Moving a tank

MikeyAl · Mar 4, 2017

I have to move my 90 gallon reef tank. I have only 6 small fish, softies, zoas, anemone, and some LPS.
I have to move out of main level for only a month.
I was thinking moving my fish to my 30 gal qt tank and all rock and corals to another tank.
My question is- since I am using same water and rock, do I need to cycle?

Zero Nitrates · Mar 4, 2017

This is a good read

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/are-you-moving.69/

garethwood · Mar 4, 2017

ill bump this thread for you but im in no way an expert, but i moved across my 50L into a 100L and the advice i was given was to keep the rock ( good bacteria ) and ditched the sand and added fresh sand. the sand as far as im aware can cause problems. you shouldnt get a cycle. i used 50% of my old water and 50% fresh water and added new dry rock. i didnt have any problems. if in doubt you could add some bottled bacteria colony to help boost your good bacteria. but like i say im no expert. good luck: )

AwildcatsZ · Mar 4, 2017

I moved my 12 gallon about 10 miles down the road to a new apartment. I know it's much smaller, but smaller water volume is easier affected, or so they say. It was running for 1.5 years before the move. I drained most of the water into 5 gallon buckets and put my rock and corals into them. Kept some water in the tank to keep the sand wet.

Filled the tank with the water and added fish and corals. Didn't seem to disturbed the tank too much and didn't seem to start a new cycle.

My advice tho is that the tank is the last thing moved, and the first thing set up. Also plan EVERYTHING out ahead of time. Might just be how I work, but I made sure I ran through every step before actually moving anything. Total process took about 3-4 hours.

Hope this helps and good luck with he move.

MikeyAl · Mar 4, 2017

AwildcatsZ said:
I moved my 12 gallon about 10 miles down the road to a new apartment. I know it's much smaller, but smaller water volume is easier affected, or so they say. It was running for 1.5 years before the move. I drained most of the water into 5 gallon buckets and put my rock and corals into them. Kept some water in the tank to keep the sand wet.

Filled the tank with the water and added fish and corals. Didn't seem to disturbed the tank too much and didn't seem to start a new cycle.

My advice tho is that the tank is the last thing moved, and the first thing set up. Also plan EVERYTHING out ahead of time. Might just be how I work, but I made sure I ran through every step before actually moving anything. Total process took about 3-4 hours.

Hope this helps and good luck with he move.

Thank you.

MikeyAl · Mar 4, 2017

garethwood said:
ill bump this thread for you but im in no way an expert, but i moved across my 50L into a 100L and the advice i was given was to keep the rock ( good bacteria ) and ditched the sand and added fresh sand. the sand as far as im aware can cause problems. you shouldnt get a cycle. i used 50% of my old water and 50% fresh water and added new dry rock. i didnt have any problems. if in doubt you could add some bottled bacteria colony to help boost your good bacteria. but like i say im no expert. good luck: )

Thank you.

nemo1017 · Mar 4, 2017

I Did it once and about to do it again. I kept a handful of sand and mixed it in. I also kept all of my tank water, But I did lose about ten gallons or so in the move. so I kind of did a water change. I moved from a 55gallon to a 50 gallon. I had no cycle, I also had a poly filter in there. I always keep a poly filter on hand and a bag of seachem matrix in the sump area just in case I need to seed another tank. Oh and a bottle of Dr tims bacteria

MikeyAl · Mar 5, 2017

nemo1017 said:
I Did it once and about to do it again. I kept a handful of sand and mixed it in. I also kept all of my tank water, But I did lose about ten gallons or so in the move. so I kind of did a water change. I moved from a 55gallon to a 50 gallon. I had no cycle, I also had a poly filter in there. I always keep a poly filter on hand and a bag of seachem matrix in the sump area just in case I need to seed another tank. Oh and a bottle of Dr tims bacteria

90% of the water will be from current set up - and I am adding a sponge filter that had been in sump for 3 months.
Thanks.

MikeyAl · Mar 5, 2017

Reading that thread is interesting. So how long can I keep corals/ rock in brut containers or buckets? I am going to have to keep for a month before I can move them back to the tank.
Thanks

Zero Nitrates · Mar 5, 2017

You can use any reef/fish safe containers.

Since you are moving your tank inhabitants for a month, you are basically setting up temporary tanks.

For the fish and coral, they will need heat(heater), water movement(power heads), clean water(filter and/or water changes), light(light fixture). Certain types of coral might require Ca, Mg, Alk additives.

For the rock, they will need heat(heater) and water movement(power heads).

MikeyAl · Mar 5, 2017

Zero Nitrates said:
You can use any reef/fish safe containers.

Since you are moving your tank inhabitants for a month, you are basically setting up temporary tanks.

For the fish and coral, they will need heat(heater), water movement(power heads), clean water(filter and/or water changes), light(light fixture). Certain types of coral might require Ca, Mg, Alk additives.

For the rock, they will need heat(heater) and water movement(power heads).

Are brut garbage cans safe? I have all the other stuff- won't be able to skim, but will change water weekly.