Moving advice.

I've read some of the threads on moving a reef tank to a new home, and I think I'm ready to make a plan of attack for when the time comes.

I do have a couple of specific questions for those that have moved their tanks before.

First, does it matter if I leave the sand in the tank or not? I only have about 25 lbs of sand, so it won't be adding much weight to the tank. If we get the house that we put an offer on, I'll also only be moving about 5 minutes away.

Is leaving there with enough water to keep it wet okay for the hermits and nassarius snails that are buried? Or should I just use something like a (clean) kitty litter scoop to get them all out first?

Second, in your experience what's the largest size of rubbermaid bin you can use to tote water that is still manageable by one or two people? I'm going by an average weight of 8.5 lbs per gallon.

Thanks!

 

Just leave about an inch of water covering the sand when you move the tank the critters will be fine for certain.

Good question on the bins. It depends on the quality of the bins and the strength of the movers.

 

My brother and I will be the moving crew. We're both pretty strong and have strength trained for years. I was just looking to see what other people have used and found to be best.

 

might consider the difference in gallons. if the gallon size of the bin is canadian, the imperial gallon will be 10 lbs. the states is almost 8.5.

 

I think getting the Brute trash cans would give you a nice safety factor for moving the water.

 

how deep is your sand be? if its more than a couple of inches and you leave water in there i would worry about the sand stirring up and releasing all sorts of junk and polluting your water.

I'm not sure on your floor plan and how easy it will be to move a tank and if there are stairs involved but if there are stairs i would remove the water. if the water flows to one part of the tank it could knock the tank off balance. if no stairs i would think if you leave an inch of so of water in the tank the hermits will be fine. tank integrity should also be fine if you leave the sand in during the move.

Moving water in buckets: if you dont having any cart to move the water buckets i wouldnt use anything larger than 5-7 gallon buckets (if you could even find a 7g bucket). i have a 10g bucket that i use for smaller wc and its a pain to carry (but it is an awkward shape).

 

So this reminds me of the story where a boy wants to wash his bike. He fills up the bucket near the house, puts the soap in it then tries to lift the bucket over to his bike. It's too heavy, he trips and falls and the water spills. He picks the bucket up and goes back to the hose and refills the bucket. Learning from his last mistake, he calls his father over to help him move the bucket. Instead, the father rolls the bike to the bucket.

So that's a long winded way of saying don't move the water in individual containers. The last time I moved my tank I bought some rubbermaid 35g trash cans and put them in the back of a friend's pickup. We backed the pickup up to the house, lined the trash cans with large trash bags (reason for this below) then with a long length of Tygon tubing we filled each trash can to about 75%. You can then close up each trash bag with a tie to stop the water from sloshing out. You will need to tie the trash cans so they don't fall over.

If the tank is too far away from where you can get a pickup, then you can do effectively the same thing by getting a furniture dolley and putting a trashcan on it (with the bag). Then pump into the trash can, roll it to the truck and pump it up into the trash cans in the truck.

I wouldn't try to lift the trash cans into the truck. I've done this before too. Rubbermaid is tough, but you can only get them about 1/2 full to do this and it is frikking heavy. Much easier and safer just to pump the water onto the truck.

 

also keep in mind you'd be safe moving maybe 75-80% of your water... the rest just mix up new just like a water change. I've moved my system 2 times now and the first time was an hourish away. Here's what i did...
Removed and submersed live rock in 5 gallon buckets (with bags for reasons mentioned above).

Fishies went into their own bucket. (i only had a few damzels at the time so i wasn't worried about them dieing. If you have more delicate fish then i'd take further measures, but then again if you're 5 min away, bag em and move em.

Drained tank down to the sand bed, made sure to transfer any crabs to the fishie bucket.

moved and setup from scratch.

Worked for me but my tank was pretty simplistic. I'd be afraid to move a more delicate system without a few more steps.

 

Good luck with the move.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

About the water:

All the moving FAQ's I've read said to move about 80% of the water. Even if this isn't necessary, getting an RODI installed at the new place in time might be a bit tricky. I was planning to mix up the extra 20% at the old place, and have it waiting at the new place.

I like the pumping it to bins idea. Neither house allows for easy access, but I can always just pump from bin to bin. The new neighbours might think I'm odd, but they will probably think that anyway when they see me going out in my underwear to collect the newspaper in the morning. LOL

What did you guys do with the bins afterward? Just return them to the store the next day? LOL