Moving a 115 Gallon Reef

C

CA Reefer

Member
With the economy slowing down, there are many sweet deals to be had on on complete setups on Craigslist and Ebay...So I'm thinking that it may be time to move on up from the 55g to something around 115g.

I've read some articles on the web with some conflicting info on moving reefs. For those who have moved their reef tank, what really worked well for you? what mistakes did you make that you would not want somebody to repeat?

For Context I am looking at buying a reasonably well stocked 115g reef with a purple tang, sailfin tang, yellow tang and 3-4 anthias. There's an assortment of 20 - 30 corals - everything from softies to monti's. If I buy it, I would need to move it about 25 miles.
 
M

Midnight

Member
for me I just used a lot of 5 gallon buckets with lids and two big trash cans. I only kept enough water to keep everything wet. I took all the rock and all the fish out but left the inverts and the sand in the tank with a half inch of water. I only moved about 20min away so it was really quick, so you might have to add power heads and air if your going to go a longer distance.
 
E

E46er

Member
never moved a reef but any time anything needs moving beer and pizza will draw help......

i would go to zellars or target or walmart and buy a couple big rubbermaid containers dont fill them more than 1/2 full or they will bend when you try to lift them and id also have a decent amount of premixed heated saltwater at the final destination
hope that helps
 
Smiley1

Smiley1

Member
lots of buckets, garbage cans, maybe a battery bubbler for the fish....lots and lots of towels.....try to save as much water as you can...

also might want to think about a vehicle that can handle all that weight.... a dolly to move the buckets, cans, jugs....

oh.... lots and lots of towels....


and last but not least ----> A case of beer
 
lcstorc

lcstorc

Well-Known Member
Use smaller containers. Water gets heavy fast. Put corals and fish each in separate bags to prevent chemical or territorial warfare during transportation. Keep everything wet and have more salt water ready than you think you will ever need. Something always goes wrong.
Have someone there who's only purpose is to go to the hardware store to buy PVC pieces that you suddenly need. There is no way to anticipate every need but have as much on hand as possible and have a plan in advance. Remember the more places you can take the plumbing apart the easier it is to find and fix the problem as well as to do normal maintenance.
 
plecosword

plecosword

Active Member
I moved my 20g tank about 4 times lol, no help either. I think what works best is getting all the the FIsh & inverts out first along with corals that dont retract to a bucket all to them selves WITHOUT sand/sand storm. then move all the rest of the rocks to buckets, save at least 50 to 60% of the water.
 
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