Moving tank... would like input.

truebeliever71

truebeliever71

Premium Member
I've decided to move my 55 Gallon bowfront tank from my office at work to my home since my hours have cut in half and things are looking good for the business in general. (We suspect the doors will be closing soon here.)

I'm kinda in quandary over trying to keep the majority of the water or not. I have a rather unique chemistry going on in the tank. The pH is rather low (7.7) and the alkalinity and calcium are quite high (19 dKH and 550 respectively). All of other parameters are within check other than silicates (6) and phosphates (.5)... which explains the hair algae problem I'm having. All of the inhabitants are happy and thriving (I have 6 fish and several soft, LPS, and SPS corals).

I haven't done a water change in almost 2 months and do not dose anything other than trace elements for the corals.

What do you guys think? Should I try to transfer as much water as possible? Or should I start with fresh water and get everyone acclimated to the new chemistry?
 
it shouldnt be a problem as long as you're new water is brought up to the same parameters.... but they are pretty high

otherwise, why not do a change now to bring things down a bit, and let it run for a day or so, and then do another one to correspond with the move and only transfer some of the water
 
As Adam suggested.

You may want to consider a 3 step process to gradually get the water to normal parameters. Do a 20-30% change in the tank as set up now give it a few days, transfer 50% of the water during the move, give it a few days, and then another 20-30% change. Better than trying to get 100% of the water close enough to not shock anything and better than using all the old out of parameter water.

Just a suggestion.

Dave
 
I'm planning on moving it tomorrow so doing an initial water change isn't going to work out before hand. I think I'm going to try moving about 75% of the water with the tank and add 25% new to it... then do 2 50% water changes over the next week.
 
I moved my 72 gal tank a few weeks ago into my new house.

I had two brute trashcans full of fresh saltwater,

I put the rocks in 5 gallon buckets (covered with water) , and bagged the corals, crabs, shrimp, etc.

I put the fish in another bucket.

Drained the tank moved it then refilled the tank.

re-aclamate everyone and that was it.

I did not loose anything, and they are all happy in there new home.

Good Luck!
 
Harry... thanks for replying. I would comfortable doing that if my water chemistry closer to ideal... but it's pretty wacked and I'm afraid of shocking the fish and coral... I pushed the move day to this Saturday and went tonight and did a 20% water change. I'll end up moving about 50% on Saturday and then next weekend will do another 20%.
 
It's moved! - Update

It's moved! - Update

I just thought I would update everyone with the tank move.

I started around 3p yesterday and didn't finish getting it all put back together until around 10p last night. Everything went smooth, I just took a long time scrubbing the sides of the tank and rearranging everything. I ended up replacing around 40% of the water. (Note: I usually go to Walmart and get water out of the Culligan machine but this I used the Giant here in Endwell. I don't think they service the machine as well as Walmart does as there were nitrates and silicates... not high levels but there.)

My water chemistry is a little better.
pH - 7.7
Ca - 450
NO3 - 10ppm
Am & NO2 - 0
Alk - 6.5 meq/L
Silicates - 6

I think this week I'm going to get an air pump and stone to see if I can get my pH that way. I'm also planning on a 20% water change next weekend.
 
Congrats on completing the tank move. You can drip some kalk to boost pH or simply add some baking soda since your alkalinity has room to go higher as well to be in balance with your Ca.

Living as close as I do, you can come over to grab some ro/di if you need. Also, I ean tanks using Endwell tap water for three years with no ill effects. I recently put in ro/di with no observeable beneficial effects in my displays. Go figure!
 
Jerry... thanks for the offer. I need to get some more water as my tank isn't as full as I like it (has another 3/4 inches of room.) According Randy the Alkalinity is supposed to between 2.5 and 5 meq/L. Mine is at 6.5, so you really think I have room for more?

Today I baked some baking soda to dose. Especially since my skimmer hasn't working in 2 weeks and I only run it 2 days a week.

Thanks again.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13847077#post13847077 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drbronx
Congrats on completing the tank move. You can drip some kalk to boost pH or simply add some baking soda since your alkalinity has room to go higher as well to be in balance with your Ca.

Living as close as I do, you can come over to grab some ro/di if you need. Also, I ean tanks using Endwell tap water for three years with no ill effects. I recently put in ro/di with no observeable beneficial effects in my displays. Go figure!
Click to expand...
 
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