Moving a reef

[The_Coleman]

Was not really sure where to post this, but I'm a newb so I'll start here. As the title says, I need to move my reef tank. Its a Red Sea E-260 sitting in my downstairs on a slab. I'm actually going to remove the old carpet and put in hardwood floors, so I don't need to go a long distance, but just shift it maybe 6ft so I can remove the carpet and get the hardwood down where it will resume living.

Circumstances:
- I have a Kole Tang, Six Line Wrasse, Diamond Goby, and Clown fish.
- Only a handful of frags, none are currently mounted to any rock work etc.
- Tank has been established (cycled) for about 3 months now and is healthy
- I have an RO/DI system and a 36gallon tank to make saltwater, along with some 5 gallon jugs that I can store extra in total saltwater container capacity 46gallons.
- Expect the tank to be in move for ~5 hours (this should be more than enough to get the carpet out and the first 5ft of board down so I can move it back and then finish the floor out.

Questions:
- I will need to drain a lot of water from the tank to make it manageable for two to three people to shift it. Should I store this water for the time with a powerhead circulating or dump it and replace with new water? Replacing seems a bad idea to me.
- If returning most of the water, should I remove my rock work and possibly the fish and put them in the 36 gallon container (It is a dedicated commercial garbage can that I think nearly all of us use or have used at some point for water storage purposes.)
- Is there anything in particular that I should be cautious about, lessons learned, etc?
- Does anyone have a creative way to move a tank like this without removing much of the water?

I considered using small diameter PVC piping to make rollers to roll the tank on, but the bottom has little feet nailed in so it won't really roll too well. Its how I plan to move my safe though for sure.

TL/DR: My wife wants new floors, I am afraid of my wife, tank needs to move temporarily while the floor is replaced under it. Help me please!

 

[tzylak]

My moving experience involved:
1. Draining 3/4 of the tank water into 5g buckets
2. Putting all exposed rocks into those buckets
3. Getting 3 other guys to help me gently lift the tank and place it on two dollies for the move
4. Putting rocks back into the tank
5. Refilling DT with new salt water

I left all fish in the 55g DT. The move took ~4 hours. The DT, stand, sump were moved as one unit. The buckets did not have any thermal control or any induced flow during the move. The tank contents opened up the next day as if nothing happened. I monitored the water for 3 days with no spike.
It was not as serious of a feat as I anticipated, but the 3 other guys were vital to the process.

 

[anthonys51]

i moved my 57 gallon reef tank last week. i bought 3 big storage bins form home depo.
one bin i filled up and put fish in filled half way. the second bin i filled up with water and put the rock in that had coral on it that i couldn't take off. 3 rd bin i put the rest of the rock in dry. i moved the tank to other house didnt do anything to heat or circulate the water since both bins had about 25 gallons each in it . i added all the rock and corals back in first with the water from the 1 bin. then add the fish and added that water back in. i was short about 8 gallons so i made a batch quickly and added that to the tank 20 mins later. i didnt lose a single coral or fish in the transport.

i have 2 clowns, 2 wrasses , 2 tangs, watchman goby and 3 cleaner shrimp

also i had little tubs for the corals i could get off the rocks

 

[Sk8r]

Heh. We just did this with 1800 lbs of tank and stand. WE first stripped the carpet and pad all the way to the rim of the stand, and abutting it, we screwed 1/4 inch plywood curviing up to form a mini-ramp. We de-watered the tank down to 8", into Brute Rubbermaid trashcans, used that as an occasion for a 30% water change, and used a dolly and a rotating action, kind of prying it up and over to get the edge of tthe stand lifted onto the 'ramp.' We also used it as an occasion to put felt glides under the stand, so it will thereafter slide nicely on the plywood OR the hardwood. Lift, rotate a hair, lift, rotate, etc, with a partner to control the micro-tilt, and you can move that tank. In our case we had to have a dolly capable of 1800 lbs or a sizeable part of it. Leverage is all.

Your alternative is to call a local moving company and hire a couple of guys for 3 hours. The young and hungry companies will deal.

But yes, worked like a charm on a 105 and a 52, an upright piano and an entertainment center. Permanent felt glides are a real good idea.

 

[The_Coleman]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Looks like keeping the water is the better idea so I'll probably load up my brute trash can full of tank water and move my live rock into it. I can put the coral frags into specimen containers and see how it goes. I may cut the carpet around the tank and leave a long tail of carpet on one side to sort of drag the tank with. Seems neat in theory but may be worthless in practice.

Sk8r, and anyone else with hardwood floors, what did you do, if anything to protect the floor under the tank? Mine is rimless and open top so I'm concerned about splashes etc getting on the floor and how to get it from under the tank if it seaps there. Or am I worrying about something thats really not an issue.

 

[tzylak]

Ahh, wood flooring. . . .
Option 1 is to be really, really careful. IMHO that's impossible and a futile effort before the wood swells and looks water damaged.
Option 2 is to put tile or granite or travertine under and within the tank vicinity. With that, I just wipe whatever is accessible and don't worry about whatever water left under the cabinet.
Good luck!!

 

[Sk8r]

Under the tank, all I can say is never trust a canister filter, and be REAL sure your sump connections are secured beyond any possibility of slippage. You can make clamps out of split hose, eg: goes on the sump rim and carries a hose or cord, waterproof and stiffly clamped on the rim. You can use aluminum clips (try not to let them get wet) as a metal that won't rust and shows no disposition to leach into the tank. But think two and three times about all the ways something could slip. When laminate gets wet it ridges down the seams; will sink back over time, but still, it's a pita and never does go all the way down. When hardwood gets wet it can stain and curl. My advice is to have a water alarm where there's a remote chance of a leak---a loud one. Have towels where you can get them fast, and never let water stand on a joint. Your best of all solutions is to drill 2 holes in the floor for hoses to a basement sump which puts the leaky stuff downstairs, potentially near a floor drain. There is also a flexible vinyl floating floor that operates much like laminate, but is good for bathrooms. And there are ceramic tiles that look a lot like wood. We have laminate, and thanks to the canister (freshwater), yes, we had a leak, and we do have a little problem over there in that corner, but it's not bad enough to make us rip that corner out. Problem with flooring as you know by now---it has a 'starting side' and if the leak is on the starting side---you're faced with whole-floor replacement. If on the finish side, you could fix it with a couple of boxes of spare flooring.

 

[The_Coleman]

I know its not a matter of if, but when water gets where I don't want it. The RSM does not have a sump, yet. It is drilled for one if I choose to add one later, but right now all the water stays up top other than the ATO tank. The floor is on my foundation slab so I can't have solid hardwood and laminate without a tank is already asking for trouble. We are looking at manufactured and now I am seriously considering an LVP option like CoreTec. It solves a lot of issues for me and actually looks good.

 

[Sk8r]

There are some laminates that resist water better than others, and if you REALLY want waterproof, they make wood-look vinyl, thin, flexible, no padding, but use it in bathrooms, no problem. It has sticky strips that join each other, and thus far, in our bath, it's flawless and tough. The only thing I'd worry about is moving some object that could really scratch it, but that wouldn't be good for laminate or hardwood, either. There is also ceramic tile that mimics wood quite well.

 

[The_Coleman]

There are some laminates that resist water better than others, and if you REALLY want waterproof, they make wood-look vinyl, thin, flexible, no padding, but use it in bathrooms, no problem. It has sticky strips that join each other, and thus far, in our bath, it's flawless and tough.

That is what the coretec stuff is. They call it luxury vinyl plank. Unlike the stick down stuff, this actually has a finished top layer with resin type core, and the a cork underlayment on it. It is click lock style and floats. I was a bit apprehensive but after researching I am getting ready to go that route. The floor would be the entire downstairs, including half bath, laundry room, and kitchen.