Tear down and moving 125 gallon reef

[Miller535]

I am still in the planning process, but in a little over a month in a half I will be tearing down my 125 gallon reef tank because we are moving about an hour away. I decided to start this thread to document this process. For the first while post may be sparse as I said I am in the planning stage. I also am aiming to use this move to correct a few issues and things I want to upgrade with my tank. Some tank info, tank is a 125 galloon marine land, reef ready tank with corner overflows. 55 gallon tank for sump, hard plumbed with pvc. Reef octopus 200int skimmer. Apex. 4 A360X lights. Neptune DOS for 2 part. Also have a UV. Tank has been running for 6-7 years. The main upgrade is going to be the sump. It just doesn't function as I would like. Also the glass I used for the baffles was too thin, and the last time I drained and cleaned the sump one of them cracked. At the end of the move I will also be either buying or building a new hood.

 

[Zionas]

Good luck. I hope it all works out for you. Is your tank a 6-foot tank? What about livestock? Where will they go in the meantime?

 

[AlexG]

I just went through my first of two moves and tore down a 1700 gallon system and condensed into a 150 gallon temp tank. Are you planning to move everything in one trip to the new residence or multiple trips? Please share an outline of your moving plan once you have it ready.

 

[Zionas]

Don’t mean to derail OP’s thread but for those of you with experience how much easier is it to move a tank under 100 gallons compared to a tank over?

 

[Miller535]

I think I am going to buy one of the black troughs from tractor supply for a temporary tank in the new house. I will set my skimmer on one end, probably with something blocking it so livestock can't crawl into the venturi. And I may need to set up one of my extra tanks for the remaining rock. I bought a batter power air pump that I am going to mess with today. If it works well I will buy another. As the move will be about an hour. And that's a long time for livestock to be in buckets without air.

 

[Miller535]

I will also be using my red sea gyre in that trough. Set my apex up in it.

 

[Miller535]

Then I will go back to the old house and work at emptying the tank and getting it ready for removal. One thing I also want to do with this move is repaint the stand. As there are several scratches on it from my sons truck when he was younger. And I also want to paint the back panel of glass.

All in all I expect this move to of the tank to take about a week.

 

[Miller535]

Good luck. I hope it all works out for you. Is your tank a 6-foot tank? What about livestock? Where will they go in the meantime?

Yes it is 6 foot. And they are going into tractor supply plastic trough.

 

[Miller535]

I should also add that the tank will be going to a finished basement, which I am a little concerned about as far as ph goes. But we'll see. The way the basement is set up it is not impossible to run a outside airline to the skimmer. I am also looking into putting it in a spot in the basement where I can run hoses to the drain, and ro tub, and fresh saltwater tub. For easier water changes and not having to lug buckets as much.

 

[Miller535]

So my livestock list that I currently have:

Yellow tang
Hippo tang
2 spotcinctus clownfish
1 ocellaris clownfish (his mate died a few years ago)
coral beauty
lawnmower blenny
court jester goby

2 brittle stars.
2 pin cushion urchin
several snails
4 conchs.

probably 12-15 small corals.

I am sure I have forgotten something, but that's at least most of it.

 

[Zionas]

Sorry to hear about the loss of the female Clownfish. What happened?

Long term I’d be more inclined to have the Blue Hippo Tang in an 8-foot tank but they do grow slowly.

 

[Miller535]

Sorry to hear about the loss of the female Clownfish. What happened?

Long term I’d be more inclined to have the Blue Hippo Tang in an 8-foot tank but they do grow slowly.

Well I had the ocellaris pair for probably 8-10 years. And really wanted a pair of the spotcinctus clowns. And though ok, the pair I have now never leave a 6" area on the far right of the tank, the other pair will probably just take up occupancy on the other half. Well, quickly found out my male ocellaris was a cheating you know what because as soon as he saw the female spotcinctus he started following her around everywhere and was acting like he wanted to pair up with her. The two of them beat my original female to death quickly. I tried to put her in qt but it was too late. Ironically as soon as she was death the spotcinctus would not give the ocellaris male the time of day after they killed his mate. She played him like a fiddle, and now he's all alone, and she sticks with the mate I bought her with.

 

[Zionas]

Spotcinctus belong the Clarkii complex, so yeah..... Sorry to hear about the mate but guess it got what it deserved. xDDD Beautiful Fish though I’m glad you were able to find them.

 

[Miller535]

Spotcinctus belong the Clarkii complex, so yeah..... Sorry to hear about the mate but guess it got what it deserved. xDDD Beautiful Fish though I’m glad you were able to find them.

They were a steal at my lfs too. Think I paid maybe $50-$60 for the pair of them. I had wanted them since they started selling them years ago, but they were super expensive back then. I think close to $100 a piece.

 

[Zionas]

Darn that’s awesome.

 

[Albertan22]

I think I am going to buy one of the black troughs from tractor supply for a temporary tank in the new house. I will set my skimmer on one end, probably with something blocking it so livestock can't crawl into the venturi. And I may need to set up one of my extra tanks for the remaining rock. I bought a batter power air pump that I am going to mess with today. If it works well I will buy another. As the move will be about an hour. And that's a long time for livestock to be in buckets without air.

I ended up buying an inverter that you plug into a cigarette lighter and buying a decently sized plug in air pump. I then set up a manifold of air lines to my various pails. This also allowed me to drop heaters in my fish buckets as well.

I was able to use the setup in my old house during the tear down process before moving to the car. Remember, they won’t just be in the pails during the drive. It will take quite awhile to catch everything and get organized. It may be an hour or more from when the first fish goes into a pail until you even move to the car.

 

[Albertan22]

If you do the above, you need to be mindful of the wattage you are pulling vs what your inverter is rated for.

 

[Miller535]

I ended up buying an inverter that you plug into a cigarette lighter and buying a decently sized plug in air pump. I then set up a manifold of air lines to my various pails. This also allowed me to drop heaters in my fish buckets as well.

I was able to use the setup in my old house during the tear down process before moving to the car. Remember, they won’t just be in the pails during the drive. It will take quite awhile to catch everything and get organized. It may be an hour or more from when the first fish goes into a pail until you even move to the car.

That is a good point. I really dread trying to catch everything. And also trying to sift through the sand to catch all the conchs and nassarius. The coral beauty especially is very flighty, I think he will be the most challenging.

 

[Albertan22]

That is a good point. I really dread trying to catch everything. And also trying to sift through the sand to catch all the conchs and nassarius. The coral beauty especially is very flighty, I think he will be the most challenging.

I have moved a 4’ 120g tank and then years later broken it down to upgrade it. I ended up having to remove all the rock and coral, then draining 2/3 of the water to be able to catch some of the fish. It sometimes takes hours!

 

[Miller535]

I have moved a 4’ 120g tank and then years later broken it down to upgrade it. I ended up having to remove all the rock and coral, then draining 2/3 of the water to be able to catch some of the fish. It sometimes takes hours!

Right. They will definitely be in a heated container while I catch them all. Really hope it doesn't take hours though.