I have a 90 gallon Marineland corner overflow tank on the 30 inch Marineland stand made for it that I have had set up for 2.5 half years now. I have it so the end of the tank is against the wall peninsula style with about 1.5-2 inches of space between tank and wall (thought that'd be enough at the time). However, I would like to upgrade to MP10s on that end as this is my only tank that stills has any wires inside the display so I need to move the tank away from the wall a few more inches to accommodate the larger dry sides.
My idea: take out all coral, drain approx. 90%+ of water leaving just enough for the largest fish to be upright (100% if need be, will just have to spend some time catching fish and 2 fire shrimp lol), leave the 75 lbs or so of rock and 60 lbs of sand in the tank as it is all epoxied together and arranged nicely, then carefully slide/shimmy the whole tank and stand on the carpet tile floor a few inches, and finally quickly refill it with the same water taken out. My goal would be to have the tank drained down, re-positioned, and refilled within 30 minutes with a couple helpers in order to minimize stress.
What I mainly would like some opinions on:
1. Will leaving that amount of water, rock, and sand (weight and water movement wise) potentially cause too much stress on the seals while sliding/shimmying it on the carpet?
2. Will exposing the live rock to the air for the short time needed to complete this (hopefully less than 30 minutes of air exposure for the tallest parts of the rockwork) cause enough die off in the live rock for the potential to crash the tank post what I am deeming "Operation Vortech"?
3. Any ways I can improve or alter my plan for the better would be greatly appreciated!
I know upgrading pumps, if possible, will be beneficial to the tanks long term health and success but my main priority is the health and safety of the fish/tank so I'm only going to do this if after getting input from fellow hobbyists with experience in these types of situations I feel it can be done safely and without an unreasonable amount of risk for damage. I realize like most things in this hobby there is always a chance for something to happen and nothing is 100% for sure but opinions based on others experiences in similar cases will be a big help in deciding if its worth taking the chance to do it.
Thank you in advance!
My idea: take out all coral, drain approx. 90%+ of water leaving just enough for the largest fish to be upright (100% if need be, will just have to spend some time catching fish and 2 fire shrimp lol), leave the 75 lbs or so of rock and 60 lbs of sand in the tank as it is all epoxied together and arranged nicely, then carefully slide/shimmy the whole tank and stand on the carpet tile floor a few inches, and finally quickly refill it with the same water taken out. My goal would be to have the tank drained down, re-positioned, and refilled within 30 minutes with a couple helpers in order to minimize stress.
What I mainly would like some opinions on:
1. Will leaving that amount of water, rock, and sand (weight and water movement wise) potentially cause too much stress on the seals while sliding/shimmying it on the carpet?
2. Will exposing the live rock to the air for the short time needed to complete this (hopefully less than 30 minutes of air exposure for the tallest parts of the rockwork) cause enough die off in the live rock for the potential to crash the tank post what I am deeming "Operation Vortech"?
3. Any ways I can improve or alter my plan for the better would be greatly appreciated!
I know upgrading pumps, if possible, will be beneficial to the tanks long term health and success but my main priority is the health and safety of the fish/tank so I'm only going to do this if after getting input from fellow hobbyists with experience in these types of situations I feel it can be done safely and without an unreasonable amount of risk for damage. I realize like most things in this hobby there is always a chance for something to happen and nothing is 100% for sure but opinions based on others experiences in similar cases will be a big help in deciding if its worth taking the chance to do it.
Thank you in advance!
