darkcirca

Everything is in order for the tank move this weekend, except trashcans or stock tanks. I want to make about 100 gallons of water at the new place, and then I need to transport my 90 gallon (about 200+ lbs of rock in there) with something. I had plans to go out and buy some, but I live in a townhouse, so storage is not really possible after this. Does anyone in the Loudoun/Fairfax area have any trashcans, stock tanks, or even buckets with lids that could be borrow (pickup today/tomorrow) for this weekends move? I've a few heaters laying around, as well as my old powerheads. I'll gladly stop by at some point to pickup, and return. My only problem with larger items is the fact I can't really transport them. I've got a Civic Coupe - trashcans fit, as do some stock tanks, but I doubt I can move a 100 gallon stock tank in my car. Thanks

If you like other animals, definitely checkout Animal Jungle. I love going to this place just to play in the bird rooms...

Hoping I can still get in on this - 1 Phosphate and 25 reagents please!

I think I'm pretty much prepared (besides picking up 2-3 brute cans) for this move now. I've got a few powerheads laying around, plus the two from the tank, and at least 2 (I believe we actually have 3) spare heaters. I'll find the final count this weekend when I bring several things back home with us. We are planning the move either April 10th or 11th, so I have some time to gather other things, and bring the RO/DI over to make water. This week and weekend will be spent doing the final finishes to the basement - lay the last 6 tiles (back of the 2 closets), grout the main hallway into the house, seal the grout, repaint the basement ceiling, put the shoe molding in, and do the final touchups to the walls/ceiling edge spots. It's been a long process (moved in early October), but we will finally be getting our fish back, and hopefully up and running. Once everything is stable again, I will start getting corals again - which I cannot wait for. All that is left in the tank are GSP, hairy mushrooms, some ugly brown polyps, and colt coral. Does anyone have any good methods for aquascaping, other than stacking? We have 200+ lbs to rock in the tank, and it just doesn't stack nicely (it's very dense). I want to make the tank more open, and the stacks higher. We looked at some sort of fiberglass rods, but weren't too sure. Here is a picture of our tank, back in 2008. The last time I saw the tank (about 2 weeks ago), I saw the tomini tang, diamond goby, and two false percs (b&w and normal). Our sixline has been MIA for awhile now it turns out, and the firefish, it has been seen, but not by me. I'm not sure if there is anything else left, but we will find out. There are still some snails though, but I haven't seen any hermits for a bit.

I've done the 3 days of darkness and it helped rid my tank of some algae in the past. It was so hard to resist turning on the lights though...

We hardwired our ACJr (Serial to Ethernet converter), and there may be a product out there that does serial to wireless (probably costs more than the ACIII). We did the computer option (old desktop) but then just bought a little converter.

We pay around $80-$90 for 3 months with just 2 of us, and we don't even have the fish tank over yet. Definitely glad to see it's not a big increase. I take long showers, and have recently been showering 2x a day (painting/constructions/things at night require a night shower). Definitely beats my coworkers $250+ 3 month water bill.. turns out he's got a leak in his front yard somewhere..

Right now, still for the 90. It's going to be under tank still, so it will likely still be for a 20 gallon (possibly larger later). I was trying to get something larger, but it's finding something we both like, which is fairly difficult.... With the new place, we do have space next to the tank to put things, and we may utilize that for something as well. Wish I had a backroom to do things in though, but it's a townhouse, and the tank wall backs to the utility room (water heater/furnace - not much space in there), so we are hoping to at least use the closet next to the room to do top offs.

Yea, that's another reason for going external. We ended up putting rubble around the input on the current pump due to micro bubbles. With the small sump, we couldn't get anything else to work out nicely besides this. We've got unions and valves on the drain and return lines now as well - has come in handy many times. If you have any recommendations for externals, I'd love to hear them. With the puppy (5 1/2 months now), basement renovations, plus painting the entire house (and running ethernet all over), we've lacked the time to start researching things.

Thanks - We probably should do that, but it's a pain to remove all the rubble rock to get the pump out. We figured going to an external pump would be the best idea now, and make a little more room in the sump, as it is only 20g.

Thanks! I had been saying I'd join for some time, but kept putting it off due to everything else going on. Also - thanks everyone else for all the pointers. I'll be picking up buckets this week and some other misc. things. Next thing is to buy a new return pump (external this time), as our OceanRunner has stopped working on multiple occasions - requiring us to take it apart and put it pack to together (something gets misc. aligned). I'm very excited to get this tank over here and start putting it together again.

Thanks - I appreciate all the tips. It's the first fish move (besides the upgrade), and I want to do things right the first time. I know I'll have a "next time I'll do this", but I figured some of you probably have had those moments. As for the sand bed - I can replace it - it's about 1" or so deep of the indo-pacific sand. When we upgraded tanks, we rinsed it out and had no issues. Do you think it's safe to do this again? Or maybe rinse out part of it and replace the rest? I've got a diamond goby, who lives for sand.

Thanks for the input. I'm going to be picking up some containers this weekend hopefully, and gathering some other things. I have at least 3 heaters, maybe even more. We did an upgrade almost 3 years ago from a 56 to the 90, and I had things sitting aside. I do have 2 40 gallon breeders, which are currently housing a bearded dragon and a monitor. I may move them out so I can use those for holding tanks if I want, depending on the size containers I can find. Any specific types of containers that are best for transporting water without spilling? We've got a few fish - 2 clownfish, tomini tang, sixline wrasse, diamond goby, firefish.. I think that is all we have, as our anthias died recently. The worst part of the water is the nitrate, as they overfed the fish. As for corals, I have mushrooms and my gsp, which is partially covering the overflow, and possibly some other things, I can't really remember. If I lose it, it's not a big deal. My inverts are just typical snails, and I used to have cleaner shrimp - haven't seen them the last few times I was over there, but they have been known to show themselves. I really looking forward to getting my tank back up and running. I do want to redo all the rock, as right now it's like a giant pile - probably close to 200lbs or more. I really want something more open, but haven't figured out the best way to do it (PVC shelf just isn't that great). I've seen the acrylic rods - maybe someone out there has some input for this option. I want to get things purchase this week, so I have everything ready. Redoing the sump is also in the picture... Maybe after the move, we will actually put the doors on our stand (..possibly). We built this thing 2 years ago, and it still doesn't have doors.

I'll be moving my 90 gallon tank in the next 1-2 weeks (maybe 3), from Fairfax Station to South Riding, about a 30min car ride. Originally I had planned to purchase a new tank when we moved, but we got a puppy instead, so right now, I'd rather just get my tank over. Does anyone have any advice on moving a tank? This is the first move with the fish tank. I'm going to bag the fish and most likely put the rock in buckets. I'll have water premade over at the new house, ready to go. There are only a few corals left in the tank - all soft. We left the tank in the hands of family, and it's been fairly neglected for the past 4 months (we were renovating the basement, which is where the tank will be). It's had top offs and a few water changes, but I lost my clam, as well as some other corals. The fish have stuck it out though. So if you have any pointers, things you wish you did when you moved, or just overall thoughts on this move, please let me know. I'm excited to start my tank over, with a fresh aquascape when it arrives, just need to figure out a better way to do it.

Thanks, but just looking for tank options right now. I've got a 90 gallon setup already, running for 2+ years, just want to upgrade after we move. Kinda wanted to start fresh with everything.

I wish! I think the largest we can fit is 6ft long, as we are moving into a townhouse (2800sqft +/-). I do have plans in the future to setup a really nice tank and fish room. For now, the fish are going in the basement living area, and the reptiles get the downstairs bedroom. I'll look at giving Mr.Coral a call. Thanks for the suggestion - I had never visited that store before

We are moving in October and decided this is the perfect time to upgrade to that 180 gallon tank (or another 72" long tank). We currently have a 90 gallon that's been setup for 2 years. With that being said, I'm stumped on buying a new tank. We picked up this 90 gallon from Wally's, but were looking at options for the 180 gallon (mostly since we don't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money.. we did just buy a house). Does anyone have any recommendations on places to purchase a large tank, order one, or even have one built? I am in Fairfax, VA, but will travel to buy this thing. So if you have an opinion on a place to buy, or even what to buy, please let me know! Also - it must be reef ready. Dimensions must be at least 72" long, 24" (or wider), and no more than 24" tall. I'm short, and can barely ready the bottom of the 90 as it is. Thanks for any advice in advance.

We originally thought about this when building are tank. Honestly it wouldn't be that bad. You'd need to find rated castor's, possibly ones that will lock in place as well. You'd probably need to put 8 castor's on it (at least) and have it for double the amount of weight you think it would hold, that way to be safe. Rated castor's though for decent ones, most likely rubber, as not to hurt the floor, and they would also probably be big. It was expensive though, thus why we ended up not doing it.

I hunted down one that would eat frozen/freeze dried foods in addition to pods. He's been doing great too, even though my system has only been established since Jan.