Today is "buy existing tank and move it" day. Help me out please!

mapleredta

mapleredta

Reef addict
Alright guys, today is "get back into the hobby day!". With that said, I'll be embarking on moving an up and running 90 gallon system. Only three fish, a few mushrooms that I plan on tossing, and a ton of aptasia. I've moved a few tanks before, so I am pretty experienced, but I wanted to see if you guys had any tips/tricks/things I'm missing input for me. I'll list out what I have. Now, keep in mind, I've not been in the hobby in over six years, so I am starting from square one. I wasn't expecting this to fall into my lap, so I am going to be winging things until I get all my good equipment stocked back up.

Things I have for the move:
A brand new bucket of IO salt
20lb of live Caribsea sand
40lb of Caribsea dry sand (I'll be seeding this with some of the sand from the up and running system.)
Brand new buckets with lids
Bags for the fish, shrimp, lobster, snails, hermits
32 gallon trash can to transport as much of the existing water as I can.
Ratchet straps
Wet/dry shop vac
Collapsible ladder to allow me to get into the tank
Blankets
A GMC yukon and an open bed truck.
My plan is to put all of the livestock inside the yukon as well as the empty tank to make sure it's as safe as possible. Like a fool, I forgot to buy a styrofoam cooler to put the livestock bags in.

I will just be making water here at the new place of residence for the tank. I do not have an RODI unit, so well water will have to suffice.

Thoughts?
 
I would:
- Not bother moving the water. Instead, I'd use the 32g to get some water mixed and warmed at the destination. That'll save time once you arrive with the tank.
- Buy a bottle of water conditioner, like seachem Prime. That will help with the copper in your pipes and buffer any ammonia that builds up during transport, and as the tank cycles.
- Rinse the dry sand before hand so it's ready to go in the tank, that can take a long time.
- buy a cooler. Temp is crucial.
- maybe don't bag them? if you just had a bucket of rocks, a bucket of fish, and a bucket of crabs etc. it might go easier. Idk.

How long of a drive is it?

PS congratulations! :D
 
CStrickland said:
I would:
- Not bother moving the water. Instead, I'd use the 32g to get some water mixed and warmed at the destination. That'll save time once you arrive with the tank.
- Buy a bottle of water conditioner, like seachem Prime. That will help with the copper in your pipes and buffer any ammonia that builds up during transport, and as the tank cycles.
- Rinse the dry sand before hand so it's ready to go in the tank, that can take a long time.
- buy a cooler. Temp is crucial.
- maybe don't bag them? if you just had a bucket of rocks, a bucket of fish, and a bucket of crabs etc. it might go easier. Idk.

How long of a drive is it?

PS congratulations! :D
Click to expand...
I forgot to mention that I have rinsed the dead sand until it was no longer cloudy! Thank you.

The drive itself will be about 35 minutes, so not that bad. My train of thought was if I take the 32 gallon to the tank, I will have that water and about 15 gallons of existing tank water to help get it back up and running as quickly as possible. Right now, I do not even have a powerhead to get the salt circulating in the trash can nor a heater.

Also, thank you! I'm beyond excited to be back.
 
We transported our fish and inverts in a 5 gallon bucket rather than bags for 3.5 hrs on our last move. The water in the bucket swishing around helps with the oxygen levels (well, that's at least what we told ourselves lol). Nothing was lost and everything seemed happy when we got to the new house.
 
Make lots of water ahead of time. Much more than you think you're going to need, heated and at proper salinity.
I did the same thing with my first 75g tank. It was suggested by a seasoned reefer on RC that I made double what to fill the tank. I stored it in tote bins and I used every bit of it. I was able to shake, rinse and rinse again all the rock before putting it in the new tank. Big help!
Pails for livestock and rock is a good idea. It takes twice as long as you think it's going to to get the job done. You can put heater and small powerhead or airstone in each pail while you're getting everything set up.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
 
Today is "buy existing tank and move it" day. Help me out please!

With all the aiptasia have you thought about putting the fish in a QT tank and treating the rock in the 32 gallon? Could probably dry the rock then "cook" it to clean it while you QT the fish to make sure they are parasite free.

Not sure the condition of the tank but something to think about if you want to start fresh and on the right foot! Especially considering there is minimal livestock.

Also makes the move a lot more simple since you aren't under the gun to get it all tore down and setup in one day...
 
I wouldn't wast time trying to save old water. All your beneficial bacteria are in the rocks and filtration material (if any).
 
I was just trying to have some water on hand immediately. I will have to mix everything when I get the tank back here. I don't have any power heads to premix the salt right now.
 
mapleredta said:
I was just trying to have some water on hand immediately. I will have to mix everything when I get the tank back here. I don't have any power heads to premix the salt right now.
Click to expand...

When I bought my first tank I moved the water. I like you didn't have water made so it was simpler. If you have the ability go ahead then start doing your water changes. Skip bagging and use 5 gallon bucket or cooler for live stock.
 
nyknicks4412 said:
With all the aiptasia have you thought about putting the fish in a QT tank and treating the rock in the 32 gallon? Could probably dry the rock then "cook" it to clean it while you QT the fish to make sure they are parasite free.

Not sure the condition of the tank but something to think about if you want to start fresh and on the right foot! Especially considering there is minimal livestock.

Also makes the move a lot more simple since you aren't under the gun to get it all tore down and setup in one day...
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:
 
I would strongly consider dealing with the aptasia problem while everything is already broken down. Make new water. Water is ridiculously heavy when you try and move it. Less chance of transferring any water borne problems too. As noted all the "good" stuff is in the rocks etc. Plenty of people due 100% water changes on their existing systems. If you go this route, the new water must be close to the old in terms of temp, salinity, alk etc, as you risk shocking some critters.
 
I feel for you, my local pet shop is remodeling and I'm getting his 72g curved reef with all the toys, reef tank shallow type, and a cube tank. luck I have a 150g establish reef and a 125g reef with a 85g refugium, so all the tanks go in the Tahoe or my x5. I agree with the other RC'er forget the water.
 
Having the old water does nothing to help cycle tank. The bacteria in the rocks is what's needed to cycle a tank.
 
We moved a 180gl glass tank with stand and canopy,40 minutes to destination with a U-haul. Coral, Rocks, Fish equipment were all safe and sound except one flame Coral beauty. I wouldn't put rocks in the bucket as that's what happened to it a rock squished it.
Here's how we did it.


5 -Very strong men, and me
5- Brut 33gl garbage cans with wheels and filled 3 with tank water.
1- with water and rocks.
1- left at home with premixed saltwater and heated. I didn't have a powerhead yet so I just took a 5gl bucket and dip, pour, dip , pour in the brutt can until it was pretty mixed.

Cardboard boxes and sleeping bags to wrap and protect the tank. Ropes and duct tape to tie everything down. Pushed the 3 cans in one corner and tied them to one corner of the truck. Placed the smaller buckets around those and tied and duct taped to the walls of the truck so nothing would move.

6-5gl buckets with lids and plastic garbage bags for fish, corals and sand( Sand in separate buckets). After fish and corals were placed in the buckets, use the garbage bags to cover the top so no leakage and place lids. I really wouldn't bag the fish as the gas/ammonia/oxygen and temp could be a big thing if you need more time than you allow for.

When we got home we placed all the fish and corals ( some corals were on rocks) in one large plastic container with the water from those buckets and put a heater in it with a bubbler.

TANK- Start with the sand first, then started filling with the tank water from the cans. Place the rocks and corals and then after an hour or two when the sand settled and the cloudy mess was clear, we placed the fish slowly.

We only used the original tank water to put in the tank. A half full 180gl isn't very pretty but taking our time to fill it was the key. We then took 10gl everyday from the premix we had started and started to slowly fill the tank. Yes, we still had to make 10gl a day premix, but we bought all the water from those RO/DI machines you find at Wal-mart/Walgreens, it was only $2.00 a five gallon blue container, and premade 30 gl in the can and put 10gl in the tank each day.Our RO/DI unit came two weeks later

All in all it took a good 15 days to get it full and everyone was happy. During that time we just ran the power heads as the skimmer couldn't be used yet. Adding the 10gl water slowly didn't shock anything and before we knew it, gorgeous tank.

This was also a good time to dip corals for any infestation of pest we didn't want. WE used temp controlled fresh RO/DI water and dipped corals for 15 seconds and gave a small shake then dipped back into a bucket of tank water and then into the DT. I would use some AptasiaX on those before putting them back into the tank.

Just a thought.....Me being from the spiritual side, I wouldn't think of tossing the mushrooms ( a living thing) before your move, it's a negative beginning to this, it's just a bad omen if you planning on just throwing them away. YOu could possibly just trade them in at the LFS for credits or if you arrange them right, they could be a beautiful addition to the tank. Sry, thats Just me :)

Good luck with the move. Take your time, don't rush and just be ready.
 
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