Moving reef tank to college dorm

[ntrueman28]

Hello,
I have had my fluval 13.5 setup for over a year now and its been doing great. When I bought it it had been setup for about 2 years and I didnt have to cycle it or anything I kept the sand with enough water just above the sand so it didnt stir around and I basically just transferred it to my house and the coral survived and the fish did too and the parameters were fine. like I said its been up for a year since.

I went to college this year about 3 hours away and ive been having my mom feed it daily and dose. I come home every weekend to work on other stuff and while im home I do water changes and test parameters. I was thinking of bringing it to college after winter break so I wouldnt need to go home and it would look really cool in the dorm. My dorm is a suite so it has a common area and bathroom. I'm able to hook a RO buddy up to my personal sink and get water that way. Just worried about the sand. If I dont disturb the sand I feel like I would be fine. And if I take out the sand I would basically be starting over again I feel like since all the bacteria would be gone and then id have to do it all again when the school year ends. Please let me know and I really do not want to tear down the tank completely and leave the hobby for a few years. I have plenty of time to take care of it.

 

[bubbgee]

Nah, I would keep it at home. Too many variables to deal with rental. Plus you dont have any control over what happens around your tank when you're in classes.

Just hook up a webcam if you miss the tank. Less worries. But if you really want to take it, just don't disturb the sandbed, just move the water out of the tank into containers along with the corals and fishes and assemble it back in the dorm room.

 

[lapin]

You did not mention rocks. If you have them then the sand is not that important.
That said, take out the sand give it a little rinse. You will not lose that much bacteria that’s clinging to the sand. You will lose a bunch of crud you probably don’t want anyway.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

There's been a couple of people on here who have kept tanks at their college dorms before!

 

[ntrueman28]

Nah, I would keep it at home. Too many variables to deal with rental. Plus you dont have any control over what happens around your tank when you're in classes.

Just hook up a webcam if you miss the tank. Less worries. But if you really want to take it, just don't disturb the sandbed, just move the water out of the tank into containers along with the corals and fishes and assemble it back in the dorm room.

Ya thats what I was thinking is maybe they would mess with it, but id say I trust my roommates enough that if I told them to never touch it and never feed they wouldnt. they have been good about never touching anything or using anything without permission. I would set up a cam at home but I dont want to go home every weekend to do water changes and tests. I could have my parents do it but they wouldnt really pay attention enough with parameters and they definitely would not want to do it in the first place, they arent really a fan of feeding and dosing as it is.

 

[ntrueman28]

You did not mention rocks. If you have them then the sand is not that important.
That said, take out the sand give it a little rinse. You will not lose that much bacteria that’s clinging to the sand. You will lose a bunch of crud you probably don’t want anyway.

ya I have probably 10 or more lb of rock with a bunch of coral and coraline on them. Ya you sre right the sand is pretty nasty as I can see it though the glass on the sides.

You think pretty much nothing would change if I rinsed the sand?

 

[ntrueman28]

I have been getting bored and was wanting to have my tank around and was considering bringing it to college now but I would have to bring it home in 6 weeks and then 4 weeks later bring it back to school and I thought that wouldnt be good for it

 

[BryanM]

The rock is a much bigger player for the beneficial bacteria than the sand.

So you could remove/rinse the sand without issue IMO.

 

[bubbgee]

I have been getting bored and was wanting to have my tank around and was considering bringing it to college now but I would have to bring it home in 6 weeks and then 4 weeks later bring it back to school and I thought that wouldnt be good for it

Get one of these.. very portable.

https://www.pnw-custom.com/product-page/mini-reef-ready-tank

 

[ntrueman28]

The rock is a much bigger player for the beneficial bacteria than the sand.

So you could remove/rinse the sand without

is there any downside to rinsing the sand? would i hsve to do that with ro water at my house? I only have an ro buddy for water otherwise its well water from the hose outside which wouldnt be good.

 

[Reef Jedi]

I move a 75g around with me through college. Was a huge pain to move but to me it was worth it. In hindsight it would have been easier with a smaller tank lol

Each time I moved it, I left sand in bottom, took everything else out and moved into buckets. Then put all back at new location and topped off with fresh saltwater for what ever I lost. Never really had issues moving as long as everything stays wet. For good measure you could dump a small amount of turbostart 900 to help keep up on bacteria.

 

[BryanM]

is there any downside to rinsing the sand? would i hsve to do that with ro water at my house? I only have an ro buddy for water otherwise its well water from the hose outside which wouldnt be good.

My understanding is you can rinse it with tap water until its clean, and then either rinse again with RODI, or tank water, or likely just newly mixed salt water would work as well.

The rock is really your friend here with all the beneficial stuff in it.

 

[Jeremy165]

There's been a couple of people on here who have kept tanks at their college dorms before!

I brought my 29 gallon mixed reef tank to my fraternity. I'd wager that was a rougher environment than the doms!