Moving a 155 gallon DT.. Please share your tips...

DJ Monty

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On Saturday I will be moving a 155 gallon DT.. It's a 60 x30x30 Semi Circle..There are a breeding pair of Maroon Clowns on a 12" carpet anemone, a couple of tangs & a couple of other fish complete with cuc. Oh & lots of coral. The rock & coral will be moved in trash cans with some of the water, the fish will be bagged till I get them home then put in my other tank. New sand & water to top off will be ready. Would anyone that has done this before care to share any time saving tips & tricks to make this day go easier..
Many thanks...
 
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 3-moves 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 cans 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.

Sand:

Not a fan of reuse it as the trapped organics might and can leach out, have always opted to use fresh sand, or rinsed out old sand <--- that's one heck of a process and not fun!

Hope that helps you some.

One of the moves I did: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/weekend-work.193717/
 
Thanks for the help here guys.. Great advice.. I spent the last few days making a new stand for this tank to match the one I built for my 220g. When Suzi saw it she felt I should go out today & try to get a new tank so we could have everything plumbed up & ready for the move.. Then she wants me to setup the semi circular in another room. I'm not complaining :) as it gives me breathing space on move day.. Now if I can just find a tank...
 

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