Moving a SW tank

[sambrinar]

Ok, My office staff and I want to put in at least a 55 gal SW tank in the office, but we are considering building a new office in a few years and putting in a wall tank for the waiting room.

How hard is it to move the tanks. the Wall tank will be significantly bigger, at least 100 gal. So I figure we would have to cycle that one before attempting to move the fish etc. to the new site. by using new live rock and live sand mixed with some of the old. Wouldn't that make it cycle faster.

How hard is it to move the tank?? It would only be about 1/4 mile.

Just want to check before setting up the 55 gal tank in the mean time. Thx

Brenda

[BigAl07]

If it's going to be "years" I'd go ahead and get this one set up and get a feel for it. It wont be "easy" to make the move but it's one MANY of us go through. The more you plan ahead the easier the move will be. Honestly distance doesn't really matter except when thinking about temp stability and GAS $$.

Yes you'll want the new one fully cycled before adding anything living to it.

Yes adding some "existing" rock will help but not a whole lot. The cycle is fairly consistent between 3-6 weeks. That's time you can spend getting the rest of your stuff set up and tweaked (lights, pumps etc).

Sounds like a FUN project!!!

[lcstorc]

Are you worried about moving the tank or the inhabitants? Basically it is a lot of work but can certainly be done. I am about to have to go through it to replace my stand. Yes the new tank will cycle more quickly with the established LR but you will still want to allow for a cycle. I would set up the new tank and let it cycle. Then you can take the rest of the LR and the inhabitants in buckets or other containers full of water.
You do not want to re-use the substrate. Generally if you disturb anything but the top layer of substrate you will release toxic gasses. Now if you were to take it out and thoroughly wash and dry it then I guess you could but it is generally easier to just get new sand.

[sambrinar]

I was worried about both the tank and the inhabitants. Thanks for the input. We are just really getting into this hobby. I have a 12 gal nano cube in my office, so now the staff is wanting one where they can enjoy it also.

I was wanting to wait until we get it built, but it may be a few years and that is a long time to wait.

waiting for the new tank to cycle may be too long without something to speed up the process because we are leasing the building we are in. that is why I was worried about both.

is it possible to move the 55 gal tank to the new location while the other tank is cycling without causing a major crash??

We were thinking that we could put the LR and inhab. in a bucket, drain the tank to minimum for the LS and then moving it and refilling and putting them back. Obviously we would have to slowly acclemate the animals. Is that possible?

[lcstorc]

It is possible but you are likely to still have a cycle. It should be minor though if you keep everything under water. I am going to have that issue when we move the tank. The inhabitants have to go right back in so I will monitor it closely. Just watch your amonia and if it spikes then add Amquel. That will help convert the amonia into a harmless chemical. It doesn't work to complete the cycle but it does give temporary relief from the amonia.

[sambrinar]

Thanks, where do I get Amquel?? I live in a small rural area, will need to be somewhere I can order it online.

Thanks so much for the input Lynn. Brenda

[Jason25]

You can buiy iot at any LFS pretty much if not order it online like you said, I used it in the past and it works great, what it does is actually bind the ammonia so it is not toxic.