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View Full Version : Moving an Established Tank


Pan
11-11-2006, 01:01 AM
Has anyone experience with tank moves? It would be about a 90-100km move. What can I expect, should i plan for, should i keep most of the water or mix of some fresh saltwater a day or two before etc.. etc... I will put the livestock into a QT tank with some of the water/rock/substrate from the big tank etc...

hmm, this seems very daunting but so looking forward to it.
now to find big buckets...hmmm,..

Canadbis
11-11-2006, 01:17 AM
I have heard of people taking all of the water with them on a move and just re-setting up the same tank with the same water. or maybe move 50% of the water so it is like a water change.

For buckets you can go to safeway or coop and get them from the bakery.

mark
11-11-2006, 02:07 PM
All I ever moved was basically a 75g FOWLR and that was across town, in late summer and I already had some water mixed and heater up at the new place.

Forget exactly but brought along something like 4-5g pails of the old water, added that to the tank then topped up with the fresh stuff. Fish was just in a pail and had the LR in those big tubs with some remaining tank water. Acclimatized everything before putting back into the tank.

Was planning on taking the top 1" of my DSB to reseed a new one but end up just going BB.

Though your move is relatively short, things sometimes go amiss. Might considered having a heater and PH readily available to drop into the buckets with your stock if things get delayed.

Sushiman
11-11-2006, 03:24 PM
I have moved my set-up several times (and I'm about to again in a couple of weeks!). Stressful? yah, a little, but it's easier than you think. 100km is more complicated than across town so here's what I would do: the survival of your livestock will depend on how much they are stressed during this little adventure so planning is everything. For my live rock & livesand, I use a 100gal cooler with enough tankwater to keep things moist (get a buddy, it weighs a ton), add a heater & powerhead & bag of carbon. I have kept rock like this in "holding" for over three weeks without disaster. Add more water at the destination & I even threw in my inverts on arrival & they were fine. Fish & corals need love too so during these extended transports a cooler system has worked well for me also, plus given me the bonus of a "holding cell" for everyone while the display was re-established. I used a in-car powerbar to run an airstone and heater (I blocked them from the stock with a diy egg-crate divider) Yes, I love Radio-shack.
Again, a small bag of carbon seemed to buy me more time.
I used a small PC ballast to maintain corals when they sat in holding at the new place. Salvaging tankwater can be difficult so you may be starting with very little mature water. Make sure your holding system is up to snuff. the best would be a small aquarium waiting at your new home, build some egg-crate shelves to hold your corals, add a skimmer, heater, etc...
You can see what I mean about planning. I have pulled off this circus without loss three times now, knock on wood for the fourth coming up.
I'm totally upgrading/ changing my system on this move so I'm liquidating my livestock which simplifies things completely. Ask yourself if your stock is worth the effort & decide what you want to do. Good luck.