# Moving a 125g reef



## angelsdice159 (Jul 2, 2011)

anyone know were i can find info on moving my reef.,.,its been up for a little over 3 years .,


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

I moved my 125g, when I had it that is, 3 times. Everything goes into either a 5 gallon bucket, or a 45g tote with wheels. Use a 2 wheeler, or dolley to lift one end of the tank with stand, lift enough to get a 4 wheeler or furniture mover under it. Once its on this one person can move it. Its a really good idea to rinse out the sand at this point also, becasue it will really mess up the tank if you don't.


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## angelsdice159 (Jul 2, 2011)

Okay i see.,.take out all the coarls place them in bags in a bucket then the rocks .,.also the fish.,.,.so i should rinse the sand before seting it back up in the new house., should i use the same water or pre mix the whole 125g would that recycle my tank.,? wat adout alk calcium.,


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Rinse the sand out before you put it back into the tank. You can use what ever water you can keep, but remember, the majority of the bacteria is in the sand and rock. If you don't rinse the sand out, all the detrius in it will get into the tank, not really a bad thing, but that alone can throw you into a cycle. With the amount of LR you have, if your tank does cycle, it will be a mini, and won't be a long one. Shouldn't be enough to hurt anything. If your going with all new water, try to have it all set up 24hrs prior to use. Best to use a couple 55g drums, or totes. You should have the water as close to the old water as possible. I had mine all mixed up and ready to go when I moved the tank.


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## angelsdice159 (Jul 2, 2011)

Thanks for the info.,.alot of help.,.,..,i will have water pre mix way befor i move.,..,should i rinse the sand wit tap or RO?,.,..or doss it make a difference ?,.o


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## Bawl (Aug 15, 2012)

angelsdice159 said:


> Thanks for the info.,.alot of help.,.,..,i will have water pre mix way befor i move.,..,should i rinse the sand wit tap or RO?,.,..or doss it make a difference ?,.o


Rinse it in saltwater. Freshwater, RO or otherwise, will likely kill a lot of what's living in it. The idea is to try to get rid of all the gunk that's settled in it over the years. What I'd do, once the tank is empty and all you have left in there is the sand and maybe about a third of the water, is mix the sand up real well then use a fine mesh strainer to scoop it out. That should leave most of the grunge in the remaining water.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Bawl said:


> Rinse it in saltwater. Freshwater, RO or otherwise, will likely kill a lot of what's living in it. The idea is to try to get rid of all the gunk that's settled in it over the years. What I'd do, once the tank is empty and all you have left in there is the sand and maybe about a third of the water, is mix the sand up real well then use a fine mesh strainer to scoop it out. That should leave most of the grunge in the remaining water.


This sounds promising. But yea, rinse it in what ever tank water you are able to keep at the end. Just throw it in a 5 gallon bucket and swish it around.


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## angelsdice159 (Jul 2, 2011)

Q? For The Sump/refugium.,,, What Should I Do Whit It ? The Same As The Tank It Has Adout 2" Of M.m And Adout 1" Of Sand,...should I Get New Sand For The Refugium.,,,


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

hope you get it moved alright


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

You can do the same with the Fuge. No reason to change it unless thats what you were wanting to do.


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## angelsdice159 (Jul 2, 2011)

Quick. Q?? . ILL BE MOVING SOON. I THINK I WANNNA DO THE LIVE SAND LOOK
..I LIKE THE WAY IT LOOKS. LIKE FINE SAND. ..HOW MUCH SHOULD I PUT I DONT WANNA DO THE DSD. I was thinking adout a inch or two...i remember seeing two kinds .live and 
One dry.i think....whts better....thanks


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Your system is set up, so it doesn't matter which type you get.
1-2" depth is perfect.


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## angelsdice159 (Jul 2, 2011)

Thanks...cant wait to move....and do my rockwork again...lol..


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)




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## angelsdice159 (Jul 2, 2011)

Lol.l


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## angelsdice159 (Jul 2, 2011)

DOSE IT MAKE A DIFFRENCE IF THE MOVE IS EXACTLY 5 MIN AWAY...MY LFS said i shouldint clean my sand bed to just drop my water to the top of the bed to move ...im gonna still clean it ..even do,..


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

You can do it that way. But, if your moving it, I'd clean it out.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Going to be pretty heavy(I mean HEAVY) with an inch or two of water and sand in that 125!I pray for your movers(I hope they're not YOU!).


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Just tell em to prop it up on one end and slip a furniture dolley under it. One guy can move it that way.


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## angelsdice159 (Jul 2, 2011)

THANKS ALOT GUYS .. ALOT OF HELP.. how long should i wait to put the fish back in . i do have a 15g and well my 37g that i can put them in till its ready,... and what about the coral,.. dammm what a lot of Q ?...sorry/..


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

As long as your Rock stays under water and circulated, you could put everything back in the tank a couple of days with no problems. Your bacteria resides in majority in the rock, not the water.
But, if you could get all your water and rock and put it into the tub of the place your moving, then you have more time to set up and do whats needed. I've done all my moves in one day, including adding the fish back in. May have been at 1am, but I got it all moved.


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## angelsdice159 (Jul 2, 2011)

Lol...ya...lol...okay..cool..cool....caint wait..thanks alot ...ill post pics of the whole move..


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

angelsdice159 said:


> DOSE IT MAKE A DIFFRENCE IF THE MOVE IS EXACTLY 5 MIN AWAY...MY LFS said i shouldint clean my sand bed to just drop my water to the top of the bed to move ...im gonna still clean it ..even do,..


I'd scrape some cups of sand from the top half of the old bed and keep that live specimen in some tank water. I'd use that to seed the bed of my new build...just sprinkling it over the top. And I'd thoroughly dry the remainder of the old sand before I rinsed it. Drying it kills much of what you're hoping to rinse away, which makes for a more effective rinse w/less die-off in the new tank.


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## angelsdice159 (Jul 2, 2011)

Oright ...tank finaly moved...yesturday...my fish are in buckets...aqua scape not done...i test last niht .and nitrets are at 20ppm....should i do some water chabges befor adding fish back in or should i just put them in


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Na. 20 is not a bad number for fish. No worries there.


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## angelsdice159 (Jul 2, 2011)

Well The Move Is Done Its Been Ten Days,. Should I Expect To See A Rise In My Levels,.. So Far All I Seen Is The Nitreat At Around 20,. In The Move I Saved About 87% Of The Old Water ,. I Did Lose Some Friends., :9(


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

You might not see any spike in anything, all your rock has alot of baceria on it. Water doesn't carry alot of bacteria in it, you could have changed 90% of it with little to no impact.


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## angelsdice159 (Jul 2, 2011)

I was wondering... My buddy who owns vivid reef. Order.. me some fish and is holding them till my tank is stable


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## angelsdice159 (Jul 2, 2011)

I didnt know if i would see a swing in levles..


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Just to be sure, waiting a week to 10 days would be wise. But I think your ok.


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