Moving apartment

[reefer12]

Hey guys I need some advice.
I about a week and a half I’ll be moving apartment.
Short drive about 5 miles.
I have a 20g tank with aquascape which currently is not stable so will have to take it apart and assemble it again.
2 clown fish
1 royal gramma
1 ywg
Different inverts (snails, crabs etc..)
2 bta
And few corals that are attached to the aqua scape already.
I also have an empty 15g tank which I plan on setting up there before I move.
Any advice on how make this move as smooth as possible?

 

[Ron Reefman]

A 20g tank should be fairly easy. Especially if you can have the 15g tank already set up at the new location. Will the 15g tank be your new main tank or is it just to help with the move?Can you have sand and water already in the new tank? Will the 15g tank be running with extra equipment, like a HOB filter or a wavemaker pump?

I'd get a couple of containers that can hold 5 or 10 gallons of water. I'd suggest a Brute trash can, but that is probably way more than you really need. Put your rocks in one and all the livestock in the other. It would be useful to have a battery powered bubbler for the container with the livestock as it may take some time to get the rocks and other equipment set up.

 

[reefer12]

A 20g tank should be fairly easy. Especially if you can have the 15g tank already set up at the new location. Will the 15g tank be your new main tank or is it just to help with the move?Can you have sand and water already in the new tank? Will the 15g tank be running with extra equipment, like a HOB filter or a wavemaker pump?

I'd get a couple of containers that can hold 5 or 10 gallons of water. I'd suggest a Brute trash can, but that is probably way more than you really need. Put your rocks in one and all the livestock in the other. It would be useful to have a battery powered bubbler for the container with the livestock as it may take some time to get the rocks and other equipment set up.

I am planning in the end to set up both tank.
I have extra heater, filter pump, and light. only thing I don’t have extra is wave make.
Should I take as much water as I can with me?
Should I change all the sand or try to take the old one? I don’t want to go thru cycling again

 

[Vested]

I am planning in the end to set up both tank.
I have extra heater, filter pump, and light. only thing I don’t have extra is wave make.
Should I take as much water as I can with me?
Should I change all the sand or try to take the old one? I don’t want to go thru cycling again

Use as much old water as you can thats clean, if you want todo new sand do it but add a couple scoops of your old sand in with it. Keep a very close eye on your nutrients after moving and make sure they do not bottom out. Should be smooth sailing :)

 

[Eggs]

I would have some extra saltwater made up just in case something happens. Maybe 5 or 10 gallons to be on the safe side.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I am planning in the end to set up both tank.
I have extra heater, filter pump, and light. only thing I don’t have extra is wave make.
Should I take as much water as I can with me?
Should I change all the sand or try to take the old one? I don’t want to go thru cycling again

Take as much water from the old tank as you can. And have some new water ready as well. Keep your rocks, corals and other inverts and fish in the old water as you move them to your new home.

How long has the old tank been running? If it's not too old, you can just take all the water out of the old tank and move the tank with the sand in it. Then VERY carefully add the water back into the tank and it should be OK. Watch the nitrate level if the old sand gets stirred up too much.

If you want, you can wash the old sand. I put my old sand in a bucket and take it out in the yard, Take your garden hose and remove any sprayer nozzle. Turn the water on full and stick the hose end into the sand. Let the bucket fill until it overflows. Then, with the water still running, move the hose up and down in the sand. All the detritus trapped in the sand will rise to the top and wash out of the bucket. So will the super fine silt. When the overflow starts to run cleaner, you can stop. Let the bucket sit for a few minutes and the water above the sand should clear fairly quickly. Then, carefully dump as much water out of the bucket as you can. I leave my bucket sitting slightly turned down hill for as long as any water wants to run out (15 to 30 minutes). Now you have clean sand to use. Most of the bacteria you need for the nitrogen cycle is still alive on your rocks (assuming you keep them wet in saltwater). There is no need to save any old sand and you should not need to cycle the tank assuming you use the newly washed sand, either new or old water and the live rock that has been kept wet.

I just rebuilt my 40g breeder aio tank using this method. After it was fully reassembled (24 hours) I had no ammonia or nitrite. My nitrate was up a bit because I only cleaned about 3/4 of the sand. BTW, my new set up had clear water in just a couple of hours (because of the cleaned sand. All the detritus and slit was washed out so the water goes clear much more quickly.