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View Full Version : How to relocate a reef 30 minutes away?


browning_boy20
12/01/2009, 08:28 PM
Whats the best way to relocate this tank here? http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1750028
I want to use the same water and make the move for the fish as stress free as possible. I think I am going to stop by lowes and buy a bunch of 5 gallon buckets with lids. What should I clean the buckets out with before using them to hold water and LR?

BloatedSwimBladder
12/01/2009, 08:35 PM
Assuming you are using a pickup truck, why not buy a couple of Brute trash cans. i have used them in the past and they worked great. i think that would be easier then 20 5 gallon buckets.

just a thought,
BSB

browning_boy20
12/01/2009, 08:43 PM
I wish I could do that but I will be using a Honda CRV and a Toyota 4Runner.

Names Brucey
12/01/2009, 08:44 PM
I have even used rubbermaide totes with a lid and just put plastic down under them to minimize the splashing.

ChadTheSpike
12/01/2009, 09:16 PM
rent a uhaul, they are pretty cheap when used locally, and the extra space will probably make it worth it.
Rinse the buckets out with fresh ro water, you can also rub them with vinegar.
Remove as much water as you can into buckets prior to disturbing any rockwork or the substrate.
Start removing rock and corals and place them in smaller containers, be prepared to discard any water that the coral has slimed.
Once all rock and corals and most of the water is out catch the fish.
I would personally replace the substrate and seed the new with a few cups from the surface of the old.
IME of moving tanks, keeping 50% of the water is usually about the most that you can keep. I would have at least 50-75% of the volume of aged saltwater mixed up and ready to go if you need it.

browning_boy20
12/01/2009, 09:26 PM
rent a uhaul, they are pretty cheap when used locally, and the extra space will probably make it worth it.
Rinse the buckets out with fresh ro water, you can also rub them with vinegar.
Remove as much water as you can into buckets prior to disturbing any rockwork or the substrate.
Start removing rock and corals and place them in smaller containers, be prepared to discard any water that the coral has slimed.
Once all rock and corals and most of the water is out catch the fish.
I would personally replace the substrate and seed the new with a few cups from the surface of the old.
IME of moving tanks, keeping 50% of the water is usually about the most that you can keep. I would have at least 50-75% of the volume of aged saltwater mixed up and ready to go if you need it.

What do you mean by I would personally replace the substrate and seed the new with a few cups from the surface of the old? What is substrate?

Raggamuffin
12/01/2009, 09:30 PM
sand :) he would replace it because over time it builds up gunk if not cleaned regularly and disturbing that much COULD (not will) damage mess up or kill things. by seeding he means useing some of the old to get the new sand up to speed ASAP.

ChadTheSpike
12/01/2009, 09:39 PM
That is exactly what I meant :) Raggamuffin, we are on the same wavelength.

insane
12/02/2009, 04:51 AM
Read this thread for some helpful advice on moving the reef.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1745652

PRDubois
12/02/2009, 06:02 AM
Tank Move


Prep
1 - Get lots of 5 gal buckets and/or rubbermaid containers. Whatever you get have covers.
2 - Have about 15 to 20 gal of new SW ready.
3 - Have site for the tank at new location ready. GFI's installed etc...
4 - When moving the tank - Concentrate on moving the tank and not the other stuff.
5 - Clean out and pack anything under your tank line chemicals, junk, old equipment, etc...
6 - Have a plan and stick to it (alsohow do you want the rock arranged the same or different , decide now)


Day of move:
7 - Unplug everything
8 - Part Fill up 4 containers with some water from your tank
9 - Start removing the corals, rock, CUC and Fish into the 4 seperate containers
10 - Drain remaining water into containters leaving enough water to be just over the sand.
11 - Tear down everything and put it in your truck,van,whatever.
12 - Make sure everything is covered and drive carefully especially over speed bumps.

Get to the new house:
13 - Position the stand where you have already decided it will go. now is not the time to decide this.
14 - Place the tank, sump if you have and equipment in place.
15 - Place a dinner plate on the sand and slowly pour extra old water onto the plate. this will help with preventing a sand storm
16 - Place the rock back in the tank where you want it.
17 - Place the corals back in the tank where you want it.
18 - Put the fish in the tank
19 - Top off the water and plug everything in
20 - Water will probally be cloudy but will clear up. If you have a HOB filter like a wisper or a canister filter you can run it with filter pads and carbon to clear the water faster.

Sit back and enjoy

browning_boy20
12/02/2009, 06:47 AM
Ok so now there has become a major obstacle, I will be getting the tank today then on Sunday I will be leaving for France for 2.5 weeks. My wife will be at home but she isnt really aquarium knowledable she will feed them but thats the extent. If I got it set up today whats the chances I will come home to all of the aquatic life being dead without me at home checking the parameters constantly? Lets face it I dont have the time to replace part of the sand and chance it going through a small cycle and having to monitor the water parameters. Whats your thoughts?

gkugelman
12/02/2009, 12:47 PM
Is there a way that you can teach her how to do a small water change? Maybe you could even mix up the water before you leave (if you make your own), and then just have her empty some of the old water out, and pour some of the new water in. If not, then I would suggest to do a water change the day (or the day before) you leave. It should be ok, but do you have anyone who is knowledgeable who can check on it?

Chris27
12/02/2009, 01:09 PM
Is there any chance you can delay picking up the tank until you return? I travel about 100 days a year, and each time I go, my wife does a great job of taking care of the tank. But I would never in my wildest dreams, think about leaving her there with a 4 day old aquarium. Trust me, the last phone call you want is from a PO'd spouse when you are 10,000 miles away, BTW, during my last trip to Guam from the East Coast I had a float switch stick, and the skimmer emptied the sump thoroughly. There are just too many things that can go wrong even if everything seems to be working well right now. Pumps could go bad, the skimmer could start going nuts, you could blow some breakers on the ac line to the tank, the list is endless....That is my $0.02 - speaking with much experience of traveling and keeping SW tanks.

thebanker
12/02/2009, 01:51 PM
I'm moving a 6 month old tank. Is there any sense in replacing substrate? Seems excessive to me. I have a 3-4 inch thick sandbed.

insane
12/02/2009, 02:00 PM
I'd keep the sand. Just remember when you fill up buckets with sand that half a 5 g bucket of wet sand weighs about 50lbs so don't fill them up all the way or it will be a struggle to move them.

thile123
12/02/2009, 03:44 PM
I had to move a 200gal tank about 2 months ago, to a location 30 min away; based on that experience here are a few things to keep in mind.

- Makes sure you use water tight containers. Fortunately someone lend me their truck, or else my SUV would've been totally soaked with saltwater.

- It might takes awhile to re-setup the tank and check/fix leaks due to transportation, so get a large enough container to put all the live rocks and corals in, then put a skimmer and powerhead in there to keep those rocks and corals alive. In my case, I was able to keep the anemones and other lps alive for a week that it took me to build a new stand and check/fix leaks after resetting up the tank.

- You MUST clean the sand bed or get new ones and seed it with a cup of old sand. If you have coarse sand then you might be able to clean it. The old sand bed will be full of ammonia, you should be able to smell it when you remove it for transportation. Putting that old sand bed back into the tank without cleaning will makes the water be filled with ammonia.

- if the tank have thru-hole bulkhead fittings, then double check for leaks before start filling the tank.

phenom5
12/02/2009, 04:00 PM
Is there any chance you can delay picking up the tank until you return?

This.

I'm going out of town loosely translates into all hell is going to break loose in my tank shortly after I walk out the door in reef speak. At least in my experience. :D

If you can delay the move until after the trip, I would highly recommend doing so.

Otherwise, I'd do a large water change before you leave, and have a good amount of RO/DI water ready to go. Give your wife the rundown on topoff, feeding, and what to do in a major emergency...then hope for the best. Or if you have another reefer that can look in on the tank, that'd be good too.

As far as the move, IMO the sand needs to either be replaced, or completely washed if you're going to reuse it. You could set the tank up barebottomed, then add the sand when you get back.

Rubbermaid Brutes should fit into the back of a 4Runner...I think. Definitely the way to go if you can swing it.

Just did a big move yesterday myself, I definitely don't envy you. Good luck with the move. :thumbsup:

thebanker
12/02/2009, 04:27 PM
- You MUST clean the sand bed or get new ones and seed it with a cup of old sand. If you have coarse sand then you might be able to clean it. The old sand bed will be full of ammonia, you should be able to smell it when you remove it for transportation. Putting that old sand bed back into the tank without cleaning will makes the water be filled with ammonia.


What if you leave the sand in the tank, keeping it as undisturbed as possible?

phenom5
12/02/2009, 04:43 PM
What if you leave the sand in the tank, keeping it as undisturbed as possible?

Depends on the amount of sand.

One, it might be a bit heavy, and you wouldn't want to lift a tank with the weight on the bottom.

Two, no matter how hard you try, it's going to get disturbed, and it's going to be nasty.

thebanker
12/02/2009, 05:23 PM
Depends on the amount of sand.

One, it might be a bit heavy, and you wouldn't want to lift a tank with the weight on the bottom.

Two, no matter how hard you try, it's going to get disturbed, and it's going to be nasty.

Sure, it will get disturbed, but i think you could minimize the damage by leaving an inch of water in the tank, then after it's moved, siphoning out any dirty remnant-water. After moving a tank with a buddy, this is what we did a month ago.

thebanker
12/02/2009, 05:28 PM
Is there any structural danger to moving an acrylic tank with the sand at the bottom? Will it suddenly bust apart without warning?

thile123
12/02/2009, 05:44 PM
What if you leave the sand in the tank, keeping it as undisturbed as possible?

I think that method might work. If you can move the tank without removing/disturbing the sand, it's a plus since it will save you at least 1 hr. wet sand is really heavy, 5gal bucket with the stuff weighs close to 100 lbs; and if your tank doesn't have reinforced plywood mounted to the bottom glass, there is a chance the weight from the water and sand might break the bottom glass or weaken the seals, when you lift/carry the tank. Just make sure to check for ammonia level when you add the water back into the tank. I'd add 1/4 water then test, if there is high ammonia level, I'd take the sand out and clean or get new sand (cleaning is preferred IMHO to save money). If you can't clean and dont want to buy new sand, then you'd have to wait for the nitrogen cycle to do its thing, before you can add any corals, and fish back into the tank.

lordofthereef
12/02/2009, 09:46 PM
What do you mean by I would personally replace the substrate and seed the new with a few cups from the surface of the old? What is substrate?

This is a bit of a scary question to me simply because it puts up a red flag that I think you haven't researched much being that substrate is an extremely commonly used word. Some may find me saying that rude, but I would highly recommend you do some reading before jumping into even a "plug and play" system. If not you will learn the hard way, like so many (yes that includes me!) others did.

thebanker
12/11/2009, 02:43 AM
Moving my reef in two days. Here's my process:

1. Remove all HOB skimmer, pumps, electrical things.
2. Begin siphoning water into 5G containers
3. Move delicate & detachable corals into my special customized "coral cooler," (it's an igloo brand cooler I put tank water and corals in.)
4. Remove live rock and put in my custom made "live rock cooler" (it's so custom, I won't even get into it for fear of rampant jealousy amongst RC)
5. Net fish and put in 5G containers
6. Finish siphoning water down to substrate level, leaving a little bit
7. HAUL @$$ to new house
8. Rebuild

I've come to grips that my reef may not look the same, or ever be the same after this move. I took a couple extra minutes to appreciate it today, and all the work I've put in to making it the successful little tank it is.