The move

[DrMilhouse]

I have advice for anyone who is thinking of moving your tank: Sell it to the next home owner/tenant. :)

That was a rough day. Thank you so much to all who have helped in person and who have lent their buckets or tank space.

God: Thank you for such a beautiful and warm day to move on! :)

Al, Chris, Becky, Fred, Brandon, Mike and Shige: Thank you so very much for your braun! (Enjoy that sand Brandon!)

Scott, Scott and Brandon: Thank you for the use of your buckets and water storage).

Becky and Mike: Thank you for the use of your vehicles, (enjoy that new tank Mike!)

Scott: Thanks for letting my kids stay with you for the week. I know they're in great hands and I'm glad to hear that they're doing better. I just wouldn't have felt comfortable with them in the moved tank! Enjoy that Peppermint Shrimp, he's been fun!

Becky: Thank you so much for your guidance and hard work! May the Karma gods smile on you a whole big bunch! We just couldn't have done that with out you!!!

Thank you all again for everything! That would have been completely impossible with out you. Wanna do it again next month? :D jk

The tank is a cloudy mess, some corals got broken and some look like they might have a time over the next few days, but I think they'll be alright after the cloud has settled.

[bmwardo]

You are more than welcome! THANK YOU for the sand, its gonna look so purdy. :D

[jonthefb]

hey drmillhouse...any suggestions to a person who i sgoing to be moving a tank this coming week?
good luck
jon

[Stormbringer22]

Doc, how much do ya want for the Clowns!?! LOL, seriously though, all of your fish are doing well, everyone gets along great and, they aren't looking like they were really traumatized! You're more than welcome! Thanks for the frags & shrimp (haven't seen shrimp yet!). Shoot, as much fun as ya had, maybe I should move into an upstairs apartment! Ha (not!) Ha!;)

[DrMilhouse]

I'm glad to hear that everyone is getting along. The lions seem to be getting along with each other too? I'm glad those frags are working out good for you. Hopefully all my other shrooms made the move okay. The water is clearing up so tomorrow or the next day we'll know how things fared.

Jon, how big is the tank you're moving? I would recommend to make sure that you have plenty of help in moving it. Don't try doing it with out enough man power to make the load light for everyone instead instead of heavy for just a few people. Don't plan on moving with the sand in it. It's much much heavier than you might think. Make sure there's buckets to spare.

MAKE SURE THE TANK SITS LEVEL BEFORE YOU FILL IT!!!

If you don't, you'll have to drain it all out again and level it. That was overlooked and took several hours to take care of that. Simply make sure you check on that to begin with. Trashcans lined with contractor clean up bags work great for water storage if you can move them.

Make sure you have plenty of water on hand ahead of time and try to do it on a warm day to keep that water from changing temp too much. If you're using a DSB then make certain that you can have a fish sitter (LFS, friend, hospital tank, temporary tank, etc) to hold your fish a few days while the sandstorm goes away.

When you're taking the rock out of your tank, be sure to keep track of which rock is more of your base rock and which is your more decorative stuff. The water will be too cloudy to see where you're putting anything so you have to put your base in first when you're adding it back into the tank.

It's an all day thing, don't think of it any other way.

HTH
Mike

[Stormbringer22]

Yep, the Lions are kinda taking to each other, kinda cute! When ya got the clowns, were they paired up or did ya just pick out two & hope for the best? I've decided I need to start lookin' for a couple myself! They are sweet!

[DrMilhouse]

They really are wonderful aren't they. I got the two of them at the same time. I'm glad to see the lions are getting along well. I really do enjoy those guys. The clowns have been just wonderful since I got them. They always have been friendly and social with each other and with people coming to check out the tank. They seem delighted to get any attention they can. :)

[Stormbringer22]

They're having a great time with all the new friends they met yesterday! Very sociable! When the Bannerfish try to clean 'em they get a little testy, but, all in all they seem to be enjoying their stop here in the big adventure, travel plan!

[jonthefb]

im moving a 65 gallon tank and should have plenty of people to help out.....i was going to try to move it with the sandbed in it...dont know how well it will work....if you had to remove teh sandbed, how would you do it?
thanks again
jon

[Stormbringer22]

Jon, take the top layer off & put that in a seperate bucket, take the middle layer out & place in another bucket, then the bottom layer accordingly. Mark the buckets so you know which layers to to put in first (reverse, bottom, middle, top). Good luck!

[jonthefb]

rgr that.....so the general consensus is not to move with sandbed in...hmmmmmm thats gonna suck

[Stormbringer22]

sux worse when you're watchin' the tank let go!

[DrMilhouse]

If you have enough people that you can have at least two reasonably big guys on each end to carry it with out it being that happy, I say leave the sand in.

The whole top 2" bottom 2" plan works great except for one thing... when you're trying to do this, you're going for as little down time as possible. We HAD to do it, I didn't have enough guys and it was just toooooo heavy.

4-6" x 18" x 72" DSB with water mixed in it made for a heavy load

I don't think it would be nearly as bad with a 65. I say plan to take it out, but try moving it with it still in there. If you guys think you can make it to the truck with the sand still in it, then give it a go. If you can't make it, take it out.

**I'm not liable for anything that happens to your tank or your back** :D

[bmwardo]

Also you guys may be able to handle the weight but would the tank itself? I have heard a few stories of people trying to move their tank with the DSB intact...CRACK. just my .02 :D

[DrMilhouse]

Good point, pick it up and move it SLOWLY onto some 3/4 inch ply board or something similar to give reinforcement at the bottom. The tank always holds that much weight, but it's always spread out over much more space than what your hands would have. The wood will spread that out.

[bmwardo]

yes the tank does always hold the weight...but it holds it the way it is designed to...in its upright, "right angled" position where there is as least amount of stress on the structure as possible. Carrying the tank around and slightly twisting it can do a number on it. But, like DrMil said...putting it on wood will really help that out and should solve that problem. :D

[Stormbringer22]

How's the tank lookin' Doc? Your fish are being very well behaved (mine too!) and are doin'/lookin' great!

[DrMilhouse]

Got lights on it last night, looks like some shrooms made it. I saw a crab moving. some polyps were there but everyone was all closed up. I think it will fare okay. Going to survey again tomorrow and take some pics. Hopefully it will be okay. I'm glad to hear that everyone is getting along. Have you seen that peppermint yet? He/she is pretty shy. It only came out at feeding time for me.

[Stormbringer22]

No sign of the shrimp at all. I did find thje Feather Star I put in the tank a couple of weeks ago!

[Stormbringer22]

Mike, hows the tank lookin'? I lost one of the Bannerfish today. I think the Bio-load is starting to take its toll, even though I did a water change the other day. I'd feel really bad if your fish were to die! I'll do another water change tomorrow. Lemme know how your tank is clearing up!

[DrMilhouse]

ACK!!! I'll check on the water on Sunday. Can we make it that long? It's clear but I have to 'scape it a little bit which will cloud it for another day. I'm so sorry about your bannerfish. Are your params bad?

[Stormbringer22]

I'll be doin' a round of tests later tonite, that Bannerfish was showing signs of stress for a few days. I just freak out when there are other fish being cared for, then one in the tank dies! All the fish still look good & healthy, I'm just nervously, concerned about your fish!!!

[husker12225]

Jon,
This is a tip from a mutual friend of ours at Triton Aquatics when I moved mine into a larger tank. LOL. Look forward to meeting you tomorrow at the meeting.

Here are my tips for upgrading. Of course this is assuming you have a tank full of critters and you are trying to minimize mortality. Be ready for some mortality though--moving a tank is about the most stressful thing that can happen in a marine environment.

1) The initial goal is to get all the contents of your original tank moved into your new tank. If there are upgrades to be done, these should be done to the new tank at a later date.

For instance adding new live rock should wait until your tank is moved and settled back down. IF you have new LR waiting to go in, keep it in tubs with powerheads (should be adequate) until the new tank has settled in--then add it slowly so it does not cause a cycle.

Sand is a special case...I assume you are adding some fine, sugar grained sand to your sand bed to make it deeper (more on that in a moment)

Adding a skimmer or CA reactor same thing. Keep changes to a minimum until your tank is clearly re-established.

2) Be prepared--get all your ducks in a row and MAKE the move take only one day. Time is your enemy in this, the longer your critters are under move-stress the more you will lose.

3) Sounds like you are on the right track for water. Save as much water as you can from the initial setup. Have more water made and ready, on hand so you can completely top off the tank on setup. Use all of your old water first, then top off with the new water. New water should be kept at the same temp and salinity as the old.

4) Order of Battle:
1) Remove all corals--place each coral in a seperate bag or bucket containing water from the original setup. This water will be discarded at the end, as your corals will slime and spit stinging cells while the move is going on--you won't be wanting to put that water back in after the corals have polluted it.

2) Remove all Live rock--do this very carefully and take your time here...cloud the water as little as possible. Place the live rock in your tubs, again with water from the original setup. The water from the LR tubs will be placed back in the tank at the end of the move (unlike the water from the coral buckets/bags)

3) Net fish: Your water level should be getting a bit low already, so this should be pretty easy. If you are having a hard time catching the faster ones, feel free to siphon some more out and limit the room they have to run. Fish water will be added back to the new tank at the end.

4) Drain water: Drain the rest of your water out into buckets and save it. Get as much as you can.

5) Sandbed: Using a dustpan and some wide, flat tuperware containers remove the top two inches of your sandbed and deposit it carefully in the wide, flat tuperware containers. Top off with a little tank water to help keep the infauna alive.
Then scoop out the remainder of the substrate (the stuff that was more than 2" down) into buckets and save it. Don't bother wetting this bit--it will be back in soon enough.

6) Move the old system: Assuming here that your new 150 will go in the same place as your old system. Just shove the old one aside so you can work and shove the new one into place. Don't bother hooking up any of the pumps, or other gear yet--there will be time for that.

7) Stock new system: Your new system is now in place and your living room is filled with buckets and barrels.
a) Add Deep level substrate from buckets back into new system--spread evenly.
b) Add your new SD sand layer--spread evenly
c) Add back your layer of the top 2" of your old sand bed to top off your substrate level. (so the top level of your old substrate is now the top level of your new substrate--the bottom level is the same and new new sand takes up the middle area)
d) Add back the live rock (note that you are not adding water back in yet). This will allow you to place your live rock approximately where you want it without having it topple over and scratch your glass. Move quickly and efficienly here to keep the time your LR actually spends out of the water to a minimum.
When all the OLD LR is in the system start pumping in your old water.
e) Pump water from your barrels and let it run down your live rock pile as evenly as possible--using the live rock to break the flow of the water and minimize it stirring up the substrate.
f) After all the rock is covered with water remove your corals from their buckets and add them back in. So far you have only used old water so there should be no need to acclimate them. Don't add the old coral water back in--it's probably nasty.
g) Fish and such--these get added last.
h) Top off with the minimum amount of new water you can get away with and still get the pumps running. Let it sit overnight before topping it off to its max capacity.

9) Cleanup and Buy wife expensive dinner.

Ideally it would be better to move all your critters to an established system for about 3 days after the move--but it's rare that people have an extra system sitting around.

I hope that helps.

[Stormbringer22]

Doc, here's a few pics of your fish!

[Stormbringer22]

The Lion as it was cruzin'!

[Stormbringer22]

Shoulda washed the glass!

[Stormbringer22]

Everyone looks like they're enjoyin' the visit!

[Stormbringer22]

It's a busy tank!

[DrMilhouse]

:) Thanks! Those are some pretty good shots. Especially that Lion

[Stormbringer22]

Yea, its pretty cute ridin' the waves!

[jdallred]

Man, someone get a traffic cop in that tank or there's gonna be an accident.

[Exocet]

Glad to hear your move went well.

Mine didnt fare as well. Had a bulkhead fail the day we moved, and it snowed like the dickens. Moved the 175g bowfront with the sand in it. And it was the heaviest thing I have ever picked up in my life. Bar none. By the time we had the tank set up, the temperature of the water was 60 degrees. The tank and sand were warmed up a lot by the water. I'm pretty sure the sand temp dropped to 40-50 degrees.

All my fish survived. But I lost about half of my acros. :(

[DrMilhouse]

I am pretty sure that a lot of my SPS didn't make it. They're looking "iffy" but I'm giving them some time. I lost a green slimer too. :mad:

My water has been a bit cool so I haven't put the fish back in, I'm going to get them again in a couple of days from Scott. (thank you again)

Eric, is your tank recovering well? Did you have much of a cycle?Have you just been too sick to look at it?

[jonthefb]

ok a bit of an update on my end as well......the 65 move went pretty smooth, we decide to move with sand in and after closely inspecting the stand structure we realized that the bottom of a tnak is not supported on a stand at all, all the weight is distributed around the edge of the stand....based on this info we moved with sand in and all went well, we hung the bulkheads off the back of a truck and tied everythign down extremely well.....only three casualties total durning the move,(which i consider to be pretty durn good)....lost a nice green slimer colony the size of a softball, an electric pink millepora colony with yellow tips(this about made me cry as this was my favorite coral in the whole entire tank, and a solar fairy wrasse, so if anyone has a frag of a pink mille with yellow tips let me know, ill pay dearly for it!!!) restacked all rock, and got all critters in tank within 6 hours....had a bit of caulerpa die off, but not too bad, and everyth ign is functioning fairly well, and looking pretty healthy as of right now! ill keep you all posted as to how things look!

again if anyone has a frag of a pink A. millepora that they would like to trade/sell let me know!
thanks again for all the insight
jon

[firefighter1_emt_cop]

Had a bulkhead fail the day we moved, and it snowed like the dickens.

I was wondering how your tank was doing......Im glad that I could find you an Oceanic bulkhead to replace the one that broke.