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Glennw
04/19/2006, 10:48 PM
I've just purchased a 130g salt water system which is currently up and running. I will have to move the system to my home this weekend. I currently have an empy 150g tank that I will be using in the interm as I will need to make some alterations to the stand and sump that have come with the system.

There is about 2" of live sand and about 150lbs of live rock with 2 fish. When I make the move can I bring all the live rock, live sand and the existing water from the tank that is currently set up and put it in my 150g tank with about 3 power heads and a heater running for the next month or two until I have the oringinal system modified for my use? I was going to transport all of this using 5-gal pails.

Can I take the live sand and transport it in the pails and dump it into my 150g, I had heard by disturbing the live sand I could cause the system to start to cycle? Any and all suggestions welcomed.

cxr133
04/19/2006, 10:54 PM
i am a newbie here....................

but i just broke down and moved a 90 gallon SW system that was running.

instead of using 5 gal. buckets go to Target/kmart/walmart whatever and buy lots of 35 gallon rubbermaids. YOu can almost fill these completely w/ water and you and a helper should be able to move short distances and up into the truck.

the easiest way to get the water from the tank to the containers is to use a powerhead w/ some plastic tubing from Home Depot.

then just use a couple more of the rubbermaidsw/rock and water heavy enough to carry.


the tank/ stand and sand we carried as one w/ 4 people so i dont have advice on that.

cxr133
04/19/2006, 10:57 PM
BTW here are my pics:


http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cxr13...h3PUuEBHlTAk.GD

nataz
04/20/2006, 01:35 PM
Maybe try putting something under the tank like boards and move the tank with the sand in it. I've heard of it being done.As far as water,rock,and live stock use cxr133's idea and go with the cans 35 or even 50 gal, if u have a pick-up leave cans in truck and use a hose to drain tank into truck or 5gal buckets to fill them.GOOD LUCK!!!

CarmieJo
04/20/2006, 01:52 PM
I'm not an expert with this but I believe that with only 2" of sand that there is probably NOT an anaerobic zone so you should not have trouble. If you want a DSB you may want to add more sand to the tank when you get to the final set-up. All of that being said, I got the LR & LS for my 54 gal tank from a guy who was tearing down his 180 and never had a cycle nor encountered any difficulties.

:fish1:

Wryknow
04/20/2006, 02:16 PM
I would absolutely NOT try to move the tank with sand, rock, or water in it. Glass does not handle flexing very well and moving a tank with weight inide of it is a good way to crack the glass IMHO.

For my recent move I went to Big Lots and bought 5 x 35 gallon totes just for the move. I filled them up about 1/2 way with live rock and then added enough water to cover the top of the rocks. I actually left the live rock in my living room for a week while I got the tank set-up and there was no problem with the rock - very little die-off and the hermits and snails that stowed-away were just fine.

I re-used the sand as well. I kept it wet in 5 gallon buckets until the tank was set up and then I just gave it a good rinsing to remove any accumulated debris from the previous tank and put it in the tank. I'm sure that I lost a lot of microscopic life but there was still plenty left in the sand. I had worms and other creatures visible in the sand bed in the new tank in under a week.

Good luck! Just remeber to allow twice as much space and twice as many hours as you estimate to move everything and you'll be okay! :)