Tank Move Coming Up...

[Gimpster]

...and I am looking for advice. I have a 20L in my front room. I need to move the setup to the back room where I have the new stand I built. The tank is lightly populated and there is only about 15# LR. Whould it be better to put all the rock on the sand bed and drain the water down to just over the rocks and move it, or should I brake it all the way down and put all the rocks & critters in buckets for the move?

 

The last move I did was tank to tank so I used the bucket method. Any advice would be great.

[Korbin]

I'd take the rocks out and leave enough water to keep the sand wet. I moved my 29 gallon this way. Any rocks in it and it would have been too heavy/akward to lift. Besides, you don't want to be shifting weight around by carrying a tank that has a huge load on the bottom glass. Especially if it happens to be drilled.

[winniebagel]

Moving rocks and water via buckets instead of leaving it in the tank would be the way to go. There is the possibility of having a busted tank bottom if you're moving with rocks+sand+some water method. Better safe than sorry, as mom always says.

[pdhenderson]

bucket

[Gimpster]

Thanks for the advice I guess I need to get a couple more buckets.

[dga]

Originally posted by Korbin

I'd take the rocks out and leave enough water to keep the sand wet.  I moved my 29 gallon this way.  Any rocks in it and it would have been too heavy/akward to lift.   Besides, you don't want to be shifting weight around by carrying a tank that has a huge load on the bottom glass.  Especially if it happens to be drilled.

 

 

i agree with korbin. this is the safest way, and probably the easiest. my move this summer will require me to use a bucket for rock and water, and another for fish and water. i plan on using a inverter to run a small powerhead and heater in each during the move, to keep everything as close as possible to the parameters they were as when the tank was setup.

[Korbin]

I'd also make sure you have a friend with a tank nearby in case things go REALLY wrong. So you can unload your corals on him and make his day.

[Gimpster]

I do not really have more then a few softies, nor do I have any nearby Reef keeper friend yet, I do have the old tank, the reef was in as a back up though, and I can always evict my lizard from her 20L and put here in somthing else.

 

Worse comes to worse they will survive in the buckets, I have power heads aplenty and two heaters. Now that I thnk of it I also have a nice MH shop light that would make a nice ligh for my tank. Humm... Maybe it is a bit too much for the little 20g Long.