r]

I just moved my 180 last weekend. It took me 26 buckets, 3 - 15 gal tubs and a couple 18 gallon tubs to move everything. I set up two 100 gallon stock tanks and transplanted all my fish and SPS in one and all my LPS and softies in the other. I transported 80% of my water. I had roughly 280 gallons of water to move. Everything is still doing very well in the temporary holding tanks.

 

[portjeffski]

Thanks Mike
I am thinking that maybe I can get everything moved and setup in 2 days, of course with some help.
do you think that's wishful thinking?

 

[edwinn]

goodluck

 

[jmoney]

heres what I did with me 75...and its tedious but it was worth it, I purchased a 90 gallon superduty leakproof trashcans from lowes and a 45 gallon i filled the 45 up 2/3s of the way and removed the live rock placing it into the bottom, then bagged each fish and coral individually, afterwards I pumped out the rest of the water into the 90 gallon and sealed them shut. I moved this tank out of a second story apartment to my house, and the weight of the water was tricky but we managed with just two people. Once we got to the new house about 30 minutes later wwe simply pumped back the 90 gallon, replaced the live rock, replaced corals, then re-acclimated the fish one hour later once everything was running smoothly. 4 hours later it was all back as normal and we did a 50% water change just to make sure everything was fine

 

[mike660r]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10135994#post10135994 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by portjeffski
Thanks Mike
I am thinking that maybe I can get everything moved and setup in 2 days, of course with some help.
do you think that's wishful thinking?

Good luck with that

Depending on how involved your setup is going to be will dictate the time line you will be forced to follow. Don't rush the setup if you don't have to. If you take your time you keep yourself from making errors that could be costly by repeating a better idea at a later date.

 

[portjeffski]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will definetly take my time. The trash cans sound like a good idea. And a 50% water change.

 

[jmoney]

just dont underestimate their weight, we were far to confident that two people could carry that down a flight of stairs

 

[portjeffski]

I agree with the weight thing. I'm thinking of renting a truck with one of those hydraulic lift gates on the back. It will be easier to load the truck.