[CRJDriver]

Unfortunately I may have to move, what is the best way to move a tank (75 gal) with minimal damage to the fish and everything else? Thanks

[Ninong]

You have to prepare a lot of saltwater in advance -- 2 or 3 days ahead of time.

You have to remove all of the live rock to large plastic containers with enough saltwater to cover.

You have to remove all of the fish to some sort of holding containers, being careful not to put fish that will fight together in the same container.

You should remove the top 1" layer of the sandbed (if you have one) and place this in a container with just enough tankwater to cover the sand by about 1/4". The rest of the sand from the old tank should be discarded.

Whether you will need heaters and airstones or powerheads in these containers during the move depends on the length of time involved and the ambient temperature. Unless you are moving a very short distance during mild weather, you may need heaters and something to aerate the water in the containers.

Retain as much of the tankwater from the old tank as possible. Ideally you would want the water in the new setup to be 60-80% old water rather than almost all new water. Compromises in this department may be necessary depending on your circumstances.

Set up the tank in the new location. Use new sand for the sandbed with the old live sand placed on top of this new sand. Install your live rock according to your preferences -- either on the bottom glass of the tank or on the sandbed, or on supports.

Fill the tank with saltwater and run all the equipment for an hour or so to make sure everything works properly.

Remove enough of the tankwater to facilitate installation of your corals and other sesile inverts. Replace tankwater and restart equipment. Add fish, snails, seastars, etc. However, you may need to acclimate these depending on whether or not there is any difference between the water they are in and the new tankwater. If you are careful to use as much of the old tankwater as possible and to keep the salinity and temperature the same, you should have little or no acclimation problems. If the tankwater in the new setup is not the same as the water in the holding containers, do a normal acclimation.

Try to minimize the length of time the livestock spends in the holding containers. Anything from two to three hours to as long as two to three days is usually not a problem provided the water is kept at the appropriate temperature and aeration is provided.

[CRJDriver]

That sounds much more complicated than the LFS described...They told me to leave about an 2-4 inches of water in the tank...pick it up and move it. They even told me to leave the fish in the tank. This didn't sound right so thats why i asked. I'm hoping to god I don't have to move cuz it sounds like quite a chore. The move itself isn't that far. Maybe a 15 min car ride. Does this change anything you stated above? Thanks for the input!

[Ninong]

Most tank manufacturers will void your warranty (assuming you have one) if you move the tank with anything in it. That's because the weight of the sand and water will put too much stress on the joints when you move the tank.

I don't know if it's possible to move a 75-gal glass tank with the sand and just a little water in it for even a short distance. I guess it might be possible if you could figure a way to slide the tank off the stand onto a heavy duty wooden table or something and then place the table with the tank on top into a pickup truck and then drive very slowly to the new location. The operative word here is "might." Chances are something would go wrong.

[philolsen]

I had to deal with a move about 2 years ago and it went off without a hitch, I got 20 2.5 gal jugs for water so I could transfer "lived in" water, I put the fish into into 2, 5 gal buckets, and about half of my substrate in a couple more buckets with some water. I brought over the tank set it up went back to the old place (about 25 min. each way) got the fish brought them back and put them in, I had no problem. I have heard of people moving tanks with only a little water and breaking seals, I would not try.

[WillieM96]

Just for my own edification, is it even worth it to attempt a move if you have a several hour drive or are you and the fish better off just selling and restarting where you end up?

[aqua-nut]

I just moved three tanks last weekend. Two FW one Reef. This is what I did...
Prepare lots of water. I did not save much of the old water. I figured the disturbance of sandbed would release many 'bad things' so wanted to do a massive water change.

Corals into 5G. buckets and water from tank. Fish into their own buckets. If the move was long (one was), I would bag and insulate the corals and fish just like when they are shipped. The reef tank was within my house so I just used buckets.

Base rock was moved to 30 Gal. trash cans, covered w/ tank water and heated.

Remove all sandbed into, wait for it, ...

5 gal. buckets!

Completly empty tank! Do not move it with 'just a little water and sandbed' unless you are looking to purchase a new tank!


Move and setup tank. Add sand back and new water. At this point I found the water too murkey to see much. I added back some of the base rock and fish then waited. When I could see better, in went the corals.

Lastly I topped off with old tank water. I'd estimate 80% of water was new.

Everybody survived, corals are open and seem happy. Fish all are smiling so I think they like the new digs.

[CRJDriver]

Thanks for all the tips everyone. I think everyone convinced me to disreguard what the LFS said. Guess i'm going to have to look for some more buckets. Still hoping I can find a roomate so I don't have to move, but its not looking good. Again thanks for all the tips, keep them coming!

[CRJDriver]

Originally Posted by aqua-nut

I just moved three tanks last weekend. Two FW one Reef. This is what I did...
Prepare lots of water. I did not save much of the old water.

Base rock was moved to 30 Gal. trash cans, covered w/ tank water and heated.

Remove all sandbed into, wait for it, ...5 gal. buckets!

Couple questions for you about the above statements from your post....

How soon did you prepare the new water, did you aerate it, what did you store the new water in and I'm going to assume you made sure the salinity and ph were similiar to what it was in your old tank correct?

How long were the fish in bucket? How did you heat the base rock while in the trash cans?

I have crushed coral, so i'll assume i'm going to treat it like the "sand" in your move.

Lastly, from what i read u set up the tank at the new location, dumped the new water in, and then put your fish in. The tank will essentially be cycled since your using the same sand/coral and rock correct? Just make sure the ph, salinity and temp are close to what they were and put the fish back in?

[CRJDriver]

Well unfortunately the move is going to happen within the next few weeks, I just wanted to revisit this thread to see if anyone had some last minute tips. My biggest concern if i remove everything completely from the tank and disturb everything is that the tank will have to re-cycle, is this the case, or will i be fine as long as i put everything, including the water, back into the tank? The LFS was pretty stern about not disturbing the sand/crushed coral bed.

Here is my plan so far:
-remove live rock and place it into a rubbermaid container with enough tank water to cover
-remove water and fish into containers (not a very long move maybe 15 min drive, so i dont plan on heating or aerating)
-place tank onto sheet of plywood (hoping this will eliminate stress on the joints since i won't actually be picking up the tank)
-move to new place, set stand and tank plumbing up
-full tank with "lived in" water
-replace live rock
-let the tanks run for awhile
-acclimate fish once again

Anyone see any big holes in my plan? Or better ideas?
Any adivse is greatly appreciated as i want to make the move as easy as possible for the fish and myself!

[CSeaSee]

I'll chime in...
I've moved my 55 four times in the last three and a half years. I've got a 3-4" crushed coral bottom, and I have scooped out the crushed coral, put it into a separate 5-gallon bucket with water, and put it right back into the tank with no adverse effects every time. It has always been a local move, but the entire moving process always takes 8-12 hours. On this point I disagree with what your LFS said, based on my experiences. I have six fish which have survived all four moves, and coral which has survived as well.
I would think about saving that substrate, because there are quite a large number of critters than live in your crushed coral bed, and wiping out a large number of them could really upset the balance of your tank. I'd personally go with lots of 5-gallon buckets, as well, for several reasons:
-tight-fitting lids
-less weight per bucket = less chance of spillage
-if something does spill, it's only 5 gallons
-greater versatility in deciding what gets placed in what bucket- less stress for the critters
If you vacuum your CC bed often, right down to the glass, then your water won't be too cloudy. If you've never done this before, this is a great opportunity to remove a lot of junk that tends to settle to the bottom of CC beds. They can be a pain to maintain, but mine has worked well for me, and it is easy to move in its entirety, versus moving a DSB.

[CRJDriver]

Hey thanks for the good info Carl! After having read your post I think I'll remove the crushed coral. Any good suggestions where I can get lots of 5 gal buckets besides the Homer buckets at Home Depot? I planned on puttin the water in those clear containers you buy with filtered water for Culligan style machines.

I plan on doing a water change here in the next couple of days and hope to do a lot of vacuuming along with it, let it run for a week or two and then make the big move.
Again...thanks for the input!

[CSeaSee]

I got all of my buckets from either HD, or empty salt buckets with lids. No problems, I just washed them before I used them. Good luck to you... lemme know how the move goes!

[CRJDriver]

Just wanted to revisit this thread and let you all know how the move went and what i did. The move went actually easier than i had suspected. Here what i did.
Supplies - 10 5gal buckets, 1 rubbermand tub for live rock, 2'x4' piece of plywood

First i took all the rock out and put it in the rubbermade tub, utilized my pump to pump the water out of the tank and put enough water into the tub to make sure the rock stayed wet. Then I took about half of the water out before i put the fish in a 5 gal bucket. Finished draining the water from the tank, drained as much as i could utilizing the tank pump itslef (which worked really slick i might add). When all was said and done i had about an inch of water still left in the tank along with all the crusked coral. Unhooked evertthing and made a make shift table out of bucket and set the plywood on top. We then moved the tank the short distance to the plywood. (I have a 75 gal tank so this 2'x4' piece of wood worked beautifully.) Moved it to the back of my truck, loaded the stand in and headed for the new place. It was about 1hr and 20 min from the time i started taking water out until i had it all set up and running at the new place. I did not put any new water in the tank, fulled it back up with the water i had in it before. (i did a water change about 2 weeks before the move). The water was pretty clear by the end of the night. All fish survived ! I just added some new tankmates today (2-3 weeks later) after making sure everything was stable again.

Thanks to all for your advice and comments!