Tank Move

[SVXH6]

looks like i gotta move my tank.. im switching rooms in my house, and it has to be moved.. whats the best way to prepare and do this?? this has probably been asked a million times over but, want it to go as smooth as possible.. this is also the tank that has my H. Magnifica.., i could honestly say this is the most important to me, along with my clownfish.. the tank has LPS, SPS, and softies.. im terrified to move it..its only going one room over though.. any tips would be greatly appreciated..

also i will have a few things up fpr sale soon..55gallon tank and stand, emporer400, few MJ powerheads, and possibly a few PC setups 130watt Orbit, 65 watt Satellite..

 

[crp]

What size tank?

 

[Arik]

Are you moving the same tank from one room to the other or are you switching tanks? If you are switching tanks it should be relatively easy, if you are using the same one I'd get a temporary tank setup to house your livestock so that you don't have to rush to move everything over. That way when you hit the inevitable unforeseen problems you don't have to worry about it.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Where's the mag? On a rock or on the glass?

 

[SVXH6]

i am keeping the same tank unless i can find a used corner tank.. i thought about setting up a temporary tank to hold livestock but i have so much packed in this tank im not sure it would work.. i have frags everywhere that are encrusting ang finally growing, and it is really upsetting to move.. i know i am gonna run into a problem.. the H. Mag is in the glass all the way at the top.. its so high that when i do water changes it droops down like crazy, i could slowly bring the level of water down and lket it unattach its foot itself.. i just cant have this anemone wandering in the tank when i set it up again.. it has been in the same spot fopr 8 months.. idk what to do..

 

[LFS_worker]

if the tank is under 40 gallons Id get some friends over and take the rock out and move it full. ( dangerous but minimally invasive).

If this is not an option I would flsh drain it. get some 1.5" or 2" and siphon out the water and quickly move the tank and stand. move the corals and rock out before you drain sence the H. mag seems to be the main concern .

Brian

 

[dalbrecht]

With a smaller tank, you may be able to move it by draining about 50% of the water, and using the furniture glides to slide the tank from one room to another. then adding back the water.

 

[SVXH6]

doing the move Fri, its going from my downstairs room to my new upstairs room .. should i save about 60 to 70% of the water, syphon the snad bed fully, and use as much of the old tank water as possible, and the rest fresh made SW.. almost like a 40% water change which is alot but, i have no choice.. what should i do about the sand bed?? syphon it out a little or a lot? any tips would be greatly appreciated please, i have an idea of what i want to do but would like to hear some advice from others..

 

[dalbrecht]

If you're going up stairs you should empty the tank completely. I would throw out and replace the sand bed in this instance. You run a massive risk of cracking the tank if you try to carry it up a flight of steps with any weight in it.

Use as much of the old tank water as possible but I would plan on doing a massive water change 1 or 2 days after the move as well.

Pickup some fresh southdown tho, replacing the sand bed should save you some headaches.

 

[SVXH6]

replace the sand completely?? i was told that was a bad idea.. someone said to just syphon the sand like crazy.. drain the water i wanted too keep then with freshly mixed SW, syphon the gravel like crazy.. the only thing left in the tank would be the sand when the tank is drained, and i only have a 1 inch layer of sand, i would completely support the tank when carrying it..

 

[dalbrecht]

If you can attach a board to the bottom of the tank it should work, but there's nothing wrong with simply replacing almost all of your sand. You would keep a small amount to reseed the bed but that would be it.

I've always found it easier to just replace the sand and start from scratch. Especially since it lets me add the rocks to the tank before the sand anyway so that things are better supported.

Either way I don't think you have that much to worry about.