Moving a refugium

[Jeff]

33 gallon refugium with intense life growth in it in the form of copepods and all sorts of unidentified things on the glass (I count at least 9 or 10 different types of "things" living on the glass). 6 inch oolitic sand base in the bottom.

I need to move this in a few months, and I prefer to kill as little life as possible. The move is a very short one...perhaps 15 minutes until I can get water back in the tank. Anyone ever moved either a refugium and/or a deep sand bed? It's a 33 gallon with 130# of sand in it. I figure if I can slowly slide it onto some strong planks I can keep the sand and enough water to keep the sand happy for a little while. I know DSBs have issues with water deprivation and the like. I'd hate to end up with some exposed "bad" areas that could possibly pollute, although I probably wouldn't hook the refugium back up to the main system until I knew everything was OK. I have some pretty nice life IN the DSB itself now and I would hate to compromise that as it took 4-5 months for it to arise and start flourishing.

PS: Anyone know of a good deal on a 180 or a 240 anywhere right now? Haven't decided on glass or acrylic yet.

Thanks
Jeff

[Delphinus]

Well a few months ago we moved Carpentersreef's setup which included a 50 gallon tank as a refugium and a 4-6" DSB. What he did was drain the water out of the tank down to the sand (just a little bit above the sand) and then four guys, one on each corner, carried the tank with the sand in it. The water was pretty gross muddy, and then we refilled it ASAP when we got it in place at the new home.

We'll have to ask Mitch how that worked out, but the impression I got was that the impact of the move was fairly minimal. I don't know how long it took for the muddiness to settle out.

It, of course, was not a huge amount of fun carrying a 50g with sand and some water ;) ... I'm not sure which was heavier, the 50g or his empty 180g. About the same, maybe. But four guys did carry it more or less without a problem (not counting any aching muscles the next day :D ), so ultimately it is possible.

[Aquattro]

I did pretty much the same thing as Tony describes when I moved my 75g. No problems whatsoever.

[zulu_principle]

I have a 180 acrylic, dual corner overflows thats empty and I would be will to part with.

[MitchM]

Originally posted by delphinus:
...We'll have to ask Mitch how that worked out.... <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It worked out fine. I've got a cyano bloom going in the refugium right now, but for a two month old system that's normal.

Mitch

[ 10 July 2002, 05:11: Message edited by: Carpentersreef ]

[Jeff]

Originally posted by zulu_principle:
I have a 180 acrylic, dual corner overflows thats empty and I would be will to part with.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I am interested. I sent you a "private message".

Although I've never received a "private message" so I have no clue how to tell if you send one back :D

[Troy F]

Although I've never received a "private message" so I have no clue how to tell if you send one back <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Just click on My Profile and you'll see if you have any messages. If you turned it on, you'll get an e-mail notification when you receive one.