Tips on Moving Reef Tank?

kapu

New Member
Greetings all. I'm a long time salt water enthusiast. I first dabbled in reef tanks 15 years ago, but suffered from many typical rookie mistakes - inadequate lighting, inadequate water quality control and monitoring, too many jury-rigged compromises. I built my own light fixtures, filters, skimmers, etc. Learned a lot, but my tanks tended to look like science projects. Advances in hobbyist equipment and a slightly more mature financial situation have lured me back to reef tanks. Although I reflexively have an old school bias against small water volumes, I decided to give a nano reef tank a chance. I have a perfect spot for one, and my wife will allow it (this is important). I've put in my time doing research, and was mentally building a 28 gal. system from scratch when I made the mistake of starting to shop...

Splash! I immediately stumbled across a deal too good to pass up. I just bought a complete reef setup from a local guy. This is a high end, very tweaked out tank. Solana 34 gal cube, 250W Sunpod, Tunze Osmolator, Dual temp controller, Deltec hang-on skimmer (!), Koralia circulation pumps. Every mod is top shelf. Oh yeah, 5 stage RODI system, advanced testing kit, lots of extra goodies. This is completely turnkey. On top of that, the seller is incredibly meticulous in every detail, and a very nice guy to boot. I spent nearly two hours talking to him when he showed me the tank, but all I really needed to do was look at it, and notice the way he had cable-tied the controller leads, rigged the ATO reservoir, arranged the flow patterns, etc. Regular water changes, excellent parameters. No corners have been cut here. The tank was set up in Jan with previously established LR and sand. It has some very healthy looking xenia, zooanthids, and 'shrooms. Moderate corraline growth. A couple of nice hard coral frags (rose millipora, blue tort), a maxima clam, invert cleaners, and a pair of black false perculas. Everything looks happy. The price was more than I was going to pretend to spend (i.e., tell my wife it would cost), but less than I would have actually spent getting a new tank established (learned this a few times), and far, far less than the seller had in it. He's on to new endeavors and tired of the reef tank now that it's up and running I guess.

Anyway, I am bound to need some advice from you good people. My diseased brain has already leaped from "Wow, what a cool system" to "How big a sump could I fit in that base?", but I'm holding off thoughts of changing the setup for now. First I just want to get it moved and stabilized at my place. We plan to break it down and load it up at the end of the week. It is about an hour's drive. I've moved tanks before, but would welcome any advice. I plan to move all the rocks and critters in 5 gallon sealed buckets, and bring the rest of the water in plastic jerry cans. At least it isn't 100 gallons. Temps are still cool here in the Pacific NW. Heat loss is the potential problem, not heat gain. Thanks in advance for my inevitable questions down the road.
 

Jason25

Active Member
What I did when I moved mine was hook up my RODI filter 1st then I only took like 20 of 54 gals. from my old tank and made the rest new, it was easier this way. You can also use heat packs that you can pick up in a sporting goods store or Walmart in the hunting section.
 

G!N+T0N!K

Member
well I don't know if this was the right way when I had to move my 20g across town. But I just took out 50% of the water, kept 5g in a bucket for the 3 small fish I had, transported them carefully as possible. Got to destination and put the fish and water back in and made new sw to fill the rest. Good luck.
 

fishnu

Member
it would seem that having a 40 gallon spare tank set up in your house with a heater and a powerhead will allow you to be a little more methodical about getting your display tank set up without rushing. You could convert it into a QT when you're done.
 
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