Moving a complete system

[wynagain]

I'm still in the process of finding my reef tank and after looking at new I'm starting to look into used. Found a few that are up and running and wanted to ask how daunting is it move a smaller (55g) tank with live corals and fish? And then I started thinking I would have to have alot more ready at home like rodi water,test kits, etc. Than I am at this time. Would I want to try and keep all the water? I would need a lot of containers? Or should I stick to an empty tank?

 

[Fish Fan]

Purchasing used can be a great way to get a very good deal on a full system. Many times the sellers will include a lot of little things that can really help.

It's not terribly difficult to move a tank like that with the livestock, but as a suggestion, if you're newer to keeping an aquarium, I might consider rehoming the livestock. This way, you still get a great deal on the tank and gear, and then there's no pressure to get the tank running again.

If you'd like to keep the livestock, grab a couple of battery powered air pumps (often sold in the fishing department at sporting good stores) and containers or buckets, a cooler or two might be helpful. I'd suggest taking good pics of the system before you start to take anything apart. And then just try to get it all back together and running, I'd use the rock the tank comes with, the sand I think you should rinse well or simply replace with new (dirty sand can cause problems).

Good luck!!

 

[Biokabe]

I second that - moving a complete system (empty) is so much easier than trying to move a complete system with livestock. If you exercise patience (which is something you'll need to do with this hobby anyhow!) you can find a good deal on a used (full) setup without livestock. For something like a 55g tank, that's easily something you can do on your own. A 55g is heavy but not untenable for a single person; your biggest difficulty will probably just be around finding something that can transport it, especially if the stand is already assembled. Even that isn't terribly hard, but if you don't already own a vehicle that can transport it make sure to include the cost of transport in your budget calculation.

Moving a complete system WITH livestock is much harder. Livestock is fragile, and without the usual support system of your tank there's a deadline looming over your head. This forces a rushed mindset, which can lead to mistakes or suboptimal setup. You don't have the luxury of time to decide how you want to set things up - you just have to get them up and running as soon as you can.

 

[Freenow54]

I'm still in the process of finding my reef tank and after looking at new I'm starting to look into used. Found a few that are up and running and wanted to ask how daunting is it move a smaller (55g) tank with live corals and fish? And then I started thinking I would have to have alot more ready at home like rodi water,test kits, etc. Than I am at this time. Would I want to try and keep all the water? I would need a lot of containers? Or should I stick to an empty tank?

I moved one that size but no Coral involved just used 5 gallon buckets . Totes and took my time it was a half hour drive that took 2. Be careful that they don't give you their trouble fish like my sons friend did

 

[ColoradoReeferman]

I just rented a Uhaul van for $20 a day plus mileage to move a tank. Just fyi.

 

[wynagain]

Purchasing used can be a great way to get a very good deal on a full system. Many times the sellers will include a lot of little things that can really help.

It's not terribly difficult to move a tank like that with the livestock, but as a suggestion, if you're newer to keeping an aquarium, I might consider rehoming the livestock. This way, you still get a great deal on the tank and gear, and then there's no pressure to get the tank running again.

If you'd like to keep the livestock, grab a couple of battery powered air pumps (often sold in the fishing department at sporting good stores) and containers or buckets, a cooler or two might be helpful. I'd suggest taking good pics of the system before you start to take anything apart. And then just try to get it all back together and running, I'd use the rock the tank comes with, the sand I think you should rinse well or simply replace with new (dirty sand can cause problems).

Good luck!!

Ty, good info. So do use the same water or will need new?

 

[landlubber]

when i moved my tank I made a bunch of saltwater in advance and saved 90% of what was in the tank I drained, bought enough pails to house every piece of liverock by itself (sps corals were encrusted on many of the top line rocks), bought brand new substrate and a couple bottles of bacteria.
It took the majority of the day to remove, transport and replace everything but a couple of days later you couldn't even tell anything had changed.
If everything stays warm and is replace in a timely fashion you'll be cruising.
Good luck!

 

[Fish Fan]

Ty, good info. So do use the same water or will need new?

Saving and reuses the water helps keep the major parameters consistent to minimize stress, but it's not doing much at all as far as adding in the bacteria that process ammonia. Those bacteria populate on your rocks, which is why you want to save your rock. If it's convenient to save most of the tank water, it would make sense to do so, but I wouldn't go crazy. I think you'd be fine even if you used mostly new water. You should try to have the water premixed and at the same salinity, temp, and ideally alkalinity so it's ready to go.

If you wanted to add a bottle of bacteria, I'm going to suggest Fritz TurboStart specifically. Out of all of them, Fritz is by far the most fast acting (24-48 hours), so if there's an ammonia spike, the Fritz product will take care of that quickly. All the other products take much, much longer to work (+/- 3 weeks), so you might as well just wait for the bacteria you already have to catch up

 

[Fish Fan]

Moving a complete system WITH livestock is much harder. Livestock is fragile, and without the usual support system of your tank there's a deadline looming over your head. This forces a rushed mindset, which can lead to mistakes or suboptimal setup. You don't have the luxury of time to decide how you want to set things up - you just have to get them up and running as soon as you can.

Yes, this is what I was thinking too. This is especially true if someone has limited experience with aquarium equipment and setup, and like 10x more true if there's a plumbed-in sump setup.