Moving a Tank

[mr_X]

i would be deathly afraid to fill that tank back up and put corals and fish in it after driving it across town. a 5 year old sand bed that's 5" deep is a lot to deal with.
here's a good test- if in fact you are transporting it like you said and there will be water covering the sand bed as you move it around and drive it as far as needed, when you get it in place at your home, evaluate the water covering the sand bed. is it all murky and nasty looking? if so, i would at the very least rinse the sand thoroughly before using it.
this is also assuming the sand bed will not go through any drastic temp changes, like being in the back of a pickup truck for a half hour in the winter weather. if that is the situation, there will be some die off in the bed. another potentially hazardous situation.

 

[rush]

Honestly, I would get it to your place and start taking the sand out. Throw half of it away, only need 2 inches of sand bed and rinse the rest very well. Once all your sand is thoroughly rinsed then put it back in the tank and start your water from stage one with RODI 80% and tap water (treated with prime) 20%.

I kept the sand that came with my 120 but I rinsed it all first.

 

[mr_X]

i'm curious as to why you would suggest using tap water.

 

[rush]

I find the mix 80% RODI and 20% treated tap water gives a great balance. There are some stuff that you can only get from tap water that RODI nor the salt provide. That is just MO though, I have always done it that way. The water quality of the tap water where I live is very good. I could use 100% tap water and be fine. On my first tank, the 46 gallon, I didnt have an RO unit and used my tap water for 2 years without any issues. However this may not be ideal for everyone. I use 80/20 mix and its kept my parameters perfect

 

[AdamHorton]

I moved my 150G tank about 2 hours in the cold weather a couple of months ago. There were no corals or inverts, but I didn't lose any fish. Here's a thread about it, which includes some discussion on the substrate.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f11/moving-a-150g-fowlr-133941.html

and there's a link in my signature to my fish blog where I wrote a little about my move if you want to read it.

As far as substrate goes, I'd have to recommend against trying to transport what's already there. It's really easy to cause huge problems with your tank by trying to move substrate and I don't think you want to chance it. My tank had maybe a 2" sand bed at most and it was only up for a year or so and I still didn't feel comfortable moving the sand.

Coolers worked very well for me for the LR. I was able to put the coolers in the moving truck, in the cold, for the 2+ hour drive and even though it got significantly colder, I didn't have any trace of a cycle, so it must not have had any bad effects on the bacteria.

The one mistake I made was not making sure the mixed SW I had waiting at the new place was warm enough.

 

[PrettyFishies]

Sounds like I need to just start researching aragonite prices. I'm not taking a chance I can avoid. Thanks for the opinions.

What brand would you recommend and how many lbs for a 125?


BTW - My tap water is not high quality.

@Adam - Yes, I bought an RO/DI setup and will have at least 50 gallons fresh mix ready to go the day of.

 

[rush]

Sounds like I need to just start researching argonite prices. I'm not taking a chance I can avoid. Thanks for the opinions.

BTW - My tap water is not high quality.

If your tap water is of poor quality skip the mixing of it, go all RO/DI for sure.

Do not take the chance. I always assume everyone tap water is as good as ours

 

[mwilliams]

Rush - Nice Pics. love the canopy where did you get one like that?
PrettyFishes - check out Dr. Foster & Smith so far they are the only ones that have really good prices for their sand and great shipping rates for it too. I will be ordering me a few bags here today from them myself.

 

[rush]

Rush - Nice Pics. love the canopy where did you get one like that?
PrettyFishes - check out Dr. Foster & Smith so far they are the only ones that have really good prices for their sand and great shipping rates for it too. I will be ordering me a few bags here today from them myself.

Thank you, it was actually custom built, the stand and canopy. The guy I bought it from had it built from his brother. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it and bought it on spot. For the price I couldnt refuse.

I got the tank, stand, canopy, built in sump, return pump, protein skimmer (not the vertex), and an RO/DI unit for $300. Tank was already drilled and all set up for sump with plumbing and all. Could not go wrong

 

[PrettyFishies]

Rush - Nice Pics. love the canopy where did you get one like that?
PrettyFishes - check out Dr. Foster & Smith so far they are the only ones that have really good prices for their sand and great shipping rates for it too. I will be ordering me a few bags here today from them myself.

Which brand and why? I've seen on here not to get the "live" sand.

 

[rush]

If you are using cured LR, you dont need to spend the extra money to get live sand. Just get normal sand, the LR will seed the sand in no time and turn it into live sand.

I have never purchased live sand.

 

[PrettyFishies]

Can you send a link to the one you recommend?

Here's what I found http://www.marinedepot.com/CaribSea...Reef_Aquariums-CaribSea-CS0930-FISSDS-vi.html

I plan to have a jawfish and maybe gobies, so, i need a small diameter. The tank also comes with a brittle star and some snails that hide under the sand.

 

[AdamHorton]

A note about sand/LR: I imagine you won't have problems with your beneficial bacteria population if you keep all of your LR. That means you don't have much of a reason to get "live" sand (even if it was actually "live" when you bought it, which is rarely actually the case). Dry sand is much cheaper.

What you might do is buy just a little bit of sand, maybe enough for a 1" sand bed to start off with, and keep all of the sand you already have. If you want a deeper sand bed, then slowly add small quantities of your old sand after rinsing it thoroughly. That's what I'm doing with my old sand, I'll add maybe a half gallon of sand every other week and I haven't had any problems with that.

 

[rush]

Honestly just go to your local LFS and grab couple bags of sand. You want about an inch and a half to two inches of sand evenly placed across your aquarium. Make sure you rinse the sand well before putting it into the aquarium. Once you have your sand in, then put a large bowl and pour your water into the bowl to fill up the tank so you dont have the sand cloud up the water.

 

[mwilliams]

Here is the link:
Fish & Aquarium Supplies: Marine Substrates, Sand, Crushed Coral, Live Sand
they have a flat rate of $8.99 for shipping.

 

[PrettyFishies]

That's a great deal because I need to get some other things.

I'm thinking this would be good for my sand-sifters - Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand

 

[mwilliams]

I forgot to mention that is just the Standard Rate. I have looked at several others and they all want a higher price for shipping for Heavy Items. I am glad that Dr. F& S has this rate I hope they don't change it.

 

[mr_X]

everything you need to sustain a reef tank is in your salt mix. the T.D.S. of tap water is made up of things you do not want in your tank. in many cases you can find out exactly what is in your tap water online, and it's quite scary.
Report of contaminants and chemicals found in drinking water in the US | Environmental Working Group

 

[mwilliams]

Honestly just go to your local LFS and grab couple bags of sand. You want about an inch and a half to two inches of sand evenly placed across your aquarium. Make sure you rinse the sand well before putting it into the aquarium. Once you have your sand in, then put a large bowl and pour your water into the bowl to fill up the tank so you dont have the sand cloud up the water.

Before buying sand at your Local LFS check the prices and do the math I just saved myself $18.43 by buying my sand at Dr. F&S.

 

[PrettyFishies]

Yeah, my LFS is likely more expensive than yours Rush. I appreciate the advice, but on larger purchases, I can usually do a much better job online. I just put in my order of F&S and because of the flat rate special, I saved a bundle. I usually only get small things from the LFS's in my area.

I will be getting some more 5 gal buckets to rinse the sand. Thanks for the explanation on adding the sand.