Moving my tank from one room to the other

[Krypt]

I plan on moving my tank from one room to another in my house and I just wanted to run my movement plan here to see if you guys think I'm missing anything.

I plan on using a couple 14 gal rubbermaid tubs to put the LR in while I drain the tank. I plan on also using four 7 gal jugs to save some of the original tank water and the remainder of my water will be 30 gal of freshly mixed SW. I also plan to store all the livestock in a spare 10 gal tank for the few hours that I'm doing this.

Now once I get all the water and rock out and move it over to the other room I'll begin the reassembly of the system (aquascape, fill it up, activate filters,check for leaks, etc.) After that I will reintroduce the livestock back to the tank.

Sound like a good plan?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Unless you have the jugs already, I would suggest buying some 5g buckets from Home Depot, it's the same material (HDPE) and cheaper (<$3 for buckets, lids are $1). You could also put the LR in those. The 14g rubbermaid tubs are fine for temp storage, especially if they're bigger pieces, but the bow under the water pressure if you fill them much past the ridge on the inside (the one about 5 inches down).

How big is the tank?

 

[Krypt]

Unless you have the jugs already, I would suggest buying some 5g buckets from Home Depot, it's the same material (HDPE) and cheaper (<$3 for buckets, lids are $1). You could also put the LR in those. The 14g rubbermaid tubs are fine for temp storage, especially if they're bigger pieces, but the bow under the water pressure if you fill them much past the ridge on the inside (the one about 5 inches down).

How big is the tank?

Tank is only 55 gal. I figured I would move it before I got all the corals that I'm looking at; as once I get them, moving the tank becomes exponentially harder. I do have a bunch of the jugs already (was in the military and have a surplus of water jugs from going to the field). I'll probably got to Lowes and get a couple 5 gallon buckets for the LR to go in. I didn't think about the bow of the rubbermaid tubs.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

It's not that bad as long as you don't fill too high up. I soaked 45 lbs of base rock in a 14g tub with a heater and a power head to dissolve dead matter for 3 days and it held fine.

 

[Krypt]

One other question on the move. Say I wanted to change tanks out, ( I happened to find a 72 gal reef ready bowfront w/stand and canopy for $400.00!), could I just use the existing sand, LR, etc from my 55 and just switch it over to the 72 gal and be alright to just fill and place the fish in or will I have to actually cycle it still? The logic I was following was that I could do that as long as I kept the sand and LR submerged in SW during transition. After all, my whole bio filter is in the sand and rocks so I should be ok, am I right in assuming this?

 

[Sadielynn]

NanoReefing.Com - Your ultimate guide to saltwater aquariums
I have moved mine several times in the past here is how I did it tho mine is a nano it is much the same

 

[Krypt]

Thanks for the info Sadie. I did my move this past weekend and passed up the 72 gal for now. I did it pretty similar to how your thread said to do it and it was pretty simple. I didn't have any loses and I got to re-aquascape the tank too.

I still have alot to learn and I figured I would stick with the 55 for a while, get it down solid with corals and keep it maintained for about a year or so, then go for an upgrade. By this time next year, hopefully I'll be starting my 90 gal reef ready bowfront tank build thread. I'll be slowly buying new components through the year and come January, I will begin building.