moving a tank???

[lbaier]

I have to move apartments in may and i have my 46 gal bowfront that i have to move with me. any suggestions or ideas about how to move it, should i keep some or all of the water, and will it hurt the maturity of my tank. we were going to buy a new tank because we are getting sick of the bow front and want to upgrade to a 60 or 65 gallon to make a reef. i dont want to go through the whole process of recycling the tank again. thanks

 

[RLG2182]

Keep as much water as possible. If you have LR, make sure you keep it in water in some kind of tub... same for LS if you have it. definitely DON'T try to put it in containers larger than 5-10 gallons as it will be difficult to carry... I wouldn't risk it. Keep plenty of new saltwater there to add in.

If you can keep all or almost all the water, you can add that into your new 60 and top off with freshly made SW... it'll be just like you did a water change. Just try not to move the fish around too much... they should be put back into the tank after the water temp and everything else is stable.

It's a pain in the @ss, but with more planning comes an easier time. You shouldn't have to deal with that big of a new cycle at all as long as you can keep the rock and other parts of your tank in water and as close to proper temp as possible. Just don't try to move the tank with any amount of water in it as it may break on ya. 8O

HTH

 

[Tito2491]

I dont think you can put fish and coral from another tank to a new tank like that without cycling the tank first. If I were you i'd cycle the 65gallon tank for 3months keep the 45 bow jus for 3 more months while it cycles.

 

[RLG2182]

When do you need to move the tank? If you have to do it now/soon, you won't have time to make a new cycle with the new tank. Let us know as much info as possible.

 

[lbaier]

I didnt think that we could put our fish and stuff in a new tank without cycling it first. We are moving at the end of may so we have alot of time. we were thinking of cycling the new tank if we got one but we are still deciding if we are going to get a new tank in the first place.

 

[Phyl]

Seems to me that the filtration and rock that you have now is sufficient for your bioload. If you're moving everything anyway it stands to reason that if you kept it all to temp during the move it should be enough to sustain your existing bioload when you set it back up. Sure you'll lose a little from the walls and possibly the substrate if you replace that, but otherwise why would the tank cycle? I would think that you could put it all into the new tank at the new place and be prepared for some water changes just in case you see a spike. Is there a good reason why that wouldn't work?

 

[xahx]

Seems to me that the filtration and rock that you have now is sufficient for your bioload. If you're moving everything anyway it stands to reason that if you kept it all to temp during the move it should be enough to sustain your existing bioload when you set it back up. Sure you'll lose a little from the walls and possibly the substrate if you replace that, but otherwise why would the tank cycle? I would think that you could put it all into the new tank at the new place and be prepared for some water changes just in case you see a spike. Is there a good reason why that wouldn't work?

I Agree,

as long as you get all or most of the existing water there as well as the LR, then i dont see a need to cycle... You should be very well skipped that stage!
Maybe add some LS and be sure to watch ur ammonia levels.. Any spikes then do a water change like Phyl mentioned...

If there is a cycling that takes place, it should proceed fairly quickly.. just keep up with the water parameters

 

[NewFishGuy]

5 gal pain buckets work great...you can buy empty ones with lids that seal on at lowes home improvement....take all the water.....

 

[ellisz]

If you reuse the current substrate and LR and there is enough rock and sand to adequately filter the new tank, I would think a cyle could be prevented.

 

[zuzecawi]

you can get buckets free at most fast food places, ask for the pickle buckets. Wash them with bleach and let them air dry and your good to go. I got a tower of buckets from Wendy's.

 

[suthernsalt]

We have a 75, 100 and 125g tank. We bought each of these already set up. The 125 is the most recent. We kept the same equipment, but before moving washed the tank thoroughly. We kept the same water, but had to add approx. 30g new. We have had no problem. This would be much the same as getting a new tank and transferring your rock, substrate, filters, etc... This move entailed approximately 200 lbs. lr, a tank full of corals, and fish. We have had no problem with anything, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, phosphates are all testing 0, so as long as you keep your water, equipment, substrate, etc.... you should be ok.