Tank Moving Service?

Hello -

I got out of the hobby for a little while because we were doing some home renovations so I gave my fish etc away because I had to move the tank anyway.

Well... out of some bad luck for a neighbor of mine, she is looking to sell her 100 gallon reef tank with all the fish and coral for a song... it's literally a block down the street. ;D

There is a lot of live rock and an anemonae who lives near the top of the tank - the thing is in good balance and I am just really nervous about moving it all myself

Does anyone know how much it would cost (or if anyone even doesn this kind of thing?) to have someone do the move for me?

Thanks!

 

I would think you could quote it out to several aquarium maintenance companies.

Do expect to pay several hundred to a thousand dollars tho.

A lot of these guys make $100 + per hour.

Also be sure that they are insured or bonded for their work - what happens if they drop the tank? Are they going to say " well - i guess that makes my day easier - where's my money?" or are they going to say "you are totally covered for this?"

 

Lauged out loud at "I guess that makes my day easier"

Thanks for the input - Yeah I imagine it won't be cheap... just trying to weigh the advantages of doing it myself vs. having a pro do it with a fully running tank...

 

If it was me and I had the money I would have someone do it for me. But I would be sure to have a written contract and be assured that the person/company performing the move was INSURED for any and all calamities.

It certainly can be done by yourself - and if you have been in the hobby before you have some familiarity with the mechanics of moving the livestock.

Can you set up a temp QT while you are moving the tank? If you can get the corals/fish/inverts out over the course of a few days and then move the equipment at your own pace (knowing the fish/livestock are safe and sound) it would be easy to do yourself (with some dedicated friends and a few cases of craft brew!!!)

 

well, it says you live in fl under your 3reef name, i bet if you go onto a local reef keepers forum and asked nicely a few members will come out and help you. Atleast in my reef club theres usually people open to helping if someone has a move or a disaster or need something, generally speaking i find that most hobbiest are very very nice and absolutely willing to help, i say check out the local club and offer to make everyone some lunch or something and i'm sure a few nice people will come out and help ya

 

I've moved tanks from Appt to Appt a few times... My procedure is as follows...


Get a bunch of 5 gallon buckets from Home Depot... (# will depend on amount of water/species in the tank).

Clear out as much of the live rock as possible. Put in bucket with water or wrap with wet newspaper.

Start filling the buckets about 90% full of water, and start putting species into the buckets.

Once the tank is emptied of as much water as possible (might require even removing some sand depending of size of tank) then move the tank to the new place.

Get sand and rock back in tank ( to displace water) and start filling the tank with water from the buckets, introduce species as you see fit.

The entire process should be as quick as possible, and ideally you want to 'reuse' at least 60% of the tanks original pre-move water. The rest, just add it at the new place as a 'water change'.

It can be done.