[aquasalt]

We bought a 90 gallon tank with all the whistles and bells from someone. At this point it contains live rock and sand. We will be picking it up on Thursday night and would appreciate any advice on successfully relocating it.

It will be about a 30 minute ride. Is it okay to drain two thirds (so that live rock is still submerged), fill the excess water in buckets, and pour it back in once home?

There are no fish at this point, but I want to cycle through the nitrogen cycle as quickly as possible...DYING TO GET STARTED!

We're looking forward to meeting everyone and learning from each other's experiences.

[ACE]

Don't leave any thing in the tank when transporting because it could damage the tank.

Keep all of the water you can, the more you keep the better.

The best way of transporting the live rock is to keep it damp wrap it in a towel (damp) with saltwater if you can do that It will stay alive if it drys out it will kill the bacteria on the rock witch is very bad.

[AMS]

as ace said, completely empty the tank, and just keep the rock damp. keep as much of the water as you can, and siphon it out w/o going near the bottom. then, pitch the sand. too much risk for toxic compounds such as hydrogen sulfide deposits....reef sand is relatively inexpensive, and you can get live sand such as the ocean direct by carib sea for around $40/40lbs.

[aquasalt]

Thanks for your words of wisdom!

How about this as a plan...

1. Fill 2 or three large buckets with water
2. Place live rock in the buckets with the water
3. Disconect pumps, filters, protein skimmer, etc.
3. Transport tank with only sand (which I was told was worth $200) and 2-3 inches of water.
4. Once home, connect pumps, filters, protein skimmer, etc.
5. Poor water from buckets into the tank
6. Place liverock back in the aquarium with water.

I was really hoping to save the sand, and let it cycle for about a month before introducing anything new into the system. Wouldn't this let any toxic compounds neutralize? Keep in mind I have 0 fish at this point.

[e_baer]

make sure everythign is out of the tank before you move it.

put the sand in some buckets.

you can get large plastic containers at walmart for a few $$$$

[ACE]

I don't want you to brake any seals to your tank when you move with all of that sand in it, I would take as much sand out of the tank as possible put in a container such as a rubber maid container with just enough water to cover the top of the sand.

OK I would disconnect all of the equipment first.

You should fill up the tank with water before you turn the equipment on when you get it home.

[AMS]

Originally Posted by aquasalt

I was really hoping to save the sand, and let it cycle for about a month before introducing anything new into the system. Wouldn't this let any toxic compounds neutralize? Keep in mind I have 0 fish at this point.

well, if you really want to put the work into it, you can clean the sand and use it. hydrogen sulfide deposits show up as a dark bluish-gray deposit on the substrate found below the surface layer. this isn't something that will easily just go away. for the amount of work you are going to do to clean it, you're better off just buying new sand. if you want to use it, it might be fine, but my advice anytime somebody tears a tank down is to just pitch the sand. sand is cheap, and its better to start over with a fresh substrate and keep the live rock.

[thirty5]

You have some good input above. I just have one bit of information. Don't rush the tank. I made a mistake with my first tank and put in too much at once and all my levels went wacky and i lost half my stock.

[aquasalt]

Well today is the day ladies and gentlemen! We are getting our tank today...of course it is raining cats and dogs here in Tampa Bay, which will make the relocation that much easier!

So I have one more question for the time being: What are your opinions and recommendations on tank backgrounds? It seems to me that this would not be an easy thing to change once in place, so I want to get it right the first time.

[DoLceNBeLLa]

The simplest is a black or blue background that you can paint on or just buy the poster type stuff at your LFS and tape it to the back.

[aquasalt]

Just the answer I was looking for, thanks!

[aquasalt]

Just a quick update--we got 'er home and she looks awesome! It was quite a challenge getting eveything loaded in the pickup truck turning it into a late night, but everything's up and running. I'll post some pics later so you can see what we are working with.