Tank Upgrading... With a catch. Hmmm....

[Snid]

So I have a 55 gallon tank which is only 4 months in. I'm in no rush to upgrade, mind you, but it occurred to me that sometimes on Craigslist there are offers that are just too good to refuse. I almost saw one today for a 115 gallon tank.

Anyways...

I generally get the idea of what needs to be done as far as upgrading a tank or moving a tank. Here's my question however...

What is the best way to go about upgrading my 55 gallon tank to anything other when I would want the new tank to be exactly where my 55 gallon tank is located? I'm having troubles figuring out the logistics of such a move.

 

[PSU4ME]

Only option is to plan it out. You would need to drain the tank and get the livestock/rocks/corals in water.......circulate and heat them for as long as it takes you to put the new tank in.....they can handle it.

If you have all the pieces for the new tank, it should go pretty quick. Unsettled sand will be your biggest issue when trying to put stuff in but it is doable.....just plan it!

 

[goma]

+1 to above, get some Brute containers from Lowe's or Home Depot to put everything in. Drain some water into each, add your live rock from the tank, put corals in, add a power head and heater to each. They can sit like that for days while you prepare the new tank.

 

[BigAl07]

Excellent advice above. Since the NEW tank is going where the OLD tank is you pretty much treat it like you're moving to a new house except the distance is a LOT less LOL!

 

[Steve L]

There are always screaming deals on Craigslist. If you get the 115 I would strongly suggest NOT looking at CL for several months, otherwise you'll be upgrading again.

A couple years ago I got back into the hobby with a 30 gallon tank stand and lights from CL for $50, and then a month later I was browsing CL again and bought a 150 gallon with stand, lights, filtration and a couple hundred pounds of dried base rock for $300. It had a major crash and I decided it was too big, so I sold just the tank and stand on CL for $500, then downgraded to my current 70 gallon tall tank with stand, which was brand new and never used for $125.

Some deals are just too good to pass up.

 

[Snid]

Thanks everyone! I'm not aiming to make the jump, but as I said, I almost saw something too good to pass up. Luckily for me right now I'm currently saving money for many other things that I both need and want. it would be nice to have a fridge/freezer combo where the freezer part actually worked. My ice cube trays are always just pools of water, lol! Don't worry! I keep my frozen fish food in a separate freezer.

I pretty much figured I'd be dumping things in containers if I do get lucky. But wanted to make sure maybe I wasn't missing something obvious or critical.