Article: Swapping Aquarium Stands

[melev]

You can view the page at http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.p...quarium-Stands

[brotherd]

Your tank,full,is plus or minus 500 pounds wet.I'm with Marc on this.Drain it.(on a weekend when you have a lot of time)

[Sruiz]

How did the move go? I hope you did not have to use 6 people to move a 55 gallon. I think it's best to drain the tank and not risk it. Should not take much longer to drain all the way and It would not be good to put more stress on the tank. If you have an accident it's going to take you longer to clean up than it would have taken you to drain the rest of the tank. But best of all you wont need 6 people.

[SMiles]

I'm moving my nano to a new location to make room for a 70 gallon bow front. I have the same challenges and concerns as Codi. I have temporarily set up a 20 gallon tank next to the nano and filled it about two thirds with fresh mixed salt water. The temp tank has a small powerhead and heater. I plan to comingle water from the nano with the water in the temp tank, and move my livestock to the temp tank (anything not attached to large rock). I will then move rock and sand in buckets. Having learned from this article, I will rinse my sand to remove detrius with fressh water. Does this sound like an OK plan? Where do I risk the tank cyclng when I put everything back?

[melev]

You will only see a cycle if you expose the live rock to air, especially sponges. If you simply drain some water from the reef into a trashcan or bucket, pull the rock out and submerge it in the used water. The rinsed sand won't cycle since it is simply clean sand - ready to be repopulated with life.

[dbdisok]

After you wash the sand with hose water do you have to rinse it with RO water?

[melev]

No, the minimal amount of moisture in the sand is negligible - there's no reason to worry about that.

[joemenchaca]

the way marc discribed is the way i combined two tanks into 1 a 30gal. and a 75gal. into a120gal everthing worked out fine but i lost a peppermint shrimp that was hiding on a piece of rock and fell to the floor unnoticed till it was to late if you take your time to sort out all the details before you start it should go well good luck joe

[kmjoen230]

I am planning on moving a tank this weekend. it is only 34g, but i am wondering that if following these instructions, what water do I use to fill the tank back up with? New or the old stuff?

[melev]

It would be wise to have more water mixed up just in case. If the water from the original set up gets too dirty or you opt to really shake out the live rock, you may prefer to use more of the new saltwater instead. I'd recommend that the water be mixed up for 24 hours before you start the move, and then try to match its parameters as closely to the tank's to lessen the effect on the livestock. Temperature, pH and Salinity are the big three I want to clone.