Moving A Tank

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Moving a tank to a new location, be it to the next room, next suburb or next state, can be a daunting prospect, and is not without risk. However, with a bit of planning a tank move can be done quite smoothly, and without loss of life.

Here are a few tips:

Contents

Plan

Plan it out well in advance. Allow yourself about twice as much time as you think you'll need, and start early in the day.

Containers

Have about twice as many containers / buckets / tubs on hand as you think you will need.

Bag up livestock

As far as possible bag livestock up separately, or at least with compatible tankmates. If a relatively short trip, transporting in sealed buckets and containers is fine, but for longer trips you will need to pack with oxygen, or use battery powered air pumps to keep water oxygenated.

Submerged live rock

For a short move, moving live rock submerged will help to reduce die off, and ensure a negligible 'cycle' once the tank is reassembled. For a longer move, the risk of exhausting oxygen becomes higher, and you may need to consider transporting the rock covered in wet butchers paper, and with a little water in the bottom of the container - just the same as how the collectors ship rock across the country.

Clean Seawater

Have about twice as much clean salt water as you think you will need, at both the packing and unpacking ends. You will go through much more than you think you might need, and it allows you to ship livestock in clean water as well (rather than the putrid crud you scoop out of the lower half of the tank.)

I am an advocate of changing as much water during a tank move as possible. Any benefits of transferring beneficial organisms with the water are likely to be outweighed by the muck and detritus that will stirred up once you start disturbing the substrate. Of course care should be taken to match water parameters: salinity, temperature, alkalinity etc. Before introducing livestock, and if using artificial salt water, it must be adequately prepared and mixed, preferably a day or more before the move.

Towels

Have about twice as many towels as you think you will need . You will have the odd spill, and you can never have enough towels - trust me!

Helpers

Have about twice as many helpers on hand as you think you will need, but make sure they are people who know how to follow instructions! It really helps having people around when it comes to lifting and lugging. But you'll want to be doing all the critical handling of livestock yourself.

Glass Lifters

Vacuum glass lifting handles can be an invaluable resource for moving tanks, particularly with large tanks. Apart from being heavy, tanks are notoriously awkward to handle. Having lots of people on hand helps with the weight, and the handles help to cope with the awkward angles and fine adjustments of position.

Resources

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