Moving a tank

[eddie]

I am moving a 150 gallon tank. I have a truck and trailer. Does anyone have any suggestion on where I can rent a couple of 100 gallon drums to move the water so I don't have to start over? Or point me in the right direction.

[monica]

You could go to walmart and get 5 of the 30 gal rubbermaid tubs 6 just to be safe. Thats what I did.

[captexas]

Not sure about renting drums. You might just go to Home Depot or Lowes and by a couple of those good Rubbermaid (roughneck) trashcans and use them. Rinse them out well. Then you can use them again for mixing saltwater or storing fresh top off water. That or you have a new set of trash cans for the house!

Also, when you have a chance, edit your profile here and put your city/location in there so people will know where you are from. You never know when there is someone nearby that may be able to help out.

[brewercm]

Trashcans work great, and Welcome.

[matt]

Unless you have some superhuman strength or a dolly/cart whatever, don't try to move more than 10-15 gallons at a time, especially in plastic containers. I'd use 5 gallon buckets, lots of them. I'd also mix up a bunch of new water, maybe 40 gallons or so (depends on the livestock you're moving) in the new location if possible so you don't have to move it. Then you'll be doing a good water change at the same time.

[astrong]

I would start with a lot of new water. Use 50-100 gallons to wash live rock and sand and keep 50 gallons of old water. I never keep more than 35% of my old stinky water. If your water is good quality then they will appreciate a good water change. If its bad its going to be hard to move successfully no matter what you do. Speed is the important thing, the faster you move the better off you are, no matter how you do it. Nothing kills fish deader than leaving them in buckets overnight.

I always get a couple coolers and 6-10 5 gallon buckets. The live rock and sand go in the buckets, no water, (and less chance of going anaerobic.) And all the fish and corals go in the coolers 1/3 full of water. The coolers keep the temp stabilized too. I would also take 6-10 5 gallon buckets with clean salt water from the surface before you start the teardown. That way it won't be filled with sediment. The rest of the water can be used to clean filthy old rock and sand. There's no point in moving a dirty sandbed(DSB?). That's just asking for it to die. And a true DSB is an even worse idea to move intact. They take a year to get going and an hour to kill in winter temperatures.

30 gallon trash cans from home depot/lowe's are <$10 and quite handy, but extremely heavy. A pump to move the water back and forth is mandatory. I recommend a python with a eheim 1260 & a 3x3/4" nipple to adapt to the python.