Moving a Reef Tank
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jesterisdead
Community Member
Much depends on distance and time. I had a 55 and bought a 225 fully rigged. My problem was where my 55 was is the only place I could put a tank. So in one day I broke down my 55 by getting two 40g totes. I placed live rock, corals, and livestock in each one with a powerhead, heater, and light. Everything else was broken down, drained, etc and placed on front porch.
I didn't have ability to make and store 300g of saltwater so I bought 8 44g brutes.
The fun part was getting bodies to help.
I broke my tank down starting at 7am. I had four of the beat guys in the world, two pickup trucks, and a trailer meet me at the sellers house.
We pumped the water from the tank into the trailer with the brutes saving it. We then placed the 200lbs of liverock in another two brutes that had tank water. We had two buckets for livestock.
After draining and capture we dumped the 150lbs of old sand in a retention pond the seller had out back, loaded up the sump, stand, skimmer, pumps, and tank in trucks and drove the 8 miles to my house.
Once there I had four bottles of white vinegar and scrub pads ready and we cleaned the tank and scrubbed it down. It had dual overflows and bottom drilled so it was fun. Hindsight being 20/20 I should have taken the 30min to swap out the four bulkheads and painted the rear glass.
Bottom of stand was rotten so I went to Lowe's and got a sheet of plywood and we replaced the bottom.
Once stand was in place, sump was installed along with skimmer, pump, etc (all cleaned out).
We then added 100lbs of new sand I bought along with 50lbs of live sand and about 25lbs from my old tank. We then started filling the tank with the liverock I bought and my old rock while filling the tank up with the water saved from the old tank. Once everything was in place and all plumbing hooked back up and water topped off (i used about 25g from my old tank) I fired up the skimmer and all pumps.
After a few hours (1am now) I tested water and it rocked so I added livestock. Since most of the stock came with the tank (6 fish) I didn't acclimate.
My livestock was doing great in the totes and so I went to bed. Next day, I started acclimating my livestock, including more of my liverock that had my corals, and acclimating my corals. This was another full day of tweeking. My buddy came over and built me a hillbilly light frame and I hung my three led fixtures and connected everything to my apex. End of day two.
Next day I spent cleaning old gear and listing it for sale and cleaned up 6 of the 44g brutes and took them back.
Its been five months and I made several mistakes and lost some corals and sold off overstock livestock but I'm slowly getting back in order. Going from a small to large tank took different methods that I did t fully embrace or practice and when things go bad in a big system regardless of what some say, it goes bad fast and goes bad big. It takes time to make 44g of RODI water and if you need a lot of water quick its a pain.
The key is planning. What I was saying about bulkheads is that the next day after setting up tank, two of the bulkheads got leaks and I had to drain over flows and clean them out and go to LFS to buy bulkheads on a Sunday and they aren't cheap!
I didn't have ability to make and store 300g of saltwater so I bought 8 44g brutes.
The fun part was getting bodies to help.
I broke my tank down starting at 7am. I had four of the beat guys in the world, two pickup trucks, and a trailer meet me at the sellers house.
We pumped the water from the tank into the trailer with the brutes saving it. We then placed the 200lbs of liverock in another two brutes that had tank water. We had two buckets for livestock.
After draining and capture we dumped the 150lbs of old sand in a retention pond the seller had out back, loaded up the sump, stand, skimmer, pumps, and tank in trucks and drove the 8 miles to my house.
Once there I had four bottles of white vinegar and scrub pads ready and we cleaned the tank and scrubbed it down. It had dual overflows and bottom drilled so it was fun. Hindsight being 20/20 I should have taken the 30min to swap out the four bulkheads and painted the rear glass.
Bottom of stand was rotten so I went to Lowe's and got a sheet of plywood and we replaced the bottom.
Once stand was in place, sump was installed along with skimmer, pump, etc (all cleaned out).
We then added 100lbs of new sand I bought along with 50lbs of live sand and about 25lbs from my old tank. We then started filling the tank with the liverock I bought and my old rock while filling the tank up with the water saved from the old tank. Once everything was in place and all plumbing hooked back up and water topped off (i used about 25g from my old tank) I fired up the skimmer and all pumps.
After a few hours (1am now) I tested water and it rocked so I added livestock. Since most of the stock came with the tank (6 fish) I didn't acclimate.
My livestock was doing great in the totes and so I went to bed. Next day, I started acclimating my livestock, including more of my liverock that had my corals, and acclimating my corals. This was another full day of tweeking. My buddy came over and built me a hillbilly light frame and I hung my three led fixtures and connected everything to my apex. End of day two.
Next day I spent cleaning old gear and listing it for sale and cleaned up 6 of the 44g brutes and took them back.
Its been five months and I made several mistakes and lost some corals and sold off overstock livestock but I'm slowly getting back in order. Going from a small to large tank took different methods that I did t fully embrace or practice and when things go bad in a big system regardless of what some say, it goes bad fast and goes bad big. It takes time to make 44g of RODI water and if you need a lot of water quick its a pain.
The key is planning. What I was saying about bulkheads is that the next day after setting up tank, two of the bulkheads got leaks and I had to drain over flows and clean them out and go to LFS to buy bulkheads on a Sunday and they aren't cheap!
OP
OP
saleen385
Active Member
update
Went and looked at the tank on Saturday. This might be a very easy move. The tank is less than 5 minutes from me in the same neighborhood. There won't be any fish to move, my wife didn't like what they have. There is only about 100-150lbs of live rock and about 10 types of coral attached to the rock.
He has a 75gal that he just set up so we might put all the rock & coral in there till the tank is moved then move the rock & coral after I get it filled.
I would like about a 4" sand bed. How much sand do you think I would need(it's a 24" wide tank)? Should I use all live sand or a mix?
Thanks for the advice,
Jim
Went and looked at the tank on Saturday. This might be a very easy move. The tank is less than 5 minutes from me in the same neighborhood. There won't be any fish to move, my wife didn't like what they have. There is only about 100-150lbs of live rock and about 10 types of coral attached to the rock.
He has a 75gal that he just set up so we might put all the rock & coral in there till the tank is moved then move the rock & coral after I get it filled.
I would like about a 4" sand bed. How much sand do you think I would need(it's a 24" wide tank)? Should I use all live sand or a mix?
Thanks for the advice,
Jim
