Moving

[Riderc82]

I'm moving in a few weeks, thankfully I'm only moving a half mile  .  I'm thinking of buying several trash cans and then buying a mag pump so I can suck all the water out of the sump/aquarium and pump it into new trash cans.  I figure while I'm doing this I will put my fish into a rubbermaid container and I can just throw the rock into the trash cans.   After the tank is empty I will put the aquarium and stand into the truck and drive a  1/2 mile to my new house.  I plan on taking a level, shims and towels to the new house to get the aquarium level.  After doing all the above I would go back home load up the trashcans and rubbermaid tubs take them to the new house and pump the water into the tank and then throw everything back in.  Does anyone see any problems with the above scenario.   Also has anyone moved their aquarium, stand and sand in one move (without removing the tank from the stand)?  I must of missed the part where you don't glue the PVC to the bulkheads  .  I would think as long as me and a few friends can lift the tank/stand and 40 pounds of sand everything should be O.K.  Thankfully I did read the part where you should put unions above the sump so I can remove the sump.  If all goes well I will throw a bowl into the sand and pump the water into the bowl so the sand doesn't get stirred up to much.  Does anyone have any suggestions? 

[HUNGER]

how r u going to lift a trash can full of watter ? mite have to have a few more and make new watter and have it ready cuz u will lose watter some were

[Riderc82]

I figure each trash can could hold twenty gallons of water without much splashing. 20 gallons x 8 lbs = 160 Lbs if me a a friend can't lift that I better give up on moving the tank while its still on the stand.  Whats everyone thoughts on moving the aquarium while its on the stand I figure the aquarium weighs about 200 Lbs and the stand with 40 Lbs of sand probably weighs another 120 Lbs.  So hopefully me and a friend of two can move it all as one piece considering it's going to weigh 300+ Lbs.  I also thought if I lost some water along the trip I could always just run the water level under the overflow for a day or so while I get settled into the house.

[HUNGER]

if u got the cheap trash cans they dont hlod trust me

[Riderc82]

did the bottom fall out of your can or what?  Is this trash can like the one you had a problem with?

[Reefinmike]

why not cut the pipes an inch or 2 from the bulkhead and glue it back together w/ a coupler?

[lazylivin]

why not cut the pipes an inch or 2 from the bulkhead and glue it back together w/ a coupler?

Or a quick disconnect

[HUNGER]

ya kinda got mine from walmart  the handls will rip off what i would do it have a few more put the watter in them than move the tank than put the empty ones in the truck than pump watter to them it just the trash can aint built to hold watter and than be lifted

[UDJustin]

when I moved my tank I took all the water out and put it in five gallon buckets and a few tanks where I kept all the livestock. I then moved the tank with sand still in it and then filled it back up with water and then moved the livestock over. I would plan on having some extra saltwater on hand because your gonna loose some no matter what.

[Riderc82]

I appreciate the input so who has a decent submersible pump for sale?  The five gallon bucket idea would work well but it would probably take 20+ buckets. 

[HUNGER]

i have 3 or 4 u can have if needed

[Blown76mav]

How old is this tank?  I wouldn't try it unless I was going to use new sand or the tank was less than 6 months old.  The second you start putting water back in the tank your gonna disturb a whole lot of bad stuff in the sand, which will cause a spike in just about everything. 

[Riderc82]

The tank is three years old but i replaced the sand bed last year with the seafloor sand.

[Viggen]

I wouldn't worry about keeping all the water..... even keeping 50% would be more then enough. 

Get new water mixing at the new place & save some...... 5gal buckets are easiest to move & no worry about them breaking

I also always look at when I move a time to buy a larger tank......

[TechGuy]

How old is this tank?  I wouldn't try it unless I was going to use new sand or the tank was less than 6 months old.  The second you start putting water back in the tank your gonna disturb a whole lot of bad stuff in the sand, which will cause a spike in just about everything. 

That was my question! Old sand is bad, dirty, foul, grey water, sulphur stinking stuff. Even at 6 months. I would trash alot of the sand, or deal with the algae bloom that is sure to follow your move.

When I have moved tanks in the past, I tossed 50-70% of the water. I made new water at the new site before hand, pre mixed, ready to add to the tank. We used rubbermaid totes filled no more than 50% full. Like Dave said, the sides won't blow out, but the handles will shear off. You can fit your live rock into a few totes first, like a jigsaw puzzle, so they are as low in the totes as you can get, then ad enough water to cover them. Then add to the tank, and then add the new water. You only need to keep enough of your old water to, 1: Not shock the system, 2: Keep your corals/live rock/livestock wet (you could move your corals dry for 1/2 mile). A half mile move is pretty easy (compared to a long move, no move is easy).

Regardless of what you do, have water ready for large water changes. You WILL have a nitrate problem, and you will go thru a fresh cycle. No matter what. Unless you mvoe the tank full :p

As far as the plumbing goes. Now is a great time to add unions lol. 3-5" away from all hard parts, so you can cut them out if needed.

[Riderc82]

I also always look at when I move a time to buy a larger tank......

That was my thought  .... The wife is already upset because the lady is leaving a 55 gallon....  My grandpa has claimed it though

[HUNGER]

I also always look at when I move a time to buy a larger tank......

thats allways the best time to up grade

[Riderc82]

Well I moved my 90 gallon aquarium and stand together as one piece so I didn't have to do any plumbing.  It took me and three budies all we had to move the aquarium and stand out of the old house and into the back of a uhaul.  I reused all the water except 30 gallons (I emptied the sump and removed the sump before moving).  The first week I didn't even have the protein skimmer running because my mom threw away the plastic stand that my skimmer sat on.  I used four of the cheap trashcans and one rubbermaid tub to move everything.  All the trashcan handles did break but I warned my friends they may break so they were prepared when the handles cracked.  All together I lost about three gallons of water I wasn't planning on losing.  So the short move was a success my only problem was I had to melt some vinyl tubing to strech over the return pump to get the water back into the aquarium.  So far I haven't noticed any increase in algae but I do plan on ordering some GFO since I used the last of it before the move.  I just thought I would do a little update.