Moving a full reef system 1hr away!

[chefstylez]

I just purchased a used fully operating reef and will be transporting it from westchester to queens. W/o traffic about 1hr drive. Hopefully I will get there around 7am to start the tank breakdown.

The system consists of:
90g tank 2 yrs running pristine condition
30g sump
5g fuge 2 types of macroalgae
Phosban reactor
berlin skimmer w mag 9 pump
2 hydor koralia 3 for circulation
over 200#s of LR
150w MH w 12 lunar lights
Current t5s
1inch sandbed
Uv sterilizer (dunno wattage)

Livestock:
2 clowns
2 tomato clowns
3 tangs
3 Shrimp cleaner and blood
Sand and serpent stars
Anthia

Corals:
Zoos
Palys
Hammer
frogspawn
Rics
Suncoral
tounge
Gbta
gonoporia
Cabbage Leather
other misc softies.

My plans are to divide the 200# of LR btw 4 18g rubbermaid buckets and cover them 3/4 or more w/ his water. Leave a few rocks like 10#s in the tank so I dont disturb the sand bed. I will put the sump and fuge in a separate 34 gal rubbermaid with all of its contents and water.

Most of the corals are attatched to the LR. The ones that arent ie. Hammer, Frog, Tounge, Sun, I will bag along w the fishies and put into a cooler.

At home I will have a total of 100G of water made with the ro/di system I purchased from him. 70G in a water tank also purchased from him and a 29G. I figured I would place all the fish and the loose corals in the 29G to get them up to temp after the drive back while I'm setting up the tank. I have Heaters in both thanks and both salinities will hopefully match the main diplay tank and some of his old water.

My concerns are:
How much of his water should I use if any?
I've read that you should'nt use all of his old sand, but what if I was using his water would I still have a huge algae bloom?
How long should I let the system run for before adding the livestock?
When the fish are in the 29G should I leave themin the bag or should I put a couple pieces of his LR for filtration and a powerhead and let them out of the bag?
Any advice on moving tanks in general would be greatly appreciated!

I apologize on the length questionaire but I've invested alot of money as it is and I don't want it to go to waste! I've never transported a tank before! I will start a thread on breakdown and setup w pics!

Thanks for your time, and thanks in advance for you help,

Mark

Picture of 29G filling w ro/di H20

80G water tank

Spot for 90G reserved

Maybe I will leave both tanks up and run a softie and sps tank!!

 

[Killerdrgn]

how many people are you planning on getting to move this thing. even a 1 inch sand bed with water is increadibly heavy.

 

[Cr@sh]

is it just me or does the rack the big tank is on need more support ? will you be placing anymore weight in there ? sounds right on with your plan but remove your sand into buckets .Your going to disturb no matter what you do and it's not pretty when you get everything there and then crack the tank cause it was heavy moving.90's are tuff around corners. Aclimate them slow and don't rush cause you'll overlook the simplest things.I'm in floral park and might be able to help if you really need .Ofcourse as a good deed ,don't want nothin.........power to ya & good luck.

 

[aznt1217]

Yea dude... that 80 gallon needs more support. I would take it easy on the move.

With regards to your transportation plans it sounds pretty solid. you shouldn't have THAT much die off.

For the Liverock I am going to say make it easier on yourself. Don't even fill it with 3/4 tank water. What I would do it wrap all the rock in papertowels soaked in tank water, just to make it easier to lift and what not.

 

[chefstylez]

The 80G water tank will never be full, only about 30-40g for water changes and top off! Its only full right now so I can fill the 90g up when I have it set up.

I will have 4 guys helping with the move should I have more?

Crash- Thanks for the offer, I hope I can get this down the stairs w 4 guys!

 

[jhale]

Get a bunch of 5 gallon buckets to submerse everything fully. This will prevent any die off and allow you to place everything in the tank at once. I would also use buckets for the fish, unless you have O2 to bag the fish with forget it.

I would not use the old sand. As for the water as long as yours is mixed ahead of time there is no need to use the old water.

monitor closely for any mini cycles, good luck.

 

[caad3]

Wow, I think your in for a bigger project than you think. Moving the tank and equipment alone is going to be tough, but now with full livestock(corals etc.) its going to be harder and you less margin of error. If possible house the corals and live rock in a pre-established system or set up something in advance. Then move the equipment to your home. Make sure everything is where you want it and please add support to that 80g your just asking for trouble if you don't. (you can build a simple stand from 2x3's. Set up the system, ensure nothing is leaking etc. I would also replace most of the sand with new sand (carribe live sand etc.). Check your parameters, add the live rock first....wait... check parameters and add livestock.

If there is one thing I have learned the hardway is reefing takes patients.. There is no quick and easy way...... However if you are patient and your system matures the rewards are immeasurable.

I have an established 29gallon QT tank. If you want to store some livestock in there your more than welcome just let me know.

Good luck.

James

 

[seascape]

i had to move a 180g with about 500lbs of LR,fish and corals,it seems the way you have it planned is good i would also put the sand in buckets sand is very heavy and the least amount of weight in the 90g the better.As for the live stock aclimate them slowly and make sure they are in buckets you run into anything that slows you down bagged fish can be trouble.Good luck on the move.RJ

 

[hijinks]

I moved my 46g a few weeks ago with my finance.. it took us 6 hours to move it... and that was only 5 minutes away.. but I made like 5-6 trips back and forth.. but the plan sounds good.. the more help the better/quicker it will go

 

[junglebase]

Here is my 2 cents.. never ever move that tank with anything in it, take out all the sand you can take.. you do not want to jeopardize the integrity of the seams with anything moving inside while you carry it....

 

[chefstylez]

Thanks all for your advice. I will be taking most if not all of the sand out of the tank. I will be using 4 18 gallon buckets for rock, 5-6 5 gallon buckets for fish and sand and rock, 1 36 gallon tub for the sump and fuge.

I'm very excited for the move and again I will post pictures of everyting from the breakdown to the setup!

One question does anyone know the ration of water to reduce your salinity per gallon?

 

[QUESTIONMARC]

dear mark.. patience is the #1 key in a situation like this. do not plan on having a tank down and up in 24 hours or less and expect a 100% success rate with livestock. I could be wrong.. but.. just from my expierences.. i havent seen the best results from an up and down tank like that.

i would move the fish and corals into the same water from the tank that they are in right now.. to a 29 gallon on his floor for 3 days.. im sure he will be cool with it.. but you need to set the tank up in FAMILIAR surroundings to them.. meaning.. not the new place but the old place.. yes they do look out the glass and see surroundings.. new surroundings in an unestablished tank will put heavy stress on them.. yes fish do get very stressed when they are comfortable and their whole world comes tumbling down aroudn them.. their places too hide are gone.. you have destroyed their comfort zones.. and you have made them very stressed. they are used to that tank.. you will be turning their world upside down.. make it easy on them as possible and dont move them until the other tank has fully recycled and cured.. prob about 2-3 days if using all LIVE and ESTABLISHED rock and sand.. you should be fine.. have the tank runnign for a good 2 days at least.

i would move them.. stablize them first in a familiar enviorment.. and then leave them for the very LAST thing to move once everythign else is established. corals are a little tougher.. but if the tank does decide to have a 2 day spike from the move and disruption.. some corals might not handle that too well.. i woudl move as much as you can into that 29 gallon.. fish.. some rock for them to hide.. and as many as the corals as possible.

i would not move a tank with ANYTHING left in it.. they are heavy enough alone.. sand and water.. even an inch.. turns a 200 pd tank into a 600 pd tank.. difference between 2 guys and 6 guys.

make sure you get the tough buckets from home depot.. the weak ones will break if you plan to fill them up with water on top of the rock. they will start to pull apart in the center and the plastic is cheaop and it will break.. get the tough ones.. you can probably move the sandbed in 2 5 gallon buckets. when you get back.. just rinse the sandbed as much as possible with SALTWATER.. not fresh... so that you get the detritus out.. and yet still keep the good bacteria in.

try to save as much established water from him as possible and LIMIT the use of NEW water as much as possible.. you want to save as much bacteria from old/established system as possible. i would look at a good 60 -40% ratio.. like 60% used.. even if you reuse the water from the buckets that you used to cover the rock with.. its the same water.. just needs to be refiltered.. after the two days of the tank being up and running.. i would check the levels.. if all seems well.. do a nice 33% water change on the total system.. then.. move everyone back in.. after 2 or 3 days.. doing it in 1 day.. IS TOO MUCH... but hey.. what do i know. just my opinion..

and i could be wrong.. and i know i have a mech engineering degree and not a structural one.. and haven't used it in a while.. and once again i could be completely wrong.. but i got a feeling if someone sneezes too loud.. that 80 gallon tank.. is going down... and if you are on anything other than the basment floor.. you are going to have to deal with ALOT of issuse if 80 gallons of water.. hits the floor.

that is about 8 pds per gallon.. so about 640 pounds on hollow cheap target metal .. hmm.. the compression on that rack alone.. lol.. well i mean look at it this way.. would you go to the gym and feel safe stacking 13+ 50 pd plates on that rack?

either way.. good luck! god bless! godspeed! marc