Moving from 90 gallons to 240 !!

OOOHHH - now I really think I am having a brain fart.  I'll see it when you do it, then I'll get it.

OOOHHHHH  - OKay, I think I got it.  So the "ready" water is from the old tank?  Just make new water and only keep a little from the old one.

Depending on how long it sits in the tub, I might try to cover the drain with some plastic and silicone.  A lot of drains are brass or bronze... both are copper alloys.

OK - this is what I just thought...

I think that I will make the aquarium + sump run in the garage, and test out the setup for a few days.

Then I will empty it and fill it 3/4 full of RO water, mix it with salt, and let it sit for a few days to acclimate.

Now for the kicker - How about storing the "ready" water in one of the bathtubs for a day? Of course I would have to make sure there is absolutely no soap around.... But does anyone know how much water a standard 5' bathtub holds (up to the overfill drain) ?

I recently moved my 150 gal tank from its original home to mine.  I didn't have a tank in the way so didn't have that problem.  (I mostly watched the move the original owner and my son did the work.)  They put the livestock in buckets  with water and the LR in buckets too and covered them all with lids or towels.  The sand was scooped out and placed in buckets as well.  When it arrived at my home it was quickly rebuilt  and the sand and rock placed inside.  We added about 30 lb of extra sand I had bought on ebay and finished the set up with appropriate water.  We let the water heat up some and then added the livestock.  It's almost a month later and everything looks great.  The only thing we lost in the move was all the coraline alge on the back of the tank.  I hope that will come back soon.   Good luck with your move.

You guys are great - thank you for the replies so far. I will have to build the stand first, so it will be a few weeks - but then I will take you guys up on some offers.

Does anyone know of anybody else who trucks around salt water, besides MSM?

Arjen,

I have a couple garbage containers you can use.

My experience has been that LS should be the last thing removed from the tank, just for safety in case there is a pocket of hydrogen sulfide. Some people may notice the black color of the HS2 and discard that sand but IMO it's no problem when it's drained and mixed in with the good stuff. This is a good opportunity to rinse the accumulated detritus from the sand. Your tank has been running for about three or four years, if I figure correctly. With those sand sifting stars, I wonder just how clean the sand will be?

Anyway, I leave a couple inches of water in the bottom and remove the LS using a plastic colander like they make for draining spaghetti. The detritus will drain out with the water. Just dump the sand out of the colander into the new tank. It will still have lots of bacteria but be cleaner. You might even take a couple gallons of it directly to the new tank to ensure there is some less disturbed sand with all it's life. It's pretty hard to separate surface sand from bottom sand, but frankly, it doesn't seem to matter if it's all mixed up.
Hope this helps.

Also, this is a good time to exchange some LS for new sand if there is anyone that needs LS.
Also, a brief rinse of some of the LS in tapwater does not seeem to be a problem. Rinsing in salt water is unecessary, IMO.

Edited by Mark Peterson

BTW - does anybody know what happens to my already established 5 inch deep sand bed?

Will it "poison" the new tank when disturbed?

Jon knows what he's doing.

Also, keep the LR and coral submerged in a small bucket of tank water while moving it between tanks/tubs if possible. This way there will be no die-off and no "cycling" to worry about.

I wouldn't mind helping y'all move things. Just call me.