Will be moving soon. need some advise

[Jason McK]

Well the condo is on the market, and we are looking for a house. We are not planning to leave the South Delta area but it will be a drive.

So I need some logistical advise on how to move my 75G 2 1/2 year old Reef.
Do I leave the sand bed in during the move? or do I take it out and kill it by cleaning it
Would it be best to just replace it with new.

How would you suggest I move each coral? Break it off the rock? or try and transport it on the med-Lg rocks I have mounted it on

What would you say is a safe "down" time for the Coral and fish to be in holding containers?


Thanks

Jason

[bluetang]

I'd remove the sand, as wet sand is very heavy. Dont kill it. just put it into a bucket and add it back into the tank after you get it moved. The sand will be ok for a couple of days in the bucket if it needs to be. just add a little water to make sure it is fully covered.

[Snoop Dog]

I did a richmond to Tsawassen,
Kept half the water, Removed all sand and placed in buckets, but kept it wet, I would leave the corals mounted and just put them in rubbermaid containers with water.Used two or three rubbermaids for live rock and a garbage pail for all the fish and inverts. took me and blue tang from 6 AM till 5 pm to complete.

[ldzielak]

I have moved my 120g 3 times. I keep the corals on the rocks, and re-use the sand. I would have containers with clear plastic garbage bags inside. This will keep the splashing down.

Make up extra water for the move. You will need to keep things warm, and you will need to keep the water aerated. You can live without filters and skimming for some time if you need to.

If you can move the tank into a temporary spot even in the garage ASAP, put everything in but the sand. If you think yout are going to take days to move or be ready to setup your system in it's final location.

Good Luck,

Lee

[Jason McK]

Thanks everyone.

I was mainly concerned about the black crud at the bottom of the SB but it sound as though it will be OK. I plan on moving everything in one day. But if things don't go as smoothly as planned I will have alternatives

J

[Chin_Lee]

I bought all the live sand from Son of Skyline (mason) when he was taking his tank down. The remaining water in the tank rinsed out most of the crud in the sandbed as we scooped it out into pails. The tank was basically muddy by the time we finished. When I got home and dumped it into my tank, the sand was quite clean and still with lots of life.

[Aquattro]

When I moved with my 75g, I left the 3" DSB in the tank. Worked just fine. When I trasferred the sand later in the year to the 155g, I shovelled it out with a dustpan and just dumped it in the new tank. That worked just fine too. So I think which ever way you decide will be, well, just fine! :biggrin:

[StirCrazy]

seeing as the sand bed is 2.5 years old you have a few options at this point, 1) just move it and disturbe it as little as possable, 2) take it out and rinse it to clean it., 3) replace it, or 4) perfect time to go bottomless.

Steve

[Beverly]

Whichever way you move your tank, make sure you designate a day to move the tank and contents only. That way, you only have to contend with the complexities of the tank move and none of the other moving stuff.