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sfgiants

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 21, 2004
Messages
12
Location
Fairfield CA,
Got lucky super lucky. 1 September going from 125 GAL. to 300 GAL. New one going same spot as old one. Any help or hints with same day out same day in ?
 
When I upgraded I just moved the old one up in front of the spot and put the new one in there and transfered to new tank.
 
Of course your talking about 1600+ lbs of weight with a 125 gal depending on how much lr you have so moving it is not going to be easy task. How old is your current tank? Do you have any corals? (I assume not with your fish list)

All the bold text are links:

I’d buy six 34 gal trashcans (Lowes has them for $13.44) and premix your water (about 180 gallons total leaving an inch or two from the top in each one) for 3+ days before the move depending on how many power heads you have to mix them up. Keep them close by because moving them also is going to be near impossible (over 250 lbs each). Hopefully you have a decent pump and some hose that you can drop in each can to pump the water into the 300 gal once you get it in place. If you have an extra heater I’d heat one of the trashcans up to around 110 degrees so when you add them all to the new tank the temp difference between the two tanks won’t be too extreme.

You probably could return them for either a refund or store credit since they will only be used this one time. (not that I condone that but when else will you use six 34 gal trashcans :roll:) I would keep at least two though for future pwc.

You’re also going to have to store your lr somewhere so you can move the 125 out of the way. If you have room I’d get a hard plastic kiddy pool for around $8 or less. You will get very little die off if they are exposed to the air for a couple of hours but you could fill that with SW also during the move or cover them with wet newspaper if concerned about it. If storing outside keep them out of the sun.

Once you have all your lr out you will need more trashcans/containers to siphon out 60% (about 75 gal) of the water leaving you with about 50 gal left or about 8” high. The tank/stand will still be around 700+ lbs but you should be able to get a couple of hand trucks or mover’s dollies (you can rent them) on each end and slide to the right or left to make room for the new tank. Don’t try to move the tank by itself, it’s too large and heavy. Keep it on the stand and move both together. Remove any sumps or other equipment off the tank/stand before moving.

Your fish are rather large which is why I recommend doing it this way versus putting them in buckets and draining the whole tank before moving. Leaving 8” of water in the tank should be enough to fully cover them and provide enough oxygen. Once you get the old tank out of the way make sure you keep a power head or two running just below the water’s surface to keep oxygen exchange going. nh3/no2 spikes shouldn’t be an issue for a couple of hours but I’d add an ammonia detoxifier just to be sure.

Once you get your new tank in place I’d fill it with new sand and slowly fill it with the premixed SW. If you place a large plastic bowl on top of the sand and fill slowly over it you shouldn’t cause too much of a sand storm. I’ve used a large 8+” bowl facing up and down and both seem to help but up works better for me.

Once you have the tank filled half way with the premixed water I’d add your lr back and then fill with the water you drained from the old tank. You should have 255 gal of water in your 300 gal tank and with the lr displacing some of it shouldn’t need too much more to top it off at this point. I’d drop a couple of power heads in for 10 minutes and then take a ph/sg reading and adjust to match your old tank. It’s much easier to lower a sg level then raise it so I’d mix your premixed salt water slightly higher in sg then your old tank and add FW to lower your sg to get it to match. As long as the temp difference isn’t greater then 5 degrees your stock should be able to adjust but sg readings off to much can stress or kill them. A lower sg reading is easier for fish to adjust to also then a higher one. It would be best to acclimate them to the new tank if you have time.

Once your tank parameters are in line you can move the livestock.

I’d coax your puffers into 5 gal buckets for the transfer and not net them which could be fatal. (see “Health Concerns” in link) The rest of your fish list should be fine for a quick net transfer as long as your tanks are matching in temp/ph/sg.

Once you move your stock I’d pump the rest of the water from your old tank to top off your new one.

Best of luck to you, I’ve had to do this 3 times but never with such a large tank.
 
tecwzrd, I thank you so much for your time and advice. You have eased my mind as well as the task before me. One thing I would like to share is, Awhile back I bought a Copperband from PetCo. Big mistake it had Marine Velvet. Shall I say it NUKED my tank. I learned the hard way stay with the aquarium store you trust. As a result I don't have those fish anymore. I'm not sure how to update profile. What I'm trying to say is thanks for the advice on puffer. Current tank is about 2 1/2 yrs. old(after nuke) I've got some moderate light corals, a Foxface,Maroon clown,Orange golby,yellow and purple Tangs,Moorish idol and Damsels. Ill be using a piano mover like Melosu58 suggested. One other thing Ill be buying the water not premixing it. If you do not mind Ill keep you posted.
 
Sorry for your loss of the other fish :( I’ve been very fortunate with the two fish stores I shop at but still QT everything including corals even though both my lfs have a strict QT policy of 6 weeks before putting them up for sale. In the 12 years I’ve been dealing with them I’ve only had one small ich infection in my QT.

Wow, your fish list is still pretty impressive :D I’ve seen Moorish idols at my lfs but haven’t been brave enough to try them out even when I did have a larger tank. You can update your profile by going to the home page and clicking your name in the upper right hand side where it says “Welcome sfgiants” Or you can click this button and scroll down to “My Aquarium Info”

I just remembered that there is a water service that does home deliveries for SW tanks in California but I can’t remember the name of the company. I don’t think they are that far north though. Is that what you’re having done? Would make it a lot easier then having to premix everything.

Please do keep us updated :D

P.S. Mover’s dollies are also called piano dollies & furniture dollies which support up to 1000 lbs each. Most moving companies will rent them out for less then $20 a day like Uhaul which states as low as $7 a day per dolly.
 
When you do use them you`ll have to remove about half your water and you`ll need several people to keep it steady till you get it where you want it. Just remember one word when you do this. Patience . Good Luck.
 
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