Moving large tank - advice?

[DeederMc]

I'm very excited and a little nervous - a friend of a friend is outright giving me her 80 gallon reef tank. She had a die-off a few months back, losing almost all the fish, bought a lot of crap from the LFS trying to save it and probably did more harm than good, and now doesn't want to take the time to revive it. I'm driving out (about 40 miles) Saturday to pick everything up.

So I need advice! How much of the water should I try to save, and what should I transport it in? How much of the 4" sandbed? She tells me she has a large purple tang and a dragon wrasse - how do I safely transport those guys? What else should I be thinking about?

Currently I have a very healthy 30 gallon reef, and - here's the ironic part - just bought a used 100 gallon reef-ready acrylic that I got a screaming deal on and it's sitting empty in my living room right now. I don't know which tank will be more appealing to keep - hers or the one I bought. Hers has a traditional sump underneath and the one I bought has everything built into the back - any opinions on that? Should I somehow prep the tank I have here?

Thanks so much in advance for your expertise! -Deeder

P.S. maybe a good podcast topic, Rob? Your show is a lifesaver - literally. Thanks for your hard work.

[Rob]

we actaully did a show about this, and had a long thread about the same thing.

here is the link to the Thread

no, for your other question, it it was me i would setup the 100 gallon, and simply transfer everything from the 80 to the new 100 gallon. Use the sump and everythign from her tank.

optimally you want to save everything, all the water, all the sand everything, but all that detail is in the other thread, and in the show

i dont rememebr which episode it was, but it might say in that thread, or check out the episodes/show notes from shows around that time.

if you cant find it let me know and i will dig through my notes for it

[DeederMc]

Thanks Rob! I thought I'd heard all the shows but I must have missed one. I'll go through them again.

[Rob]

Episode 14...
now that i am home, i got a chance to go through my notes.
i dont think we went into "great" detail, but it was adressed as an on air question.

[mopecula]

I think if it was me I would basically start a new, especially if that tank has crashed. It could be much more difficult to bring it back to support the animals we keep. I would use dry sand like old castle and aragonite sand that you would buy at the LFS. I like to do a 50/50 mix with the sand. Then use new salt water to fill the tank. Once it is up and running grab about a cupful of sand from your other system you have at home to seed the sand bed and when you do a water change on that system add the water you pulled out to the 100 gallon tank. This should speed up the process of cycling the tank. As far as transferring the animals, go to the LFS and ask if you can have some of the Styrofoam/cartons they receive the animals in. Usually they will be happy to give them away cause most of the time they just throw them out and what a great way to recycle. While your there also ask for some bags to bag the corals fish etc. this you may have to pay for but I find bagging the corals and fish for a move is the best way to do it. Get about triple of what you think you are going to need cause you should double bag, and some may rip etc. Also get some heat packs so you can tape them with duck tape to the inside cover. This will help maintain a steady temperature for the animals while in transport. So you double bag the animals ( one animal to each bag) then place them in the Styrofoam container, add heat packs taped to inside top of container, put the top on and seal it with the tape. Your good till you get home. I hope this is helpful in some way.
Take care