Making a slight move

[JMM744]

have a 40 breeder with 30 sump . One yellowwatchman, several cleaner shrimp, one Harliqen shrimp, several bubbletips and various small corals. Hammer, zoa, leather, several feather dusters. I need to move this tank about 4 ft. Off carpet and on to concrete. Want to empty sump and about 2/3 of 40 and try sliding it carefully into place and quickly replace water and get it back running. I am saving all the water from the system to add after the move. Can this be done seeing as some of the anemones and corals will be out of the water for a while. Thought about laying a wet paper towel over each as I get it moved. Thoughts, do’s or dont’s?
Thanks, Jim

 

[sbash]

First, the corals can be out of the water for a short while, but the anemones will get upset and likely split (which may or may not be a good thing, lol)... Anyway, this is quite a challenge you have here...

So, I did some rough math, and even at 1/3 full, the contents of the tank is likely close to 200 lbs (water, rock, sand, etc). Plus the weight of the tank, and stand!

Because the stakes are high, I break these situations down into three basic outcomes and make sure I have enough time for all three.

Ideal situation:

"empty sump and about 2/3 of 40 and try sliding it carefully into place"
​

What is actually going to happen:

Once the water is drained, it is still too heavy to slide. So more water needs to come out.
The livestock needs to be put into a container, possibly some of the rock needs to come out as well (try to not mess up the sandbed).
The sump will need to be pulled out (which has plumbing implications)
With the tank basically empty, but still on the stand, it will probably slide into place.
Reassemble the sump and put the rocks and livestock back in
Refill with water. ​

Worse case:

You have to dismantle everything and reassemble in the new location...​

 

[Ranjib]

You can easily keep most sps corals out of water for 10-20 minutes, just keep them moist.
I also use a 5G water bucket to keep them temporarily (like 30 min) as and when I move tanks.

 

[JMM744]

Thanks for the suggestions and help. Will put more thought into this project.