Advice for moving my reef

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kschweer

kschweer

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Hey guys. I'm in the process of buying my first home and I'm looking for advice on moving my system. I have moved a few systems for others in the past but I want to get as much advice as I can to formulate the best plan. I have tossed around the idea of selling everything and starting fresh, but I have become attached to the collection of fish and corals I have put together. I also worry that if I don't move and set things up at first it may get put on the back burner and not get set back up for a while. Any and all advice is appreciated.

Thanks in advance
-Kevin

This is the tank, 57 rimless. I also have a 39g frag system to move
image.jpg
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
Bag the fish, get a large rubbermaid for the rocks/corals, save as much water as possible *rubbermaid / buckets*, depending on the distance/setup time you could always put the fish in the rubbermaid when you arrive and put a pump/air stone in.

Renting a uhaul van is also helpful.
 
Buy a case of beer (well, maybe two) and they will come!


What I'm saying is get your local fish club involved and have them help make the move. The beer seems to attract fish club people like flys to you-know-what.......might I suggest Yuengling. The extra folks will make the move quick and easy. Some might bring the equipment to make it even easier....tubs, stock tank, pumps, etc.

I'd also have loads of water already made just in case.
 
Nutramar Foods
Talk to Anthony and Terri, they've done more moves than anyone else I know.
 
Ill tell you one thing... Its going to suck. I just got done moving my tank and helping my roommate move his tank 3 hours away. Basically what we did was go to lowes or home depot and get a couple 5 gallon buckets with lids. We separated the fish and coral into a couple different buckets. Then we got one giant plastic moving tote to move most of the water. (I just used a cooler) Once all the water was taken out we basically just had to carry everything from point a to point b
 
Tidal Gardens
Joshua Cline said:
Ill tell you one thing... Its going to suck. I just got done moving my tank and helping my roommate move his tank 3 hours away. Basically what we did was go to lowes or home depot and get a couple 5 gallon buckets with lids. We separated the fish and coral into a couple different buckets. Then we got one giant plastic moving tote to move most of the water. (I just used a cooler) Once all the water was taken out we basically just had to carry everything from point a to point b
Click to expand...
Yea I know it's not going to be fun. Hopefully I can come up with a good plan and stick to it. Luckily my move is only about 30 minutes. 3 hours must have been tough
 
With regards to moving the tank, it's not that it's a hard thing to do but, you really need to plan it out and have a few things in place prior to attempting it... This is how I have done it in the past 8-moves for friends and never had major issues.

Some, if not all of the stuff below you might already have, also use as much of the original tanks water as you can keep...

Moving containers (5-gallon bucket cleaned, bet you have a surplus from all the salt you've used?)
Holding tank/s (nothing special, brute trash can are you friend)
Air-pump and Stone (this is just to aerate the water in the holding tank while the new tank settles)
Heater and/or fans (this is just to keep the water in the holding tanks at proper level, might not be needed)
Gloves (seems silly but, I got a nasty sting from the 2nd tank I moved think I crushed a bristle worm or something)
Tupperware Containers (used for capturing livestock, I don't like nets, and don't let the wife see you lol)

Note: If you are going to leave livestock in the holding container for a prolonged time, and have corals also, you should consider things like lighting, skimming, activated carbon, temp-probe etc.

Time wise:

The 75g took 4hrs to move and 2.5 to set back up.
The 60g took 2hrs to move and about the same to setup.
The 180 was about 6hrs, the corals had encrusted over the live-rock and had to hammer them apart, this tank took 2days to set back up as the filtration was a little elaborate.

Hope that helps you some?
 
Nutramar Foods
redfishbluefish said:
Buy a case of beer (well, maybe two) and they will come!


What I'm saying is get your local fish club involved and have them help make the move. The beer seems to attract fish club people like flys to you-know-what.......might I suggest Yuengling. The extra folks will make the move quick and easy. Some might bring the equipment to make it even easier....tubs, stock tank, pumps, etc.

I'd also have loads of water already made just in case.
Click to expand...
Send me yuengling we don't have it in Texas I want some I love it!!
 
I was in your same position last year when I moved into my house. I had two tanks to move.

Here is what I did:
  • Purchased new sand and BioSpira. It would be better to use Dr. Tim's.
  • I setup new to me tanks at the new place. A stock, holding tank would be perfect. I put saltwater that matched the parameters of my existing tanks.
  • Put all rock without corals in separate buckets.
  • Put all fish in buckets. I filled the buckets a little more than halfway with water and put lids on them.
  • Corals got a little tricky. I put delicate corals in their own containers and placed in them in a cooler.
I have some extra buckets if you need them. I also have a 55 gallon tank/stand that you could use as a holding tank until you get your tank in place.
 
Tidal Gardens
SeahorseKeeper said:
I was in your same position last year when I moved into my house. I had two tanks to move.

Here is what I did:
  • Purchased new sand and BioSpira. It would be better to use Dr. Tim's.
  • I setup new to me tanks at the new place. A stock, holding tank would be perfect. I put saltwater that matched the parameters of my existing tanks.
  • Put all rock without corals in separate buckets.
  • Put all fish in buckets. I filled the buckets a little more than halfway with water and put lids on them.
  • Corals got a little tricky. I put delicate corals in their own containers and placed in them in a cooler.
I have some extra buckets if you need them. I also have a 55 gallon tank/stand that you could use as a holding tank until you get your tank in place.
Click to expand...
Thank you krista! I will be in touch if I need them. I'll definitely be getting new sand and I'll add dr tims to the list as well. Thanks for the advice.
 
ReefBot Lab, Automated Water Tester
Oh and I forgot, get an ammonia badge for the tanks. This way you can quickly tell if you have an ammonia spike and have plenty of water for a quick water change.
 
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IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

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  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

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  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%

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