Tank moving opinions

[george]

I need to move my tank. Here's the complete scenario and my options as I see them:

I am going to tile my downstairs floor and need to move stuff out which includes my 25g aquarium. Since the tiling is not an in-and-out affair (to include sealing the grout), I figured I'd move the tank to a new location and leave it there for at least a month or two, tile the floor, set up my 60 cube, then move everything to the new tank.

My options for moving (which is what I'm looking for opinions on) are:

1. Move the tank itself. Drain the tank, put the livestock in a bin, pick the tank up and truck it upstairs to the new location. Replace the water, put the livestock back in, hope I don't get a massive cycle that decimates my corals.

2. Set up a complete system upstairs in a second tank. Sump, skimmer, sand, etc. Cycle it. Move all the livestock when the cycle is finished.

I'm looking to minimize the shock to the corals and clams since I'll be moving the tank once (before Christmas, unless I go with option #2) then the livestock again after Christmas (probably in the March-April time frame).

Opinions and "hey, you missed something" desired. :unsure:

 

[vettesarebest]

well my opinion is dont tile the floor. lol jk i would go with opinion 1 that you said. when you set up your neew tank dont put everything in at once slowly add your livestock with of course adding your least favorite things first or your most hardy things. I had to move two anks from marietta to dawsonville and that worked out very well not one snail died and nothing else did. Not even a copepod!! well i exagerated

 

[kwl1763]

Do number one. You can eaily do it and I doubt you'll seee a cycle. I have done it multiple times on a 20G. Drained all the way to the sand be then moved then resetup with no issues. Do A couple thing:

1) Have plenty of new (meaning aged mixed saltwater) water available. There is not much bacteria in the water column anyway, it's on the substrate so forget saving it. Just save enough to put your fish and corals in while you move them and fill it up with new water.

2) Have a plan that will minimize time. Get everything ready, have a couple helpers around and you should be able to do everything in an hour or less. This will cause very little stress and you should be perfectly fine.