Moving tank and livestock

[Klx110ripper]

My plan is to drain tank, Put fish in separate containers, put most water in totes with live rock/coral, put tank on new stand and then refill. Put live rock back in tank and then float fish and put back in.

Plan is to leave sand in the bottom of the tank while i move, tank is staying in the same spot; just replacing the stand.

Id like to remove some of my live sand though. I feel that i put it in to deep when i first applied it 8 months ago. Any thoughts on removing live sand?

 

[BeejReef]

A half hour trip is almost too short. If it was three hours, you'd be forced to be very deliberate. If it was across the room, you just throw it back together as fast as can. You're right in between. You could also, conceivably, bring most of the tank water with you.

The things I'd sweat the details on
1) having 30-40 g of premixed, correct temp, saltwater on hand
2) an ammonia badge, prime, and a bottle bac starter, big bag of carbon
3) A level floor with adequate outlets
4) A plan for the sand. Either a method of getting water back in the tank without disturbing it, or a quick and ready method for rinsing/replacing it.

That's really where it can all go wrong for you... The sand gets massively stirred up and all of your livestock is sitting on the floor in buckets, cooling down for 6 hours. Who can say if the sand is toxic in this instance or not? I can't, but it's not what you want.

Also, I'd not connect the ATO on day one. You'll be acclimating like crazy, removing and adding water. You'll also probably have to re-tune the overflow. Install the ATO once that's all settled.

 

[MonsterTaco]

My plan is to drain tank, Put fish in separate containers, put most water in totes with live rock/coral, put tank on new stand and then refill. Put live rock back in tank and then float fish and put back in.

Plan is to leave sand in the bottom of the tank while i move, tank is staying in the same spot; just replacing the stand.

Id like to remove some of my live sand though. I feel that i put it in to deep when i first applied it 8 months ago. Any thoughts on removing live sand?

I'd love to hear how it goes. I'm still at least a few weeks out on my potential move - still need to get wife's approval, RODI, etc. Seller isn't in a huge rush and listed early to be sure he takes care of it before his move.

 

[Cell]

Maybe reuse rocks, depending on current condition. Definitely new sand and water. Keeping old sand is bad advice.

 

[Martyd]

If you can move and set up the tank in the same day, I would move everything in 5 gal buckets, keeping the rock covered with water or as covered as possible with wet newspaper on top of it.

Put the fish in their own buckets. Only a few per bucket. I’ve had fish in buckets all day (covered to keep them from jumping) without a heater or aeration, but you could do both to be on the safe side. I’d have fresh saltwater made, keep half the sand, rinsing it the best you can and add new to make up the difference.

Put the rock and corals back in. Don’t waste the time to acclimate them. Same temp and salinity is all you need (longer they’re out of the tank, the more they’re stressed). Last thing would be to acclimate the fish and your done! Probably 12 hours later

I’m sure there will be critics of my method, but I’ve done it many times with no losses. I think the key is to move quickly and get everything back in the tank as quickly as possible.

 

[MonsterTaco]

A half hour trip is almost too short. If it was three hours, you'd be forced to be very deliberate. If it was across the room, you just throw it back together as fast as can. You're right in between. You could also, conceivably, bring most of the tank water with you.

The things I'd sweat the details on
1) having 30-40 g of premixed, correct temp, saltwater on hand
2) an ammonia badge, prime, and a bottle bac starter, big bag of carbon
3) A level floor with adequate outlets
4) A plan for the sand. Either a method of getting water back in the tank without disturbing it, or a quick and ready method for rinsing/replacing it.

That's really where it can all go wrong for you... The sand gets massively stirred up and all of your livestock is sitting on the floor in buckets, cooling down for 6 hours. Who can say if the sand is toxic in this instance or not? I can't, but it's not what you want.

Also, I'd not connect the ATO on day one. You'll be acclimating like crazy, removing and adding water. You'll also probably have to re-tune the overflow. Install the ATO once that's all settled.

Well, I could drive around for a while... I think I've decided against using the existing sand (thanks to @brandon429 for the great info!) So, I think this is my plan:
Pre-Move
0) Purchase everything - RODI, salt, sand, test kits, extra heaters/pumps for salt mix, etc.
1) Mix enough saltwater to fill tank & sump + extra (~100 gallons total)
2) New sand rinsed and ready
Move Day
3) Catch fish, place in separate, small containers with tank water
4) Place corals in separate, small containers with tank water
5) Place rock in larger containers with tank water
6) Drain tank, remove sand and move everything to my house
7) Clean tank of any leftover sand/uglies (tap water, vinegar, rinse with RODI water)
8) Setup tank, level, etc.
9) Fill with new water and new sand (ensuring still level)
10) Swish rocks around in old tank water to remove any extra detritus, etc. (quick rinse in new SW?)
11) Place rocks and coral in new tank
12) Turn on pumps, etc. and make sure everything is working
13) Acclimate fish to temp, drip acclimate new tank water and add to tank
14) Monitor, test, etc. Enjoy tank!

More questions - would it be better to leave corals on the rocks or remove them for the move? Would I be better off moving the fish/shrimp into a temporary tank? I could pretty easily get a 10 or 20 gallon tank set up, similar to a QT, to get the fish in right away. Then I can run the DT for a day, a week, whatever to be sure everything is good before moving the fish in.

 

[brandon429]

if corals are adhered to the rocks Id just clean them swish well, then move them over to the new tank still in buckets of clean water submerged so the corals w be ok, if poss.

 

[MonsterTaco]

Maybe reuse rocks, depending on current condition. Definitely new sand and water. Keeping old sand is bad advice.

Yeah, I've decided against using the old sand.

If you can move and set up the tank in the same day, I would move everything in 5 gal buckets, keeping the rock covered with water or as covered as possible with wet newspaper on top of it.

Put the fish in their own buckets. Only a few per bucket. I’ve had fish in buckets all day (covered to keep them from jumping) without a heater or aeration, but you could do both to be on the safe side. I’d have fresh saltwater made, keep half the sand, rinsing it the best you can and add new to make up the difference.

Put the rock and corals back in. Don’t waste the time to acclimate them. Same temp and salinity is all you need (longer they’re out of the tank, the more they’re stressed). Last thing would be to acclimate the fish and your done! Probably 12 hours later

I’m sure there will be critics of my method, but I’ve done it many times with no losses. I think the key is to move quickly and get everything back in the tank as quickly as possible.

Pretty much my plan, with the exception of keeping any of the old sand. Good to get some confirmation!

if corals are adhered to the rocks Id just clean them swish well, then move them over to the new tank still in buckets of clean water submerged so the corals w be ok, if poss.

Perfect, I won't attempt to remove the corals first.

Question with the old sand. If I clean it out really well and keep in in buckets or something, would it be safe to use in the future? I'm talking years down the road, if/when I set up a new tank. Of course I'd still give it another cleaning before ever using it. Or would I always be better to just trash it and start with new?

 

[brandon429]

the only reason we say to trash it is because of the portion of the hobby that is studying phosphate attraction to calcium carbonate. not everyone agrees this is a big deal, so if its not, a rinsed sandbed is the same as no sandbed or a totally new one isn't that neat. Rinsing and re using right now is not bad or risky, but if it turns out that being exposed to waste continually does allow for caco3 to uptake phosphate, then new sand will have slightly less included.

I would not be against a re use. no matter how you rinsed it, you would not strip the filtration bacteria unless you boiled it or used antibacterial soap which we wouldn't. straight tap rinse on old sand does work, I do it in my 14 year old nano and then every several years I just replace the bed too bc its small and easy.

even if you can move his waste over without a recycle, it was stratified and locked away in zones in his house that will now be mixed up and starting fresh at your house, plus whatever variables you are about to present regarding feeding and waste storage. best to start zero detritus so new tank wont get massive uglies phase. the filter bacteria in the live rock portion are enough to run the entire system, even if you reduced the live rock to some degree-live rock is that powerful hungry for ammonia it lets us get away with total sandbed destruction or inclusion based on overall design for the new tank.

 

[rcassiram521]

Thanks for the info. Would you put the coral in at the same time as the fish? Or right away with the rocks?

He's asking $3000 for all equipment or $3400 with rock, sand and livestock, but is willing to negotiate. I priced out all equipment on BRS and it was around $4400 I think.

I bought my brand néw 250 for $1500 and after the equipment I spent another $1000. Consider looking at a new system as mentioned it’s your effort and experience in my opinion. I am new about a year in so enjoy making mistakes and learning from it.

 

[MonsterTaco]

I bought my brand néw 250 for $1500 and after the equipment I spent another $1000. Consider looking at a new system as mentioned it’s your effort and experience in my opinion. I am new about a year in so enjoy making mistakes and learning from it.

Been a while since I posted this, but I did not buy the tank. The seller ended up selling the livestock to someone else, so it was going to be a much easier move and I would have been starting set up from scratch. I went to the seller's home and looked at the equipment and everything was in great shape. I was ready to make an offer on everything but unfortunately, due to the pandemic, my wife lost her job. With her unemployment and the uncertain future, I had to let it pass.

After almost exactly a year of unemployment, I'm happy to report that my wife starts her new job on Monday. Hopefully all goes well and I'll be able to scratch the saltwater itch soon. At least I've been learning the most important reefing skill - patience...

Thanks again to everyone that replied to this post for all your advice. I'm sure I'll be asking more questions again when my SW journey gets started (hopefully soon!).