Tank move/fish removal

[Ziggy953]

Ok gang. I had it posted in another forum but wasn't getting any responses. I have 2 problem fish in my tank (damsels) and they have to come out. I've got a trap and tried like crazy to catch the little turds without success. I have decided to remove everything and catch them as suggested. I want to move the tank off the wall and slide it down a few feet anyway so I'm going to kill 2 birds (hopefully not fish or anything else....sigh) with one stone. I need some suggestions, experiences or what ever you guys can offer me. I'm not looking forward to this other then the chance to re-aquascape the tank. Please help! I promise to take lots of pics of the whole process and post them here!!!! I have a couple of weeks to plan this out I don't want to screw up!

 

[melosu58]

As far as moving the tank it probably wont be that hard if you are talking a few feet. I moved mine in to another room and I used piano movers to slowly roll it into the other room. Whatever you do you do you`ll have to take out about half the water when you move and I would suggest a couple folks around to steady it. The problem you are having with the damsels is why we suggest dont put them in your tank.

 

[Ziggy953]

Unfortunately I had not read as much about those little rascals before getting them as I should have. I was new to the hobby and they were pretty fish. You know the story. After a year in this and a lot of money I'm a lot more particular about the fish in my tank as I only have 6 in the tank at this point and plan on taking 2 of those out.

Did you have any problems with PH N04 and the like after moving the tank? I was planning on removing the rock and putting it into a 30g trash can I use for my RO/DI water and then putting the corals into a couple of differnt buckets. I was also planning on putting the water right back into the tank after it was in place. I don't mind taking out more then half of the water since I'm removing all of the rock to get those fish.

 

[melosu58]

The only problem you might have is that any disturbing of the substrate might cause a small mini cycle in your tank. That was the only thing I experienced.

 

[flanque]

I moved my tank to a new house. I took all the sand out into bags and then put it all back together at the new place.. I never had any detectable mini-cycling occurring, though my tank was three years and a lot of rock which remained fully submerged so perhaps that was the reason.

 

[roka64]

Unfortunately I had not read as much about those little rascals before getting them as I should have. I was new to the hobby and they were pretty fish. You know the story.

I know the story all too well! That's why I have a damsel tank and bought a new 125G for other fish! LOL!
The only advice I have, is have some premixed water ready and try to keep the tank as level as possible, so you don't cause stress fractures.

 

[flanque]

I'd be very careful about moving any tank that has water and substrate in it. Unless you're very careful you may easily knock, bump or move accidentally suddenly jolt the tank and cause a fracture. If the rock remains in the tank imagine if a piece or more of it fell and hit the glass.

When I was moving my tank just the weight of the sand with just an inch of water above it in there was very heavy. I didn't want to risk a) dropping it and b) having too much weight on one side to possibly cause a stress fracture. Add rock or more water to it sounds like a potential disaster to me.

My suggestion to you would be, unless you can be 100% certain of stability of the tank's contents, even weight distribution during transit and a clear path (and the muscles), just remove everything into big tubs of tank water, then carry just the tank and re-scape it.

 

[Ziggy953]

I'm going to take all of the rock and most of the water out of the tank. The cabinet it is on was custom built by me and I konw it's not going anywhere. I have a 55gFW that I took the large pieces of rock/wood out of and left about 4 inches of water overtop the gravel with all the live plants in it and put it in the bed of a pickup and moved it 60 miles with no problems. My major concern is the possibility of creating a mini-cycle as has been stated. I don't want to create a problem by stirring everything up and making a mess of my tank. It is a lot different then moving a FW. I do appreciate all the ideas and concerns. I told my wife that she would have to take pics for me while we do this so I can post them. Hopefully I will have a smile on my face at the end of this ordeal! If anyone else has other suggestions I would love to hear them!! Thanks again everyone!

After reading some of the comments again I think i need to mention one other thing. This tank is on a concrete floor and I'm just going to slide the cabinet about 2.5-3 feet in one direction with the tank on it. I'm not actually going to pick the tank up at all. I wouldn't even think of picking this tank up with any water/sand in it. It was heavy enough when it was empty.

 

[roka64]

Ok, that sounds like you will be ok. Good luck and lots of pics!

 

[Ziggy953]

Well I'm almost 4 hours into this move and I have the skimmer and pumps running again in the tank. I still haven't gotten the lights back on it yet but everything seems to be doing ok. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I had a FW 90g pond that was just laying around and used it to hold the tank water and the LR. Worked out great. I think I'm going to use it to cure my LR. DUH!!! Anyway I've got all the water back into the tank and I have about 30g of new SW that I'm gonig to do a PWC with. I stired up a lot more muck then I wanted but that is the way it goes. I have cut holes in the wall behind the tank to access it from my fish closet. That will help out a lot. Also I have a shelf inside the closet that the ballast for the MHs to sit on. I have totally changed the look of the rock work. There are now 2 mountains on either end of the tank with a nice sandy area in the middle to accomidate my clams that will be coming home with me in a couple of weeks. I got the 2 bad fish out of the tank and they are now in their own tank (10g) I put a couple pieces of LR in there with them to help out with filtration. More to come......

Update: 1/28/07

The tank has settled down and everything has opened up. The fish ate so I don't think anyone was too stressed by the move. The two problem damsels ate this morning too so I guess they will be ok. I think they will go back to the LFS. I have lots of pics to share but don't have time to post them right now. Here is a shot of the tank before and after...well I have met my max of uploads so you will have to wait until I get it posted on myspace.....

 

[Ziggy953]

Here is the FTS 24hours after the move. I think everything is doing pretty well. The water has never been clearer. Go figure. Thanks to all of you who offered advice!!!

 

[roka64]

WOW! That is very impressive! Beautiful stand!

 

[Ziggy953]

Thanks...I have a better picture of the stand....one of these days I will actually finish it.

 

[melosu58]

Really looks nice

 

[clearerphish]

In the future, if you ever ned to remove damsels from your tank:

Take a small bottle of water with the screw top. I used 16 oz bottle. Take cap and plastic ring off. Cut off top of bottle, invert it (so the top is inside the bottle pointing at the bottom) and staple around the top edge to kep it in place. Drop a cube of mysis in it, take the label off, and submerge. Watch the tank (preferrably do this on a feeding day before the fish are fed) and as soon as the damsel enters the trap, just lift it out. That's how I got my damsel out of my 10g reef. It was WAY easy.

 

[Ziggy953]

Good idea...I'll keep it in mind, but I don't plan on getting anymore damsels! Thanks for the info though!