Moving a 180 gallon reef tank

[Xblackout]

Hello everyone, new to the forum. In a couple of weeks I'm going to be buying a 180 gallon completely setup and running system from a guy online. He lives about 3 hours from me. I have a good plan in motion to get everything moved and hopefully keep everything alive. My only concern is when I'm setting up the tank at my house and I add the sand, what should I do with the fish and corals while the sand is settling because I know it can take a while. Thanks in advance for any tips or information!

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Hello everyone, new to the forum. In a couple of weeks I'm going to be buying a 180 gallon completely setup and running system from a guy online. He lives about 3 hours from me. I have a good plan in motion to get everything moved and hopefully keep everything alive. My only concern is when I'm setting up the tank at my house and I add the sand, what should I do with the fish and corals while the sand is settling because I know it can take a while. Thanks in advance for any tips or information!

use airstones to add air and heaters if temperature drops. Keep fish out of direct sunlight, as NC can get hot still in August, and you'll not want to try to also cool overheated water... Don't let him feed tank day before move.

Don't discount how heavy that tank is even empty. 6 big guys almost couldn't move it for my tank's prior owner, as they didn't have right equipment. I hired someone for the move when I bought my 180g, and that LFS had specialized jacking up/down lift carts. Most LFSs near me wouldn't take the job because of size

We started at 10:30a (LFS started earlier getting ready with extra water & supplies in their truck, but showed up at other place late morning about 10:30a) and finished 1am following morning with travel distance of 30 minutes (I got pizzas for everyone's dinner). The two guys moving my everything (refer my build thread) we didn't put in our pickup truck called in a third (owner) by dinner time, so I count it as 2.5 people It was really their carts and their practice that made the difference in going well... they wanted to "improve" the plumbing when they got to our house, and that added couple (2-3) hours delay (and most of that we ended up reverting back anyhow).

Good Luck!!!

 

[Fish Think Pink]

use airstones to add air and heaters if temperature drops. Keep fish out of direct sunlight, as NC can get hot still in August, and you'll not want to try to also cool overheated water... Don't let him feed tank day before move.

Don't discount how heavy that tank is even empty. 6 big guys almost couldn't move it for my tank's prior owner, as they didn't have right equipment. I hired someone for the move when I bought my 180g, and that LFS had specialized jacking up/down lift carts. Most LFSs near me wouldn't take the job because of size

We started at 10:30a (LFS started earlier getting ready with extra water & supplies in their truck, but showed up at other place late morning about 10:30a) and finished 1am following morning with travel distance of 30 minutes (I got pizzas for everyone's dinner). The two guys moving my everything (refer my build thread) we didn't put in our pickup truck called in a third (owner) by dinner time, so I count it as 2.5 people It was really their carts and their practice that made the difference in going well... they wanted to "improve" the plumbing when they got to our house, and that added couple (2-3) hours delay (and most of that we ended up reverting back anyhow).

Good Luck!!!

OH

one thing I wish I had done - hindsight is 20/20 right - wish I had delayed readding sand back into system... that was the septic tank for prior tank, so moving it without rinsing it was bad idea. Did it settle eventually, yes. Do I think my tank would have had fewer long term problems had I waited to add until clean sand and just used the rocks for bioload the first couple days while I got sand rinsed in tap couple times, then RO rinse, then into tank... yep...

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Hello everyone, new to the forum. In a couple of weeks I'm going to be buying a 180 gallon completely setup and running system from a guy online. He lives about 3 hours from me. I have a good plan in motion to get everything moved and hopefully keep everything alive. My only concern is when I'm setting up the tank at my house and I add the sand, what should I do with the fish and corals while the sand is settling because I know it can take a while. Thanks in advance for any tips or information!

Don't reuse the existing sand without first doing a full rinse of it. 1/2 full bucket at a time with hose and sprayer. It took me 10-20 minutes per bucket load to rinse the sand until it was only running clear. With a lot of sand, this can take hours and needs planned for in advance.

When I did a fully stocked 120g tank move, it took 14 hours to go 30 miles away. I set up the rock in a throw together scape and ended up adding back the sand afterwards with a piece of 3" PVC and a funnel. Sand doesn't need to go in immediately and can be back filled.

I hope you plan on having a u haul truck. You're going to need it

 

[Xblackout]

Yes, I am going to get a uhaul van. And I am planning on just using new sand. I have a 40 gallon breeder that I can potentially put the fish in while setting up main tank.