Moving a 120 gal tank any advise

1eyedjyde · #1 03-30-2011, 07:55 PM

Hey everyone I guess I will make this thread my intro to the forum, I've been brousing for a while now but have finally taken the plunge.

I have recently purchased a 120 gal “reef” setup. At the moment it really is a FOLWR but it has a few remaining coral pieces and a couple small fish and inverts. The tank itself has an over flow on the right side and a drilled 1” drain on the upper left side. Both drains feed into a 50gal sump w/ skimmer and Mag drive 12 return pump. The tank is also set up with a closed-loop system with a snapper pump however the pump housing will need to be replaced so the system is currently shut off with ball valves. The current lighting is a single 250 watt HQI pendent fixture with led moon lights.

After reading a bit on moving tanks and marine life I figure the best way is to move the livestock and as much LR, sand and water into an empty 30 gal tank with a few power heads and the light. The remaining sand, LR and water can then just be stored in some large containers (garbage cans) with an air stone and power head until the tank is set up at my house. I figure I should be able to have the tank up and running in a week or two. The stand is in need of some pant to hide the 70s wood grain and the tank itself could use a good scraping and reseal the bulk heads. There are probably a number of other items I will have to figure out before I fill the tank but it should only be down for a couple of weeks.

Once the tank is moved to its final location I figure I should be able to add all the sand, LR and water I have stored in the garbage cans and top off the remaining water with new. At this point I will bring the water in the tank up to temperature and make sure water parameters normalize (ph and salinity). I assume the tank will probably go through a mini cycle at this point since there will be a small amount of die off from the LR and sand. Once the cycle is complete I will move the contents of the 30 gal to the 120.

I figure this arrangement will have the least effect on the inhabitants of the tank and should minimize any losses. If anyone has any pearls of wisdom to add I am all ears. As this is my first plunge into marine aquariums I’m sure the learning curve is going to be steep. I will also add pics of the tank as I go through the move, it should be interesting.

reefwars · #2 03-30-2011, 08:00 PM

when your moving stuff into the 30 g scrap the sand as its only a temp home and use rock that isnt in sand and it will hep moving it over

cathyg_99 · #3 03-30-2011, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1eyedjyde

Hey everyone I guess I will make this thread my intro to the forum, I've been brousing for a while now but have finally taken the plunge.

I have recently purchased a 120 gal “reef” setup. At the moment it really is a FOLWR but it has a few remaining coral pieces and a couple small fish and inverts. The tank itself has an over flow on the right side and a drilled 1” drain on the upper left side. Both drains feed into a 50gal sump w/ skimmer and Mag drive 12 return pump. The tank is also set up with a closed-loop system with a snapper pump however the pump housing will need to be replaced so the system is currently shut off with ball valves. The current lighting is a single 250 watt HQI pendent fixture with led moon lights.

After reading a bit on moving tanks and marine life I figure the best way is to move the livestock and as much LR, sand and water into an empty 30 gal tank with a few power heads and the light. The remaining sand, LR and water can then just be stored in some large containers (garbage cans) with an air stone and power head until the tank is set up at my house. I figure I should be able to have the tank up and running in a week or two. The stand is in need of some pant to hide the 70s wood grain and the tank itself could use a good scraping and reseal the bulk heads. There are probably a number of other items I will have to figure out before I fill the tank but it should only be down for a couple of weeks.

Once the tank is moved to its final location I figure I should be able to add all the sand, LR and water I have stored in the garbage cans and top off the remaining water with new. At this point I will bring the water in the tank up to temperature and make sure water parameters normalize (ph and salinity). I assume the tank will probably go through a mini cycle at this point since there will be a small amount of die off from the LR and sand. Once the cycle is complete I will move the contents of the 30 gal to the 120.

I figure this arrangement will have the least effect on the inhabitants of the tank and should minimize any losses. If anyone has any pearls of wisdom to add I am all ears. As this is my first plunge into marine aquariums I’m sure the learning curve is going to be steep. I will also add pics of the tank as I go through the move, it should be interesting.

id do a leak test with your plumbing and tank first before i put anything in it (after you reseal things) its a pain to have to make sure you have powerheads going while you try to fix a leak or replumb

1eyedjyde · #4 03-30-2011, 08:03 PM

Thanks for the reply I will only be storing the LR that has any life attached to it and will avoid the sand, and will definately leak test befor filling that would suck to find out later that a bulk head on the bottom the tank hasn't sealed.

1eyedjyde · #5 04-02-2011, 05:43 PM

Moving day has finally arived, if all goes to plan by the end of the day today everything will be moved except the tank and stand and the temp tank will be up and running. Woo Hoo

1eyedjyde · #6 04-05-2011, 04:32 AM

Alright an update from the weekend and the first couple of days with the new tank. The new tank is in the carport waiting for a good cleaning and the stand is being sanded and ready for paint. Will have to wait untill weather warms up overnight before painting. the temp 30 gal is up and running "bare bottom" with as much live rock as i could fit in it. The fish seam to be doing well and the coral have survived the move looks like things are going well.

Here are a few shots of the tank and the equipment and plumbing enjoy

1eyedjyde · #7 04-05-2011, 04:54 AM

looks like I cant upload any more photos, weird. The tank is a 120 gal as the title suggests 4'x2'x2'. It is currently drilled for a 2" overflow box on the right and a 1" drain upper left. Three holes were drilled in the bottom for the closed loop returns, the inlet was originally plumed in over the top. I plan on keeping the three bottom returns for the close loop as they are but I think I will move the inlet to the 1" left drain location. This means I will be drilling the back of the tank to increase the hole size up to the 2" for the snapper pump. The return pump from the sump is the mag drive 12 so at 5-6ft of head it will only be pushing 1000gph so the overflow with 2" drain should be plenty. The curent close loop return has one return on each side coming up from the bottom at 45 deg and a spray bar running between them. I like this setup as I think it will increase flow through the display rock and by moving the inlet through the back of the tank will be a beter visual. The sump just needs a good cleaning and it should be good to go.

weather permitting the stand should be inplace this weekend with the sump. The tank will have to wait untill I can get a large enough hole saw but in the mean time I can clean it up and get it ready. Then I can start looking into the lighting. The PO found a second MH pod but the coil is gone in the ballast so if I can get ahold of a replacement coil I will be running 2 - 250watt MHs. Should be good enough to start.

amoreira · #8 04-05-2011, 02:41 PM

After your move, I suggest you at least double up on your lighting. It looks like your anenome is bleached. They have zooxanthelea just like the stony coral and need intensive lighting.

Kalifornia · #9 04-05-2011, 04:54 PM

Put it on wheel's and tow it :P sorry

had to put my two silly sense in

1eyedjyde · #10 04-08-2011, 07:14 PM

Thanks for the input. I figured that since the light intensity is a function of the tank depth and most comercial MH light fixtures are equipped with 250 watt MH I assumed that the location in the tank would ie distance from the fixture would dictate quantity of light available to the coral. so basicly if i have 4 - 250 watt pendants over my tank I may be able to grow SPS coral at the lowest point in the tank but with the 2 I currently have I should be able to grow SPS at the top and leathers and lower light coral near the bottom. On a side note the anenome has desided it didn't like its current location and has relocated itself to a lower light sheltered area of the tank. so I will watch its colour over the next few days and see if there are any changes.