The Super Duper Master plan

[Stat]

OK the master plan is this.

I have found an 125 gallon 6 foot tank setup that currently has everything from live rock to fish that I want to purchase off of craigslist.


Now I am a softy at heart I wanna keep these fish. How do I move this monster Tank, and not kill everything in it. I cannot move it full of water.

Can it be done ?

 

[divedeep1689]

well first get all the fish to a tank a temp tank somewere were you can leave em for a while then drain all water from tank into containers you want to save as much of the origanal water as possible take rocks somewere like a big rubber mades with water!! then move the tank were ever ya want to take it, set it back up check your water parmaters everything should check fine it should not need to cycle if you use most of the old water and filters. then return your fish back to the tank you dont want to move your fish the same day find a friend who has a tank that can keep your fish until you can get your tank back up and going. its not a easy project but yes it can be done if you take the time to plan it out and dont rush each step from temporary fish home to setting it back up and using old water

 

[divedeep1689]

i have a book in my collection that i want to recomend to you but i cant find it if i remember the name i will let you know its got a great article on tank moving
\\

 

[kgriffith]

When I originally bought my setup I had a similar situation. I did the following..

siphoned the water out of the tank and into buckets and trash barrels. Dont overfill the trash cans or you wont be able to lift them. Put the live rock in the trash barrels and the fish. Break down everything else and clean it. Leave approximately 2" of water in the tank or whatever your comfortable with. Bring it to your place set it up and add the rockwork and water and you should be good to go. Try not to disturb the sandbed if possible. Some people might tell you to remove it and start fresh but I did not want the tank to cycle on me.

I own a roofing company so trucks were readily available for the move. Hopefully you have a truck or friend with a truck.

Actually when I moved my setup I had an inverter in my truck and I plugged in powerheads in the trash barrels to keep everyone happier.

Good luck.

 

[Stat]

THX for the advice.

The current move plan is pretty similar. I just have to find a way to move the water. The plan is I am going to use a brand new sump pump to move the water through hoses to either a barrel or trash bins. So I dont half to lift it. I might try using a canister Filter that I have that moves 350 gallons per hour. I am not sure yet that the canister filter will move the water through 50 feet of tubing.


Now heres the fun part I need to catch
a snowflake eel, large sail-fin tang, large niger trigger, nemo clown and large cinnimon clown fish, coral beauty and yellow rabbit-fish, also 2 sea urchant and a very large chocolate chip star fish couple of snails. 3 water jets in tank approx 100 lbs of live sand. Whats the best way to catch these guys with the lowest stress.

What do you guys suggest I store together and what separate for the move. Its going to be about 30 miles. I hope it takes about 8 hours to do from beginning to end with 4-5 people.


Tank placement is another key question that I have. Should I do any special reinforcing to my floor I have never had a large aquarium before. Do I need to put it a special way with the floor joysts a ceratin way? any Advice would be helpful.

 

[ezy33]

Keep the star under water at all times! Maybe bag that one.

Remove all rock and drain most of the water. With the appropriate size net and a chaser net you should have no problems. Just watch out for any fish hiding inside any rock. I still have 1 of 5 3 stripe damsels in my 180 after removing and cleaning all the rock. Have seasoned SW ready to refill the tank. If you can put the rock in a unused garbage can and/or ice chests, put the container into the truck bed then cover with tank water and reverse the steps at your destination.

IMO the trigger and eel 5 gallon bucket. The rest in another unless they are any larger one's that would lead to crowding.

Placement should be no problem as long as your house is built to code. Try bouncing your body weight where you want the tank, it should feel solid and not too flexible. Keep it out of direct sun light to avoid algae. When refilling check for level, especially if it's on carpet (try to avoid the tack strip along the wall).

 

[Innovator]

Try not to stir up the substrate when you are draining the water. If you can mix up a fresh batch of half the water volume at the destination then you only need to transport 50% of the tanks volume; hence, 50% water change. It wouldn't hurt to attach a filter sock to the end of the hose where you're filling the transport. Once the water has been reduced 50% and you are satisfied with the amount of water saved you can begin to carefully remove liverock. The slower you make this part of the process the less debris you will stir up. Place the rocks in either rubbermaid totes, trash cans, or cardboard boxes lined with styrofoam. Once the rock is removed the water level should dip low enough so that there is little chance of the fish escaping. Place the eel by itself, sailfin tang and "nemo" ocellaris clown and coral beauty together, the niger by itself, cinnamon clown and rabbitfish together, the urchins together, and the sea star by itself. You may want to use a container to catch the foxface so its dorsal spines don't get caught in a net. I would use 5g buckets or rubbermaid totes for their transport with portable/battery air pumps. Do you plan on keeping the sand or purchasing new? The sand will have to be thoroughly cleaned before adding to the system once moved. Either case, you can use a large diameter hose to suck out the sand and/or a dust pan, but if you plan to purchase new you can use a wet/dry vacuum to suck it out quickly. I've broken down larger tanks in 2-4hrs or less if you plan accordingly and work swiftly. Is this tank going upstairs? If so I'd have a contractor inspect the area, but if this tank is on ground level I don't think you'll have anything worry about.