New 55 gallon! How to move?

[Wolf]

Hi there,
I just bought a 55 gallon setup with two 40 watt flourescent light strips, two 24" lights with hood(one is purple tinged? other needs new bulb), a wooden canopy and stand, along with 2 aquarium books(1 valued at $45), hydrometer, test kits, algae scrubber, Emperor 400, SkilterFilter 250. It also has 3 cantoloupe size hunks of live rock( not sure what type) extra porous rock, 1/2 the tank is crushed coral other 1/2 sand(live rock seeded it I think) lots of purple(corralline?) algae too. I bought this all for $250. Is this a good deal?
It's 15 minutes away from me. I was thinking I'd siphon the water into a cooler or garbage can, and then put the live rock and sand in it with a airstone and heater. Will that be sufficient? I would then transfer it to my house and set it up with the same water so I wouldn't have to cycle it again. I figured on adding more water after it's setup. Is this okay? Also do I need to be careful when taking out the sand, how exactly do I do this? Thanks in advance, Wolf

 

[seaham358]

I thinks thats a good deal...
Pick up some garbage cans from Home Depot.. I use the brute 32 gal. Put water in then LR. I would keep sand in a smaller container, I think adding it to the can will just make a big sand storm. Toss the crushed coral, this stuff traps waste and creates high nitrates over time.
No need to use a air stone or heater for the rock, its only a short trip and unless there are living critters on the rock I would not worry.
No fish or crabs with it??

if you add new salt water make sure you mix it out of the tank then add it only after the SG/salinity is the same as the tank water.
I would look into getting some more Live rock before you add any fish or crabs...
Keep us posted.... good luck with the move.

Purple light is the actinic bulb, give the tank a nice look.

 

[MarineFlake]

I moved my 75G in a similar fashion with a lot more critters! I left the sand in and just enough water to cover it. Strictly speaking, you should never move a tank unless its empty. However, this tank is old and uses the thick glass as opposed to the thin stuff with the brace across it. The tank was easily moved in its condition (sand and a little water) by 2 guys. (Not to say 2 girls coudn't have done it!) As posted already, you want to move the water with if its established if you can. No need for anything fancy, just siphon as you suggested into a container (Though I recommend multiple containers (weight) as you will see when you go to put water back in, less your gonna pump it in..) The brute I used had wheels on it, made it lots ezier to move. Matter a fact, heres the link to the document I wrote to organize my move, posted due to so little info on the subject!

http://www.fishdomain.com/forum/read.php?f=1&i=4534&t=4534

Best of luck!

 

[BillyZ]

Pauls comment on weight is a considerable point to heed. Water is about 8.3 pounds per gallon. so in water alone you will have 415 pounds to move. Just putting it into a 5 gallon bucket, each bucket will be over 40 pounds.

I would also STRONGLY suggest NOT moving the tank with anything in it. Take out all the water and all the substrate. Do as you planned with the water, siphon it out into multiple containers (of a reasonable size to cary considering weight) then just scoop out all the substrate into another container. Taking a plastic milk carton and cutting off the bottom at an angle works really well for a scoop. (http://www.heritageaspen.org/images2/scoop.jpg)

We have an article here in our articles section that touches on moving a FW tank. The process is generally the same for a SW tank.

 

[Wolf]

Okay, thanks a lot everyone! Plan to move it this Friday Can't wait!