Tank move

TonyGugino · Aug 30, 2017

Hey guys!

So I am moving about 30 minutes away from my current apartment (manchester to bloomfield) and I was just looking for some tips and tricks that some of you may have for moving my tank. It's a 60 gallon cube with a 20 gallon sump. I plan on doing it all in one day for the big move. I have a small tank already set up there with existing water from my tank that I am slowly transferring the corals over so they don't get too ticked off with the move.

Just looking if anyone has some must have tips!

Thanks,
Tony

Mike N · Aug 30, 2017

I recently did the same thing, albeit without corals. Used plenty of 5g buckets to transport water and rocks. Bagged up the fish, I left the sandbed in place and moved the tank to its new home. Restock and done.
30 minute move should be easy.

TonyGugino · Aug 30, 2017

I'm not super worried about it all. In reality it's just a PITA moving so much water. Just figured if anyone had any advice could be a good place for people who have never moved a tank before. The one part that is going to drive me nuts is getting my aquascape back to how it was prior to move.

Ranjib · Aug 30, 2017

You can also discard the 20% of water and replace it with new as part of that. 5g jars are super helpful. Buckets for corals. Lots of detritus will stir up due to sandbed or rock displacement .

Mike N · Aug 30, 2017

TonyGugino said:
I'm not super worried about it all. In reality it's just a PITA moving so much water. Just figured if anyone had any advice could be a good place for people who have never moved a tank before. The one part that is going to drive me nuts is getting my aquascape back to how it was prior to move.

Yeah, not much to it. You're right about the aquascape, that's a given lol

eatbreakfast · Aug 31, 2017

If your tank was up for longer than 6months, I strongly recommend getting rid of the old sand and startinging with new. Sand doesn't handle a move well, and everytank I've dealt with that ysed old sand had nutrient and algae problems for months after the move.

If transporting fish in buckets, a battery powered air pump and ammonia neutralizer go a long way to not stressing out the fish. And a black bucket with a lid has them go to a shut-down-mode, so they are calmer and use less oxygen.

Nburg's Reef · Aug 31, 2017

I moved an 18g from washington DC to Columbus,OH 2 years ago and even that was stressful. The container i packed everything in was too shallow and splashing water everywhere, so I pulled my 18' moving truck in home depot, bought a larger plastic tub and transferred everything in the parking lot, in November....

It was tough, but worth it. I only worried about temp with a heater, my controller and a power inverter . When I got to Ohio, i just plugged in the heater and a power head to let things calm. Next day i made up a bunch of fresh saltwater and brought it up to temp. Put everything back in the tank and slowly added new salt water.

I think the biggest thing to worry about is temp swings and flow. All my fish and corals survived and responded like nothing happened. Not even 1 acro lost color. Just take it slow.