Moving 125 All Glass to New Home

[CBS]

Tank is about a year old All-Glass 125 with LPS, SPS, Softies, variety of fish. Separate Sump in basement with open-loop circulation system.

 

Good news is that after a year in the hobby, things seem to be going well with very few disasters/losses (knock on wood)...

 

Bad news is... now we have decided to move to a new home some 12 miles down the road.

 

Plan to do a door-to-door move of the tank and associated gear...

 

Any ideas/pointers/forums you can share with me to help minimize any disasters would be much appreciated!!

 

Alternately, if I decide to bail-out... if anyone has good experience with tank moving services ... recommendations welcome!!

 

Apologies if I missed a forum where this is already posted.

 

Thanks!!

 

Leesburg-to-Hamilton-Without-Spilling-a-Drop!!

[m3fan8ic]

I had to move my 75gls 5 feet (one wall to another)..I had to drop the water to mid level and remove rocks.. it will be very risky if you try to move everything entact.. I am not sure how it's possible to do.

I would suggest bunch of rubbermaids, and empty out your tank and save the water in buckets.

good luck

Sid

[ctreptow]

Tank is about a year old All-Glass 125 with LPS, SPS, Softies, variety of fish. Separate Sump in basement with open-loop circulation system.

 

Good news is that after a year in the hobby, things seem to be going well with very few disasters/losses (knock on wood)...

 

Bad news is... now we have decided to move to a new home some 12 miles down the road.

 

Plan to do a door-to-door move of the tank and associated gear...

 

Any ideas/pointers/forums you can share with me to help minimize any disasters would be much appreciated!!

 

Alternately, if I decide to bail-out... if anyone has good experience with tank moving services ... recommendations welcome!!

 

Apologies if I missed a forum where this is already posted.

 

Thanks!!

 

Leesburg-to-Hamilton-Without-Spilling-a-Drop!!

 

 

 

I moved a 75 setup from Germantown to Lovettsville, about 40 miles.

 

I put all the water, rock, fish, and coral were moved in brute trashcans with battery powered airstones. I then tries to keep the sandbed as intact as possible, but we did scoop some into buckets.

 

Once the system was setup at the new location I kept the fish and corals on trachcans until the water cleared up in the display.

 

Looks like I am close by if you need help let me know.

 

Chris

[MisterTang]

I would drain all but enough water to just barely pool over the sand. Put your corals/critters in buckets, and your rock in rubbermaids or trash cans.

 

Move the tank and the stand as one unit. Avoid un-plumbing anything. Trying to get everything connected and working again was the most royal PITA with my move. Chubakah and I helped a fellow WAMAS'er move, and he actually mitigated the weight issue by using his front door mat as a glide sled over his wood floor. In retrospect, I wish I would've had some kind of caster or other way to roll the tank, so you might try to jerry-rig something.

 

Stairs are awful. Take a route that minimizes stairs, even if it's the longest way to the final tank destination.

[davelin315]

For a 125, I wouldn't leave ANY water in there. That's a big heavy tank to begin with, and then you leave water in there and are asking for trouble. I have moved many a 125 gallon tank in my time, the easiest thing to do is get buckets, put the rocks, corals, and livestock in there, cover each with water from the tank and then put a lid on the bucket, then rinse the substrate (how deep? if it's a DSB, then figure out how you will leave it covered in water, which may not be a possibility) in the remaining tank water and then drain it all out. When you get the tank moved, make sure you have prepared ample water beforehand and then simply add some of the new water and rock back. Put the corals and livestock in last and then top off the tank with whatever you need to.

[Pat_13]

90G tank + 20G sump + 5G fuge moved over 100 miles and no losses. Here is what I did...

 

I got 3 large pepsi barrels (35G & 55G or trash cans) and a few rubber maids and 5G buckets.

 

Drain some water into the 5G and rubbermaid, for fish and corals, and take out as much corals as you can. Take your rock and put it in the large barrels and move to vehicle, take 5G buckets and fill barrels with water until rocks are covered. Taped the tops close with a trash bag. Put fish in 5G bucket and drain the rest of the tank as much as you can. Leave sand in the tank. I kept all the water but did use 15G of new water at the new house to help with the crud. I did not use any power heads, pumps or heaters. It took about 1.5 hours to drive and about 14 hours overall.

 

Might be able to help and you can borrow the barrels if you need.