Moving advice

[-drew-]

Does anyone have any advice on moving a setup reef? I'm going to be moving in the next month and was hopin to get a few tips or what not to dos type of thing.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Hey Drew, several threads on this topic if you use the search feature. I would drain all the water and save about half of it in five gallon buckets to re ad when you get it reset up. Corals, rock and sand I would place in seperate tubs or 5 gallon buckets. If you're going long distance, rinse the sand thoroughly with saltware prior to replacing it in the tank and you may want to consider replacing it with new. Hope that is helpful.

 

[ReefDreams]

When i sold my 55g the guy that bought cam with a few 5 gallon buckets with lids, also a few rubbermaid bins for the rock and fishes. i had egg crate so we made a quick frag rack for the corals. In the bin with the livestock i put a air pump in there.The buckets that had the sand in it we also filled half way with water. Make sure you give your self enough time to do this it will take time and it will be frustrating because catching the livestock will be annoying lol. Make sure you have enough room in your vehicle to fit everything. and most of all try minimize the stress on the livestock. Its also a good time to do a water change if needed :) Good luck

 

[drainbamage]

I've moved over 100 reef tanks, from 20 gallons up to 400 gallons, if you could give me some details of the system (size, livestock, distance to be moved, etc) I can try and give you a detailed response of what I would do in your situation.

 

[-drew-]

Thanks for the advice so far. We will be moving roughly 20 miles from a house to a second floor apartment. I may have to downsize the large tank depending on if the floor is concrete or wood. I believe its concrete as the rest of the apartment is concrete and should support the large tank.

The tanks are:

55 gallon- not drilled
60 lbs live rock
50 lbs live sand
Livestock:
Midas blenny - 4"
Yellow damsel - 3"
Green chromis - 2"
Misbar clown - 2"
Sandsifting starfish - 4"
Peppermint shrimp - 2"
Red/maroon LT anemone - 6"
Deepwater Japanese zoa rock 8"
2x ponape birdnest - 4"
Tyree blue chalice - 12"
Whammin watermelon colony - 6"
Yellow stone polyp rock - 4"
Nuke green colony - 6"
Purple death mini colony - 2"
Blue Ricordia rock - 4"
7 head frogspawn
3 head torch
Teal candycane - 5"
Sunset monti - 3"
Purple/baby blue brain - 7"
Pom Pom Xenia rock - 5"
Alien eye chalice - 3"
Toxic green chalice - 3"
Devils hand leather - 5"
Red cap - 6"
Green cap - 3"
Lemonade pocillopora - 4"
Mint chocolate chip paly rock - 3"
Pink panther zoas - 2"
Cat's eye palys - 3"
Frog in a blender birdnest - 3"
~ 20 blue mushrooms
~ 15 red candy stripe mushrooms
12 green stripe mushrooms

There's also about 15 miscellaneous frags throughout the tank.

180 gallon - drilled
200 lbs live sand
200 lbs live rock
Refugium with live sand and cheato
Megaflow model 4 sump

Livestock:
Purple tang - 5"
Tomini tang - 3"
Porcupine puffer - 5"
Green chromis - 2"

Tyree blue chalice - 2"
Bright pink/green bubble tip anemone - 3"
Whammin watermelon zoas - 2"
Blue fuzzy mushroom rock - 7"
Orange cap - 3"

I was testing the puffer to see if she would nip coral before I added more coral, but she doesn't bother anything. So after the move if I can keep the 180 and not have to downsize I'm going to add more coral.

Hope this helps

 

[mersam74]

I moved a 190 with my dad and some friends it took 4 trips and all day breakdown and rebuild
if you can try to organize the rock in bins as you take it apart top to bottom, i didn't and i wish i had
take out the rocks and corals as you drain the water, then fish when they have nothing to hide in and last but not least the sand
I also recommend a water change at this time

 

[butts182]

lots and lots of buckets, tubs, trash cans, coolers, etc. to carry as much of the water as you can with the fish separated so that they get along and the corals in with them...lots of aerators to keep a little bit of air and circulation in the water...and the most important part...lots and lots of patience

 

[BlazinNano]

Take your time. Do not rush. Rinse the sand. Even if you rinse it with rodi water. You might kill alot of stuff bt it better to start off with clean dead sand then dirty dead sand. Lots of buckets. Do one tank at a time if you can. Take one down set it back up. Then do the next.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Everyone has good advice....i did this once with my 29 gallon and it was a full day event. Give yourself lots of time....and dont rush anything. In addition to the buckets and aerators, have a couple of heaters to keep temps up as well. I had some of my water go ice cold during the move...luckily it was mostly just the liverock buckets...use the heaters with caution and keep an eye not to melt any buckets either.

Also have some new salt water available - you will need to replace some of it.

 

[Captain Nemo]

make sure you seperate the stuff out and label it. Rinse the sand, save 1/2 the wate or so, and have someone to help you!!!