might have to move tank

[DamselnDistress]

So our one bathroom a pipe leaked and our whole wood floor flooded and we're thinking about getting it replaced. But, my 4 month old 75 gal tank and stand are on the wood floor. Could it be possible to switch my live rock over to another tank pump the water out and put my fish in my quarentine tank and then when the floor is done switch everything over again to a new pre drilled tank...my tank now isnt drilled and i really want a predrilled one. So could i switch everything over to another tank, probably a new pre drilled one, then put it back in the old tank, put the new pre drilled tank on the stand and back in place and then place everything into the new pre drilled tank and build a sump? Or will this be reallly harmful. Also I'd like to switch to a different kind of substrate maybe like a black sand because my white crushed coral looks bad. Any ideas if its possible?

 

[fishfreek]

Sure its possible. You will need to time it as best as possible to limit the time the fish are in the cramped qtank. If you put your rock in large tubs full of saltwater with pumps and heaters to circulate and keep the tank temp up you should have no problems.

 

[DamselnDistress]

you think I could put everything in like trash cans with my water and powerheads? And then put my new sand in the new tank and then add my water and rocks back in and let it settle a little while and then add in my fish?

 

[BillyZ]

you can certainly use trash cans (as long as they're new clean cans that don't leak ;o) )

the trouble you might run into is the "Add new sand" part. if you're changing your substrate you'll be losing a very large portion of your denitrifying bacteria so you might start a small cycle. You can lessen this to some degree by filling some clean pantyhose with your old substrate and tie them off, set them on top of the new substrate and leave them there for at least a week, then remove them gradually over time.