54 Gal. Move

[Jason25]

Ok, next weekend I will be moving my 54gal. tank to our new apartment. I have to say this is not on the top of my list of things to move but anyway I think I have a game plan just wanted to run it by you guys and get your input or blessings. I have a 29 gal that was a fresh water tank. My buddy just picked up my Jack Dempsey and my Pleco. I was sad to see them leave I had the Dempsey 3 years and he was big. Ok so my plan is to take about 50 of the 65 gallons of saltwater in the tank and sump fill the 29 1st to be able to quickly get my corals,shrimp, 2 damsels and my serpent start into that tank then put the remaining water into the big tank and make the rest with new saltwater. I want to let the 54 run for a day or 2 since I will be putting in new dead sand and getting rid of my CC. I have 60lbs. of sand do you think this enough for a decent sand bed. I want to be able to clean it so I plan to keep it around an inch or 2. I have a cheap whisper style filter I can use for 2-3 days on the 29 is this going to be OK or should I use my canister it's 295gph. I would rather not use it but I will if the HOB isn't going to cut it. Does anyone have any other things I missed?

[Tru2nr]

sounds like a decent idea i have to move my 55g w/10g sump here in a cpl of months and im definitally not lookn' forward to it. but i think ima gonna have it be almost like a 50% water change and keep only half of the water and have the ro/di saltwater ready to go

[DrBCool]

Here is my tail of moving my 36 gallon bowfront tank in September of 2007 .
I first drained the water slowly in to gallon water jugs .
As the water receded enough I would remove things uncovered by water . Rock , corals etc.. That way I didn't stir up all the debrit in the water column :-) I bagged , corals , fish and shrimp , and I bagged all the live rock in several large styrofoam containers to keep it moist .
I left the CC and live sand in the tank ( would use new next time )
Then I set it all back up here at my new apartment or rental house .
I didn't lose any of my corals , fish or shrimp .
Total process took me about 5 & 1/2 hours from start to finish .
I don't think you have to go about setting up the 29 gallon tank unless you really want to .

[Jason25]

Thanks for the response, I have successfully moved all my livestock into a 20 gal. tank while I get everything cleaned and ready to take water again. Right now the hold up is I am waiting for the Maint. guys to replace the cold water shut off vavle under the sink so I can install my RO/DI unit to make new water.

[lcstorc]

I think it is a good idea to set up the 29. It should give you time to get the tank up and running. The biggest problem moving is getting the new tank set up quickly. This way you aren't so presdured.

[Jason25]

Thanks Lynn, I did set up a temp. tank so I do not have to rush.

[Tru2nr]

yeah ima gonna be having to rush when i move my tank unfortinitally oh well i atleast have my gf's dad to help me who's moved his fully stocked reef tank plenty of times without having a loss so im hoping everything will be pretty smooth