Moving a tank to the garage...

[zach202]

Alrighty... Im looking for some advice on moving an aqaurium (3.5 hours away) and also input in temporarily putting it in the garage. Ill be moving it from Nashville TN to Douglasville. Its a 75gal with a sump. My current plan is to put all of the live rocks and water in large plastic bags and then place them in rubbermaid containers. There are no fish and very few corals at this point (dont let a family member keep your treasures!). Then I would leave the sand bed in the tank and just enough water to cover it. This would all go in the back of a pickup truck next week. Right now the temp should be in the high 70s to low 80s. Any sugestions?

When it gets here I plan on putting everything in the garage for a few months until I can get the new setup going. Im putting a 90gal in the wall and there just isnt time to get it going before the current tank gets here. The garage is not heated but I have 750 watts of HM and 1,000 watts of heaters for the tank, is there going to be an issue with it going in the garage through the holidays?

One other thought, does anyone have any comments on ALL GLass tank with the built in overflow. I was looking at a 90gal with the built in overflow. Its about $270 vs $130 for a 75gal without the built in overflow. Ive already got an external overflow but have heard that an internal overflow is a lot safer when it comesto water spills.

Also, should I expect a cycle?

Thanks for the input,
Zach

 

[Tony Romano]

Big time cycle, I would recure rock as well. Internal will never fail, external can. We have a 90, overflow is a bit too small if flow is high and algae blocks slots a bit. Last I would either get rid of corals or setup in large tub.

 

[zach202]

Im running about 1,100gph will the overflow handle that? Also, does anyone use the 2nd hole in the overflow as a backup drain rather than water flow in?

 

[Myrphie]

You'll need to look at the diameter of the holes to see what flow they can handle. I think All-Glass 75g will have 1" drains, which should handle about 800gph.

Also, in my opinion as long as you are careful to avoid temperature swings when moving the rock and don't keep it out of water too long you really shouldn't have much in the way of a "recycling" incedent. I mean, just think about it like this: unless you kill or remove the nitrifying bacteria, it's not going to go anywhere. Just take your time and plan things out well and you should be alright.

In my experience, the biggest danger of moving tanks, aside from the aforementioned bacteria issue, is stirring up all the detritus in your sandbed. If you move the tank with the sandbed and a bit of water you'll have a nasty muddy soup in the bottom of your tank when you're done and that will really affect your water quality. I'd recommend flushing out the sandbed with clean saltwater either before or after the move to eliminate all the built-up waste.

Again, just my $.02.