I am moving my tank and need tips!!

[stickynicky10]

:eek3: Hey all, i just found a new apartment this week and its 12 miles away from my preveious location. My reef tank has only been up and running for about 4 months now,i need tips from anyone who has moved one before.its a 75 gallon tank. i was thinking about buying some 30 gal garbage cans and filling each one with the tank water, in one i would put all the live rock. then i was thinking about tubberware containers for my corals, and finnaly just bagging my fish up like how i recevied them. My major hold up is the substrate, i have 60lbs crushed coral on the bottom, then i have two 30lb bags of the fine arag. i also have a 15lb. bag of carribean sand. this stuff is layerd how i wnt it to stay and it was a very expensive part of my reef to me. i do not wanna have to destroy my sand bed. so do u think it would be ok to leave the sustrate in the aqarium? or do u think the seals will blow?? right now its in my basement a my house so it has to travel up them stairs and then up the new stairs at my apartment . well all comments are much appreciated, thanks, nick. p.s ive posted some pics so u can see what im workin with, this is my 4 month old reef by the way!!

[patsfan1130]

:eek3: Hey all, i just found a new apartment this week and its 12 miles away from my preveious location. My reef tank has only been up and running for about 4 months now,i need tips from anyone who has moved one before.its a 75 gallon tank. i was thinking about buying some 30 gal garbage cans and filling each one with the tank water, in one i would put all the live rock. then i was thinking about tubberware containers for my corals, and finnaly just bagging my fish up like how i recevied them. My major hold up is the substrate, i have 60lbs crushed coral on the bottom, then i have two 30lb bags of the fine arag. i also have a 15lb. bag of carribean sand. this stuff is layerd how i wnt it to stay and it was a very expensive part of my reef to me. i do not wanna have to destroy my sand bed. so do u think it would be ok to leave the sustrate in the aqarium? or do u think the seals will blow?? right now its in my basement a my house so it has to travel up them stairs and then up the new stairs at my apartment . well all comments are much appreciated, thanks, nick. p.s ive posted some pics so u can see what im workin with, this is my 4 month old reef by the way!!

Sounds like a pretty decent plan. I would not transport the tank with the sand in it. tanks are made to be able to handle "evenly distributed" weight. going up & down stairs would put undue stress on the joints and could lead to very bad thing down the road. albit a bit easier for you..It simply isnt worth the risk.

[Reefland]

Moving 30gal garbage cans full of water will be impossible as well. The only way this will work is if you can put the cans in the back of a truck or trailer, pump the water from the tank to them and vice-versa at the new location. 5gal buckets would be about the only thing you could use to transport the water and rock and still be managable.

At the new location, make sure you have plenty of new ASW made up too. During moves, it is inevitable that you will loose water and need some newly made ASW to get the tank running again.

Scott Z.

[stickynicky10]

so i take it its a no go on moving the tank with my sand bed in it??????????? what do u think is it unreasonable? why do u think it will be impossible to move the thirtiy gallon garbage cans reefland??????????????
nick

[Ninong]

so i take it its a no go on moving the tank with my sand bed in it???????????

All tank manufacturers warn you that moving the tank with anything it it at all voids the warranty (if any). It puts too much stress on the joints.

what do u think is it unreasonable?

The ONLY way you could possibly move a tank with the sand bed in it would be if the tabletop of the stand that the tank sits on was being moved with the tank on it and the tank and tabletop part were perfectly level the whole time. I can't imagine this working for anything much larger than a 20-gal aquarium. If you had a 20-gal aquarium sitting on your nighttable in your bedroom, you could lift up the entire nighttable and move it that way if you were very careful.

why do u think it will be impossible to move the thirtiy gallon garbage cans?????

Because most people would have a hard time lifting 250-lbs of saltwater. Might be easier to move it around 40-lbs at a time in 5-gal buckets.

[patsfan1130]

All tank manufacturers warn you that moving the tank with anything it it at all voids the warranty (if any). It puts too much stress on the joints.


The ONLY way you could possibly move a tank with the sand bed in it would be if the tabletop of the stand that the tank sits on was being moved with the tank on it and the tank and tabletop part were perfectly level the whole time. I can't imagine this working for anything much larger than a 20-gal aquarium. If you had a 20-gal aquarium sitting on your nighttable in your bedroom, you could lift up the entire nighttable and move it that way if you were very careful.


Because most people would have a hard time lifting 250-lbs of saltwater. Might be easier to move it around 40-lbs at a time in 5-gal buckets.

I agree. those 5 gallon buckets are the best things to use IMO. I have always used them to transport water. I even put fish & coral in them as well. Much easier to transport and less stressful on the livestock as you can take your time and not slosh them around to no end.

[stickynicky10]

thanks for your comments, what if i put 2by4 around the edge of the tank then lift the 2by4s instead of the by the glass???? would that be more reasonable?
also how dose the warranty work on the aqariums? how will the determine the cause of the broken aqarium?????????

[Ninong]

thanks for your comments, what if i put 2by4 around the edge of the tank then lift the 2by4s instead of the by the glass???? would that be more reasonable?

I don't think so. Unless your tank happens to be sitting on the kitchen table and you lift the entire table, I think you're going to have problems.

also how dose the warranty work on the aqariums? how will the determine the cause of the broken aqarium?????????

Aquarium warranties for some of the most popular brands have been rewritten more than once in the past few years as the original manufacturer gets taken over by another manufacturer and then when that manufacturer is in turn gobbled up by a giant conglomerate. I remember when Oceanic aquariums had a 15-yr warranty if you purchased one of their stands and a 5-yr warranty without their stand. Then they were taken over by All-Glass and the warranty was drastically reduced. Then All-Glass was taken over by Central and the warranty was changed again. Right now there is no warranty on an Oceanic aquarium unless you purchase one of their stands. And if you modify the tank or the stand in any way whatsoever, you void all warranties. Their warranty covers glass to glass leaks caused by defective sealant or workmanship. Period.

Here is Oceanic's exact warranty:

OCEANIC SYSTEMS, INC. LIMITED WARRANTYOceanic Systems, Inc. warrants this aquarium, to the original purchaser, against glass to glass leaks due to defective sealant and workmanship as follows:



5 YEAR STANDARD WARRANTYFor a period of 5 years from the date of purchase, Oceanic Systems, Inc. will, at its option, either replace or repair the defective aquarium when purchased and used with an appropriate aquarium stand manufactured by Oceanic Systems, Inc. Lifting or carrying the aquarium by the top frame may cause damage to the molding corner joints and will void all warranties. Drilling holes anywhere in the aquarium or in any other way altering either the aquarium or aquarium stand after their original manufacture by Oceanic Systems, Inc. will void all warranties.

To obtain service under this warranty, you must RETAIN THE ORIGINAL DEALER'S BILL OF SALE FOR BOTH THE AQUARIUM AND THE STAND as evidence of the date of purchase.

[Airmotive]

The 180 "Big Move" saga....

Try the above thread. I recently moved a 180 gallon up-and-running reef from Florida to Virginia.

Two key points:

Take the advice. Remove the sand. You can gently remove the sand with a deep dustpan and place it flat into a wide/shallow tupperware container. Heck, I simply scooped my entire sandbed into buckets and dumped it back in....never saw any ammonia or nitrite.

30 gallon trash cans hold thirty gallons of trash....not water. I was fortunate to get my hands on some food-grade barrels that were made to hold 50 gallons of water. Plus...you will be amazed at how expensive trash cans are. A 30 gallon trash can will only hold 10-15 gallons of water. Any more than that and they will tear open when moved. (You're still talkin' over 100 lbs!).

The nice thing about 5 gallon buckets is you can get them for free if you do a little calling around (they're used to deliver bulk foods, like pickles, to the food service industry).

If you ever needed a good excuse to buy yourself a nice submersible pump...you got one now! It's SOOO much easier pumping large quantities of water than carrying it.

Hope this helps!
Blue Skies
JJ

[stickynicky10]

so how dose my tank look for benig close to four moths old? any comments??????????