need advice

[fishlover2]

hey everyone
i have a 55 gallon tank with about 70 pounds of sand and 80 or more in live rock with many fish and corals in it and we are moving.... i need advice on how to move the tank without hurting any of my corals or fish and keeping it nice, if anyone else has moved a tank before like this i can use any advice u have on how to move it.....i appreciate it!!

mike

[fishlover2]

anybody? any ideas?

[verper]

First question that comes to mind is how far are you moving?

Most local tank moves involve 5 gallon buckets and extra saltwater.  It works best if you have a larger tub that you can place the fish and coral into while you get the tank set back up with sand and rock.  Add 1/2 tank water and 1/2 new, a heater, and a powerhead or two to the tub and you are in business until the sand settles in your main tank.  Lighting is not required but can be used.  If not, most livestock can stay in a 5 gallon bucket for 4 hrs or so.

[fishlover2]

yeah thanks.....im not moving far from where i live now....maybe a 10-15 minute drive.....but do i take all the rocks n sand out and put them in the tubs too....or should i leave those in? and what about the coral?

[verper]

Keep the rock in buckets or tubs with water even if there is coral attached.   Buckets only for the sand.  The loose coral can go in buckets if they are the same species.  If not, those cheap Glad containers work well.  You want to move the tank empty to keep from stressing the silicone.

[fishlover2]

alright awesome.....thanks a lot, i hope it works out well, id hate to mess up everything in my tank bc of this....it wouldnt be good lol

[mrs. justcoral]

Iv'e heard that any time you comletely stir up all the sand there is a chance of it leaking bad stuff into the water that can then kill everything. Maybe you should only use some of the old sand and lots of new sand.

[verper]

Good advice.  I would go with new sand also any time I moved a tank, but there have been many people that claim reusing the old sand was fine and didn't have any problems.  Maybe it depends on how old the sand is?

[MechanicalEngineer]

I think it depends a lot on how much the sandbed was cleaned.  If you kept the sandbed clean then you're probably a little better off.  However, I'd go with new sand just because it's additional calcium in the system.  The sand you have now may be somewhat depleted.