How To Move Complete Setup, Buying System?

[Glenmac]

I have been out of the hobby quite a few years and am considering buying a complete running reef aquarium setup from someone and was wondering if there was any information on the best way to breakdown, move and set up again.

Looking at a system, about 2 hours from my house, from somone who is moving. If we can do the deal, I would like to pick up, transport to my home and set up right away. Is there a write up somewhere for the best way to accomplish this with least stress to the living.

I do not have a way to move the fish into another system until the aquarium is set back up again.

Thanks,
Glen

[popimp06]

i moved my tank once with rubbermaid tubs full of water and lr. its a pain but thats probaly the easy way to transport it

[Randall_James]

It is not that hard to do...

The rock can be moved dry and for rocks that have corals attached, you can get 5 gal buckets or even plastic bins from wmart. Use the tank water to submerge the rocks/corals.

Fish need to be bagged individually. 1/2 water 1/2 air. you can then stack them in an ice chest or some other insulated container to help keep temps stable.

You can transport all the water you can and also have a good supply of makeup water ready to go on the other side.

The substrate is the toughest issue. It needs removed in most tanks due to weight. I would vacuum the top 1" out separate and save it, the rest is probably best trashed unless you find it is unusually clean. You can always rinse the bottom layer of substrate but I would encourage just purchasing new.

The main thing is to have your destination setup all figured out so that you can get the tank setup on arrival.

After the setup, you need to float your fish and acclimate them just like you would new fish sans quarantine..

The biggest risk is "thermal" shock to the fish so watch the temps closely.

You can tear a tank down in under an hour usually and setup in under 2. Make sure you understand how it "was" setup is all (pictures can save your bacon if you are unsure)

To catch the fish, remove all the rock first, drain the tank most of the way down and use a clear specimen collection cup to collect the fish. (buy one if you do not have one) The idea is not to stress the fish out too bad so just take your time. Lower water levels really help this a lot.

[Glenmac]

Randall,

Thanks for the suggestions. Didn't think about the substrate, good information. Doesn't sound too bad overall. Hopefully can work out the deal.

Glen

[AnneRiceBowl]

Great info! I'll be doing this same thing this weekend!

[Randall_James]

You are welcome and
[welcome]


With the substrate, just lay the "new" as the foundation and the 1" you removed previously will just lay on top.

Do not worry about the "muck" and junk that you are going to have. It is loaded with bacteria as well as flora and fauna that you want. The muck will settle and disappear in a day or less.

[loves saltwater]

Great Info I just bought a up and running 55 today and will be picking it up Friday....

[dwculp]

I moved a 75 gallon 1.5 hours to my classroom about two years ago. This is what we did.

1. Drained as much water into water coolers as we could in order to preserve and reuse as much original water as we could.
2. Placed the fish into coolers of water.
3. Took the rock and placed it into coolers with water.
4. We left the sand in place with a thin covering of water.
5. Loaded everything into a truck and drove to my classroom.
6. Set up stand and tank.
7. Started filling the tank with the originnal water.
8. Placed rocks in tank.
9. Topped off with new, fresh water.
10. Did a short acclimation of the fish and placed them in the tank.

Had a 100% survival rate.