Moving aquarium across the room

[jpmazzone]

I need to move my aquarium across my my finished basement about 30 ft. It is not a difficult job as I have a 25 gallon cube but, I am going to break it down nonetheless, put the liverock and livestock in a brute bin with my powerheads and use it as an opportunity to do a deep clean. I am also going to remove the sand as well and store in a brute bin with flow as well. It isn't a DSB so I'm not worried about it releasing toxins.

MY QUESTION IS THIS: When I reassemble the rockwork, do people think I am making a big mistake if I move the rockscape to the back wall of the aquarium? Do people do this anymore? I currently have about 3 inches between my back wall and the rockscape but I am thinking if I move it back, it will give the image of more space and allow for more theatrics and coral growth. I'm worried if I do so, it will inhibit flow and maybe that's a bad thing? Grateful for any thoughts!

 

[FUNGI]

Do what ever you find appealing......

 

[jpmazzone]

I was just wondering if moving the rock to the back wall inhibits flow. I know that it used to be the norm to put rocks along the back of the glass but I don't see people doing that so much these days so that's why I thought I'd see what other people are doing?

 

[Reefering1]

You can have rocks against the back glass and still have enough flow back there to keep it clean. Not all the rocks have to be all the way back either, create depth. Make it how you like, with flow and paths for fish in mind, then adjust flow to suite your needs

 

[Derrick0580]

I used to have my scape out away from the back wall but found I lost precious real estate for some lower light sand dwelling corals and since I really couldn’t use the area behind the rocks it was a waste. So when I moved my tank from one wall in my living room to another I moved it all back to the back glass and don’t regret it one bit!

 

[brandon429]

That can kill your fish, the current plan. A sandbed doesn’t have to be deep to be lethal. On page one of the sand rinse thread there are links to fish kills from regular depth setups. If you want safety you finish the preps the right way before reassembly, which is tap water rinsed sandbed 1000% clean and not one single spec of waste transferred over, skipping that is dangerous and completing it isn’t. Thats why we are out to page sixty with no losses, the sand rinse part. Your tank doesn’t benefit one iota from not rinsing even if you do fine mixing around the wastes in the bed. The benefit and the safety come from the rinse. I get my loss examples one by one from non rinsed bed tank moves.

 

[Idech]

I would just empty it and leave about 2 inches on the bottom, just enough for the fish. Then move it very slowly with 2-3 people.

I moved my 75 gallons by doing that. It was just about 5-6 feet, but still.

 

[gbroadbridge]

I need to move my aquarium across my my finished basement about 30 ft. It is not a difficult job as I have a 25 gallon cube but, I am going to break it down nonetheless, put the liverock and livestock in a brute bin with my powerheads and use it as an opportunity to do a deep clean. I am also going to remove the sand as well and store in a brute bin with flow as well. It isn't a DSB so I'm not worried about it releasing toxins.

MY QUESTION IS THIS: When I reassemble the rockwork, do people think I am making a big mistake if I move the rockscape to the back wall of the aquarium? Do people do this anymore? I currently have about 3 inches between my back wall and the rockscape but I am thinking if I move it back, it will give the image of more space and allow for more theatrics and coral growth. I'm worried if I do so, it will inhibit flow and maybe that's a bad thing? Grateful for any thoughts!

You need to, or you want to ??

I'd never move a tank unless absolutely necessary as you're going to have an ugly stage all over again.

My advice would be don't

 

[jpmazzone]

You need to, or you want to ??

I'd never move a tank unless absolutely necessary as you're going to have an ugly stage all over again.

My advice would be don't

Unfortunately I have to. Replacing the carpet and need to get under the tank!

 

[jpmazzone]

That can kill your fish, the current plan. A sandbed doesn’t have to be deep to be lethal. On page one of the sand rinse thread there are links to fish kills from regular depth setups. If you want safety you finish the preps the right way before reassembly, which is tap water rinsed sandbed 1000% clean and not one single spec of waste transferred over, skipping that is dangerous and completing it isn’t. Thats why we are out to page sixty with no losses, the sand rinse part. Your tank doesn’t benefit one iota from not rinsing even if you do fine mixing around the wastes in the bed. The benefit and the safety come from the rinse. I get my loss examples one by one from non rinsed bed tank moves.

Thanks for weighing in on this. I really appreciate your comments.

 

[jpmazzone]

I used to have my scape out away from the back wall but found I lost precious real estate for some lower light sand dwelling corals and since I really couldn’t use the area behind the rocks it was a waste. So when I moved my tank from one wall in my living room to another I moved it all back to the back glass and don’t regret it one bit!

Awesome to hear. I am going to do the same.

 

[exnisstech]

I moved my reefer 170 (aprox 40g total) to the other side of our bedroom recently. All I did was drain about half of the water and slide it across the floor. I've moved several tanks this way over the years some quite large (180g) Just go slow and kind of wiggle it across one side then the other and repeat. On carpet I just use cardboard so it will slide. a 25g cube two people should be able to pick it up and move it with some of the water drained.

 

[jpmazzone]

I moved my reefer 170 (aprox 40g total) to the other side of our bedroom recently. All I did was drain about half of the water and slide it across the floor. I've moved several tanks this way over the years some quite large (180g) Just go slow and kind of wiggle it across one side then the other and repeat. On carpet I just use cardboard so it will slide. a 25g cube two people should be able to pick it up and move it with some of the water drained.

Yeah that makes sense. An additional problem I have is I am going to need to relevel the tank in the new spot of the room.

 

[exnisstech]

Yeah that makes sense. An additional problem I have is I am going to need to relevel the tank in the new spot of the room.

Are you putting the tank on carpet (saw you mentioned carpet)? Just curious as I've had a hard time getting and keeping a tank level on carpet due to the compression of the carpet and pad over time.

 

[Estonian Reefer]

You might get restricted flow from the back wall which could be a flow dead spot and possible detritus buildup area. I don't really think that it will be a massive problem. Do whatever looks visually appealing to you. After all the reef tanks are meant to look visually appealing.

 

[jpmazzone]

Are you putting the tank on carpet (saw you mentioned carpet)? Just curious as I've had a hard time getting and keeping a tank level on carpet due to the compression of the carpet and pad over time.

Hi Ex, that is one of the main reasons why I am moving it. It is on a 3/4 inch carpet with a 1/2 inch carpet pad. I am out of level just a bit on the tank. The floor is a basement floor (in New England), which means it isn't level! So I am recarpeting the basement with industrial floor tiles that you would see in an office building. This will provide a much sturdier base once I level the stand.