So, I come to those of you that have had to relocate your tank to you new home. I have moved tanks around my house, combined tanks, and even picked up a tank 2hrs away that was fully setup. But I did not have to keep most of the water because I was not keeping the fosh long term. But next month I will be moving my 125g reef tank to my new apt (this time on the 1st floor, so I can sleep at night knowing it won't fall thru the floor). It is only about 15min away but will still take me hrs of work. When I combined my 65 and 125 tanks it took me 12.5hrs of straight work and that was only 20ft away. So if anyone has any advice, I am all ears, please prevent me from makeing the same mistake that you may have. I am poor and attached to many of my fish, I don't want to have to buy knew fish and corals. I know I need to bring most of the water with me, but how little could I get away with? I could treat it as a large water change, but my fish will be stressed already the more water I keep the same the better. Once I move my tank I will start up a thread on my tank and show it off to you, nothing special, but it puts a smile on my face.

i would take as much of the water as it is possible for you to take, but at least 75%, would be a good amount, IMO. that way it is like doing a 25% water change when you added the new saltwater AND you wont have to make a lot of water.

i suggest putting the fish in a LARGE container. when i moved my 125 i took ALL of the water and kept the fish in 1 of the 100g rubbermaid tubs (covered of course). all corals went into seperate buckets of tank water ( i have a TON of buckets), lol. all LR was in the tub with the fish (laying flat so the fish did not get squished.

HTH ... looking forward to seeing the tank !!

Bobby, seems like there was a thread several months ago about someone relocating a tank from a home to an office. I believe it was a female. She had a detailed, outlined list of to do things in the correct order and all the preparations she did in advance to minimize stress and time involved in the completion of the project. Do you remember that post? I will try to surf around and see if I can find it. Seems like she had posted it again for someone else who was moving a tank to another outside of the home location.

I would check out episode 22 for a some good tips

Reefcast.com (http://www.reefcast.com/downloads25.php)

i remember it, but i have not had time to look for it yet. im working on it though.

didn't Dick have a list of what he did to take down one of his tanks to upgrade or combine or something.

If some could find that list it would be great.

Lucky for me when I bought this tank off of some on I went and picked the 125g tank up, It was up and running as a fowlr when I got there, so I has to drain it, get out all the fish and rock, load it up and bring it to my house. I only had to bring some of the water with me tho as I sold all the fish the next day (most were not reef comp). I then set the tank up a week or 2 later (temp as a fowlr). About a month or 2 later I took my 65g reef and combined it with the 125g. roughly took me 12 hard working hrs. (the next day my back felt it) I did the entire thing by myself, sometime watching me try to lift things was probly pretty funny.

My simplified plan is to:
-have a 25% water change ready at my new place and freshwater
-feed fish early so they travel on a full stomach
-remove corals( individualy bag and hopefully packed with a warm bag to keep temp up)
-remove rock and find inverts while doing this (put in garbage cans with water)
-drain most of the water
-catch fish (small fish in one medium container, large fish in a large container with heater)
-drain rest of water
-take out sand
-take tank etc apart
- travel
-put tank together
-add sand
-add water
-add rocks (let sand settle, which take forever)
-add coral
-add small fish then larger fish

soundS fool proof right?...NOT!

If you find any flaws or have suggestions please let me know.

I would not feed the fish. What goes in must come out and that will add ammonia to the holding water. I think it would be better to feed the night before and not feed them again until they are in their new home.

how much sand are you talking about removing ?? if there is ANY WAY POSSIBLE i would try to disturb the sand as little as possible. by removing it and replacing it ... you are definately going to create some sort of cycle ... probably a pretty big one. mine did when i moved it, but i had an 8' frag tank to keep everything in while it was going through the cycle.

I have about a 3-4" sand bed. I was actually wondering if it would create a small cycle. I will have to remove all the sand as I will have to stand the tank up to remove it from my present home. Should I do frequent water changes after setting the tank back up? Is there anyway to reduce the chance of cycleing other then leaving in the sand? I have a nitrate issue right now I can't afford for it to jump any higher.

You are right at the borderline of having a DSB. I don't think that you have enough depth to fully establish the anerobic zone needed for complete denitrification. Personally, I'd add an inch or two of sand when you set it back up to get the denitrification results that you need. This might be one of the cases where bacteria in a bottle might be helpful. Other than that I would frequently test the water and be prepared to do water changes as necessary.

i agree with Carmie, i would also add another inch or two while you have the tank down. be ready for frequent WCs as i am pretty sure that you are going to see a cycle. how big ?? i dont know, but i saw a full blown cycle when i moved. luckily i had another BB tank i could add everything to until it was over. if there is any possibility for you to do the same ... i would recommend it.

how many corals do you have ?? could you fit them all in a cheap 20 long tank or something like that ?? do you have any buds with extra tanks laying around that you could use ?? if you lived closer i could lend you a 55 or 40 until the cycle is over.

I wish you lived closer too, I use some help. Should I add the new sand to the bottom or top of my old sand? I would assume the bottom.
When I combined my 65 and 125 I removed all the sand and put it back in, I didnt see much of a cycle, tho I did not due proper testing to look for it after the switch. But I did not lose any fish or corals, so if it did happen it could not have been to bad. Luky for me, I do have a 10g, 29g, and 33g tank laying around, if all hits the fan. If have not sold my 55g by then I will have that too.
What are someways I could help avoid a cycle? And are water changes the only thing that will help reduce it if it does occur?

Also my intention was to have a dsb. Carmie most of what you said went right over my head. All i know is that dsb are supposed to reduce nitrates, maybe that is why I have been having nitrate issues, because it is not deep enough.

Hi Scott,

Sorry about that. But, you got the bottom line that it is not quite deep enough. :) When the sand is deep enough >4" you get a layer at the bottom of the sand where there is no oxygen (anaerobic) and the bacteria that live there turn nitrate into harmless nitrogen gas. You can actually look at the sand against the glass and see the bubbles in it as they make their way to the top.

Here is a really good booklet Deep Sand Beds (http://www.ronshimek.com/Deep%20Sand%20Beds.htm) that is on Amphibious' website. It explains everything about a DSB.

I think I would put the new rinsed sand on the bottom. I don't know if it makes a difference in getting the sandbed established but it should help eliminate the sandstorm.