i have to move into a new house!! but how?

[bigford84]

hi guys... i just found out that my wife and i are gonna have a baby... so i found a bigger house to move in to. everything was relaxed until i thought about moving my 55 gal reef tank (also has a 30 gas sump under it) i searched and only found 2 threads but didnt answer my questions so here goes....

i was told i can move the tank with the sand bed still in it,but not to disturb it and keep it covered with water. but is that going to be safe?? its a 4 foot long tank but i can probably move it using the top of the stand that comes off..

if not keeping the sand can i really just buy new sand,put it in and re setup then everything will be ok?? just sounds scary ya know??

and do i need to keep all the old water??

so it is a 55 gal with 30 gal sump.. in it are 4 shrimp=2 camel,1cleaner,1pistol ,, two maroon clowns one royal gramy? 1 sand sifting star and the clean up crew,, but i also have 4 nems(i know thats alot but i started with 2 and they keep splitting) and a bunch of beginner corals.

is this really as hard as im thinking it is?

 

[Readingexcalibur]

I know this may not help, but I just moved my 75g (4 foot) fresh and 30g salt over to a new house. I left about 1/2 inch water on the sand in both tanks and moved with ease. Fish went in a bucket. My salt has no fish yet as I am a newbie and waiting for perfect water parameters. However the live rock and coral went in a bucket with a battery operated air pump. I think you'll be fine on a short move!

 

[Sergie]

I have moved my tank two times and did it differently both times. I've kept the sand, and I have gotten new sand. To be honest there were no real differences. I wouldn't really use old water, there is no real benefit unless your water is pristine then it wouldn't hurt to use some. Save you some money from buying more water or salt. I've done both the using all new water and using some old water. No real differences. Just be patient setting it up either way. I kept my fish and corals in two big styrofoam containers with old water, heaters, and small filters overnight while the tank got up to temp and cleared up a bit. Make sure you have enough baggies and borrow some styrofoam containers from your LFS. More than what you think you need...trust me!

 

[bskerrichard27]

I moved mine and put new sand just because I wanted a differnt look I kept a eye on it and nothing bad came of it not even a small cycle bit I had lots of live rock and my Sump plus a small bio load

 

[stevedpepper]

Keep the water. It has important bacteria/nutrients/etc. Keep the sand in the bottom of the tank with a thin layer of water on top of it. Put live rock/coral in buckets, submerged. Put fish in another bucket. Very simple.

 

[Sergie]

Keep the water. It has important bacteria/nutrients/etc. Keep the sand in the bottom of the tank with a thin layer of water on top of it. Put live rock/coral in buckets, submerged. Put fish in another bucket. Very simple.

The bacteria does not reside in the water column, only on surfaces such as rocks, glass, sand. The nutrients your water is carrying will be worse than a new batch of water, like nitrates, ammonia or nitrites which haven't quite been converted yet..

 

[bigford84]

i should have told you the move is only about 1/10th of a mile down the road.. and here are some pics.. the yellow circle is to show you the board or top of the stand that i could leave the tank on when moving it.. and to show you how much live rock i have. this just sucks cause its gonna be hard to try and put the rock work back the way it is now. and i have the nems stuck to the rocks.. oh and i just leave them on the rocks rite?

 

[carey]

I've moved a couple tanks and I always start with new sand in the new tank. Just easier and safer in my opinion. You can also rinse the old sand and reuse it if you wanted. It's just that mucking up the sand in the move can release the gunk that's in the sand and well just cause some issues. So I avoid it by just getting new sand.

Good luck with the baby, the new house and the move!

 

[mfdrookie516]

I was going to suggest a Uhaul... until I read the post.

Not sure if anyone mentioned it (I just skimmed)... but try to have a bunch of water already mixed up at the new house before you move. Those brute trash cans are great if you don't have any, and you'll find good uses for them once you get one or two.

Also, clean that sock! You're not gettin any benefit if it's just overflowing.

 

[bigford84]

ok here is my plan... i will leave the sand in the tank but covered by water. put all rock in buckets under water, all coral in another bucket, and all fish and other creatures in another bucket.. i have a 55 gallon plastic drum i mix my water in that i will put in the new house ahead of time full of saltwater. i saw a post about refilling the tank... i can cover the sand with a plastic trash bag then put a plate on top of it and a bowl on the plate as to not mess up the sand bed,then remove when the tank is about half full,then build the rock work back up and fill the rest of the way. check temp and salinity,add fish,nems,and coral.then be ready to do water changes if things start to go bad. hows that sound??

 

[Sergie]

Sound glorious. Good luck.