Moving...what's the process?

[AquaWave523]

Ok, my wife and I are currently looking for a home within the next six months so that gives us about a year before we officially move.

The LFS gave me some advice, he said if I just drain the tank completely and leave the sand in there I should be fine. All I have to do is fill the tank back up with RO/DI water and put the fish in the same day.

But when I thought about it, it doesn't seem right? I mean, wouldn't the beneficial bacteria die if the tank is drained completely? WOuldn't I have to wait a few days to cycle the tank again since all the water is removed and the sump tank is cleaned out? The only thing that is undisturbed from the old tank is the sand....can someone verify this?

Thanks!
AW523

[LoyalConvict]

I’ve moved my 90 2 times, once from upstairs to a fish tank room I built down stairs, and then back up stairs to install it in wall. Both times I was able to save 80 percent of the water and didn’t remove any sand (I tried not to disturb it because it was a DSB). Pick up a few brute trash cans and a few 5 gallon buckets (at least 6). put the water in the brute trash cans and live rock as well or into 5 gal buckets, put the fish coral and other inverts get a few separate 5 gallons fill with water separate fish inverts as much as possible. And you only need 3- 3.5 gallons in there. Get a Rubbermaid container I know they make decent sized ones, I had one that was 44x23x16 or so. So after you transport your water and fish etc. to the new home you can fill up the Rubbermaid with your tank water. Add a power head/heater and a few pieces of live rock (easily removed later) place your fish inverts in the Rubbermaid container. set up aquarium add the rest of your saved water and some new salt water use a trash can to mix up a new batch of water drop in a power head/heater and lightly siphon off substrate after it settles a little. Put everything back in... HTH

[IslandCrow]

Very good advice from LoyalConvict. Whether or not to save the sand can be a subject of some debate. When I moved my 46g after having it set up for 2-3 years, I ditched the sand. When I moved it again about 7 months later, I kept it. Who's to say whether or not I would have been safe keeping it the first time, so it's your call. I wouldn't be too worried after a year or even a little more.

Definitely heed LC's advice about putting your fish in a separate container than your rocks. I lost a $100 mystery wrasse thinking he'd be fine in the same container with my rocks. Also, make sure you mix up at least twice as much new salt water as you think you'll need. It's pretty realistic that you'd be able to keep around 80% of your old water, but you don't want to be caught short handed. And lastly, make sure you free up the entire day. It'll always take longer than you think.

[LoyalConvict]

Definite all day job. Good point on the sand bed too. You could always rinse it (a lot) and re-use it also.

http://www.melevsreef.com/rinsing_sand.html

[murfman]

The best way would be if you could have a tank set up at your new house and then move everything from the old tank in to the new tank, a little at a time.

[AquaWave523]

Thanks everyone for their help and advice...but I'm still not completely grasping the concept here about "cycling a tank". If i remove everything completely and just keep 3 cups of LS and drain the tank, isn't that similar to a brand new tank with just a cup of LS from the local fish store? If so, why do I have to wait 3 weeks or more to cycle my new tank while the tank that I just emptied will be ok to introduce live stock immediately? I mean we just got rid of 90% of everything except for a little sand and the Live rocks will be submerged with the same tank water...I'm thinking there will be a little cycling going on since the LR might end up dying a little? The move should be 2-3 hours max. That's based on moving the tank to the house and getting everything setup. Sorry for the rambles guys and gals! :)

[IslandCrow]

why do I have to wait 3 weeks or more to cycle my new tank while the tank that I just emptied will be ok to introduce live stock immediately?

Your thinking is 100% correct. You don't have to wait. There should not be a new cycle as long as you keep everything wet during the move. It was a 6-7 hour drive when I moved my tank, and then there was the tear down and setup time on top of that. The first time, when I threw away the sand, I did just like you're suggesting, and I kept a few cups off the top layer to seed the new sand bed. And even that wasn't entirely necessary since I kept all of my live rock.