Moving the DT !

[Willis19]

Hi,

I am considering to move my DT to a better location within my house (for many reasons). I am not sure how to do it, because this will imply to change all the water (or I can save some and re-use it) but what about the rock and fish? Have you done this in the past?

 

[azbigjohn]

How big a tank, and how far do you need to move it?

How long has it been in place now? Does it have a sandbed?

How much water storage do you have, or how much Salt water can you have ready to use at one time?

 

[Willis19]

How big a tank, and how far do you need to move it?

How long has it been in place now? Does it have a sandbed?

How much water storage do you have, or how much Salt water can you have ready to use at one time?

small tank 50 g, ruining since October 2019, 2-3 inches of sand, zero saltwater ready to use but I can have some ready for it. No fish just corals at the moment due a velvet outbreak. Will try to move 5 mts or so in the same floor.

 

[sharpimage]

Drain and save the water, put corals in water, slide tank and stand together. If you can't slide it, it needs to come apart to move. Put water back into tank. The sand is too new to have too much crud in it.

 

[Cwentz758]

When I moved mine I emptied most of my water into a brute trash can since it’s pretty heavy duty and has handles. I put my rock work in a separate can with water and put my fish in their own 5g buckets with a air stone (used three buckets to separate certain ones)

I left some water and the sand in mine and we transported it 80 miles in a truck.Got here sucked out remaining water and rinsed the sand some. Put all the rocks in and filled it up. I ran multiple heaters to warm it quickly since it was very cold.

I lost no fish and no coral.

mid you’re moving it in your house hopefully utilizing the same stand you should be able to drain most of the water into a can and maybe lift it onto some dollys?

 

[azbigjohn]

Then you are in pretty good shape.

That new of a sand bed won't get hurt / disturbed in a move. That is the big concern in moving an established sand bed, is that a lot of anaerobic areas can get disturbed and released if shuffled around; 4 months isn;t enough to do it.

Corals can handle being out of water for quite a while. I would drain the tank down to 20% or so, try and save some water if need be, and then move it, and refill with the old water, then fresh salt water (hopefully temperature matched.)

 

[W1ngz]

Brutes are great, but a full brute trash can is heavy. For me at least dealing with something heavy, slimy, sloshy and hard to move around isn't the best choice unless you're just moving it across a 10' room or the adjacent wall. Maybe an option if it's on wheels and going on the same floor of the house on a flat level floor with no carpet, ledges or steps.

My preference when I moved and when I changed tanks a year after that was smaller rubbermaid totes for fish, corals, water and rock. Small, manageable, and lets you organize which rocks go back in first while having enough water to keep everything wet so you don't accidentally trigger a cycle or any die off due to a few rocks that were left exposed to air for too long.