Moving a 75 gal tank

[Mitch_W]

So I've got my tank up and running. And very happy so far with the variety of fish I have so far. But my lease is up in a few months and a friend of mine renewed his lease, not bc they liked the house... but bc he didn't want to have to bother with moving his 220 gal tank. I was wondering if when my lease is up, if I can find a reasonably priced "specialty fish tank mover" should I just pay it? Or is it more easy than it sounds so I can just move it myself? Stress free!?

 

[nxb161]

If you are going to pay someone, make sure they have some type of guarantee or liability in case they do something wrong. I know a guy that paid $75/hr to his LFS to help him move a 220G he bought from someone off craigslist, and lost all the livestock. I'd personally try to move it yourself if you can, just do it the right way. Keep all LR under water, make sure the temps don't flucuate too much, keep flow with the fish as well. Generally you'd use all new sand, but since it is only a few months old.... What all do you have in the tank. what is your setup like?

 

[Mitch_W]

This is my first tank and I've been getting my setup from a friend of mine. So far I have a blue damsel, green Chromis, zebra damsel, clownfish, and 2 diamond sleeper gobys. Crushed coral for my substrate, and some artificial things as decoration/hiding spots. Plus the filter, air pump, light, etc.

 

[nxb161]

now might be a good time to get rid of that crushed coral. Assuming they are larger fragments, they leave lots of space for waste to hide and create nitrates. Got any tank pics?

 

[Mitch_W]

At work right now. I'll send u one tonight

 

[Maya]

We moved a tank we bought on craigslist over an hour away. We used rubbermaid totes with lids in the back of my gmc Acadia to move over 120 pounds of live rock and all of the stock that came with the tank. I kept the car at about 79 degrees. I laid down blankets and drove slow and had no spills. The substrate we replaced but everything else did fine. We had zero losses and no spikes from die off. Use the water that you are draining from the tank to keep everything 100% submersed. We added an air pump to the livestock when we got it home while we set up the tank. We added back about half of the original water which amounted
To a 50% water change. It was heavy to lug around but a couple of buddies and some beer offset most of the sweat. Lol

 

[Mitch_W]

My tank. This is my first tank, so please let me know if I'm missing something. I'm pretty much figuring a lot of this out as I go along. Thanks

 

[Rosenweiss]

Looks suspiciously free of live rock...

 

[Mitch_W]

Yeah I was told that live rock wasn't necessary. That's not true?

 

[nxb161]

In my opinion LR rock is the easiest way to keep a happy saltwater aquarium. Not to mention it gives it the saltwater look. I assume then you're using some type of canister filter for you tank? They require weekly cleanouts

 

[tlkng1]

Maya has it right. I watched a friend of mine move her well established 90 gallon reef from Louisiana to Georgia..granted she had a horse trailer to help with the size. Essentially, she drained the tank as far as she could and placed her liverock, corals and anemones in one layer so everything remained submersed. She used styrofoam coolers with air bubblers for the fish and stuck those in the bed of the truck, keeping everything tightly together by packing hay bales around the coolers. She had a few guys move the tank and who knows how much liverock, plus the water, into her trailer and again, cushioned everything with hay bales. She moved mid-summer but through the judicious use of frozen gel packs packed around everything, she was able to keep temps normal for the 8 hour trip.

I saw the tank about a week after she moved it and it was like it was never moved.