[luvuhomey]

I have a 185 gallon tank. I have had it for 6-8 months, and it's doing wonderful. Bad news is I am going through a divorce and need information on the best way to relocate it and the livestock. I will be moving it approx. 45 minutes away. I am very nervous about attempting it. What is the best way for me to do this? I also have bioballs in the sump, and am wanting to get rid of them as I have been told several times by lfs that these are just nitrate factories. Can I safely just not put them back into the sump after the move? I am somewhat new to this hobby but I love it, so forgive me if I havent answered all the appropiate questions.

I have some corals, and anenomes also. Live rock, fish include but not limited to Blue tang, Lavender tang, Coral Beauty, Engineer Goby, Marine Betta, Yellow tang, Lawnmower goby, Pajama Cardinalfish, Fire gobies, Diamond Goby, Psychedelic Goby, Misc. Damsel fish, skunk clowns, and a regular clown, and some snails and a skunk shrimp.

Any and all help would be appreciate it. I am almost just tempted at this point to hire someone to do it but know that could be really expensive.

[mtfabel]

Well this could be a long thread. Your gonna need at least 8-10 hours of uninterupted time to complete this task. First thing you need to do is gather everything your gonna need. 1st thing I think your gonna need is several 35-44 gallon rubbermaid trash cans for holding rock, livestock and water. You will also need 1 or 2 cans just for moving water. Also need to make sure you got heaters for your livestock can. Gonna need to keep as much of the original water as possible. Make sure that you have some premixed saltwater ready at your new location to allow for how ever much water you are unable to save and to account for any that spills on the way to your new location. Also gonna need some extra water pumps to keep the water circulating in the cans with your livestock and your fish. Its best if the fish go in a can by themselves with no rock in it. Once you have gotten all your rock and fish out, its time to start draining the water. Remember you need to save as much of the water as you can. Once you have gotten almost all of your water out your gonna need to get your sand out(DO NOT move your tank with sand in it). Make sure your tank is COMPLETELY empty before you move it. YAY the easy part is done. Once you have completely emptied your tank you can safely move it to its new home. Be sure that once you get it to its new home, you get the tank perfectly level. An unlevel tank has uneeded stress at some point. They will crack with that extra stress. Once you have gotten your tank in its final resting place its time to put the sand back in. After you get your sand in you need to get several peices of your liverock and place it on the sand so that when you start filling your tank back up the water will filter through the rock preventing the sand from getting stirred up as much. While your tank is filling you need to get your filter back into place and ready to run so that once your tank is full you can start filtering as soon as possible. Once you have started filtering the water you need to get your rock work in place. Assuming that you are able to save at least 50% of your water then it will probably be ok after a couple of hours of filtering to start putting your livestock back in the tank. Ok that is a very basic explanation of what you need to do. There are many other very educated people on this site that will no doubt fill in any thing that I have left out. I wish the best of luck to you and please keep us informed to your tanks status.

As far as your bio balls go, you can remove about 1/4th of them every other week replacing what you take out with live rock. DO NOT remove them all at one time.

[pogodzib]

Nice explanation Mike. One of the keys it to make sure that your livestock's water remains oxygenated, so a battery operated air pump works good in any container carrying fish. the corals and live rock will be fine without it for a few hours. For a tank that size, plan on the tank move taking at least 8-10 hours if you are doing everything except moving the actual tank yourself. If as all possible, find a local reef keeper or two that is willing to help out with the move. It will save a couple hours of your time and make the transition easier on the livestock. Just one more reason why local reef clubs are nice.

[luvuhomey]

Thank you for your replies, and that answers alot of questions I have/had. I do have another question. Right now my tank has two overflow boxes with u-tubes. I would like to go to a different system without having to have my tank drilled..yada, yada. I have a terrible time restarting the u-tubes with the little suctioning tubes, and I have drank/spit/ and swallowed more salt water than I care to admit. Go ahead laugh..it's funny. But any suggestions about that, or what type of system I should go with ? Would love to just put that in after the move. I am a newbie, and although I do have basic knowledge of tank keeping and maintence, and my tank is doing wonderful, I dont have all the terminology for all of the equipment out there. Thanks for the help youve given so far. I dont know if there are any reef groups in my area.