moving

[Guest alex wlazlak]

so im moving my 55g out of my house and into a new place. the drive takes all but 10 minutes and i have several questions.

1. i have high nitrates and my sand is CC and i am getting tired of it. id like to get fine suger sized playsand. could i just take out all the CC and but in fine play sand when i get it moved?

2. whats the easyest way to deal with the water? shouold i keep the same water that i have now? i looked on lowes.com and found some 18 and 14 gallon rubbermaid bins. i think thatd be the easyest way to move the water. could i get some larger bins and set them up and get some fresh RO/Di water in and mix it up for a few days, get the prams. right and then just use that new water?

3. will LR, corals, and fish be alright in seperate buckets/ a cooler? how long?

4. IS IT ALL POSSIBLE!??

thanks.

i just found this type of sand at lowes. is it okay to use do you think? it says screened, washed, and dried... http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=prod...10392-286-14104

Edited May 31, 2006 by alex wlazlak

[Guest alex wlazlak]

well for question 2 i got that solved.

my main prolbem now is that i dont have a sump, and during the summer im not reall going to be at my dads house where the tank is, and he goes on trips for work that can last from 7-10 days. problem there is no one to feed the fish or to top off the tank. is there a way to make an auto top off without a sump? im stumped.

[cbashaw]

well for question 2 i got that solved.

my main prolbem now is that i dont have a sump, and during the summer im not reall going to be at my dads house where the tank is, and he goes on trips for work that can last from 7-10 days. problem there is no one to feed the fish or to top off the tank. is there a way to make an auto top off without a sump? im stumped.

 

 

If you can put a large container under (or near) the tank and fill it up before he goes out of town then put a float switch in the tank connected to a small pump (I use an MJ 1200) in the water container to top off the tank. When the tank water level goes too low the pump will kick on and top it off. Make sure the water tank is big enough to last the entire time he is away so the pump doesn't run dry.

 

Another thing you want to make sure of is that he doesn't shut off the AC in the house when he is away or your tank will most likely overheat.

[Guest alex wlazlak]

where can i get a float switch? were moving it this tuesday :( . if worst comes to worst, ill bring it to my moms over the summer.

[cbashaw]

where can i get a float switch? were moving it this tuesday :( . if worst comes to worst, ill bring it to my moms over the summer.

 

 

I would try BRK or post in the Ask a Vendor section they might have one in stock.

 

I got the Ultralife float switch from Marine Depot but you can get one cheaper if you look around and possibly ask if anyone has a used one in the for sale forum.

 

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=UL1111

 

I still have that Purple cap frag set aside for you. Let me know when you're ready for it.

[Ne0eN]

well for question 2 i got that solved.

my main prolbem now is that i dont have a sump, and during the summer im not reall going to be at my dads house where the tank is, and he goes on trips for work that can last from 7-10 days. problem there is no one to feed the fish or to top off the tank. is there a way to make an auto top off without a sump? im stumped.

 

7-10 days? Are you planning on keeping any fish?

 

-Rob

[HowardofNOVA]

Alex,

7-10days once is one thing, several times a month is an opportunity for disaster. Are you sure you need a tank at your dads place? If you won't be able to care for it, shouldn't you consider not having one there?

Kind of like if a tree falls in the woods and no one there to hear, why setup a tank when you can't be there to enjoy it? Food for thought!

On your question, I believe Rob got your answer, top off on the tank will work, but someone should at least check on it every couple of days, before a small problem gets huge.

 

ON the move,

Use a 5g bucket with lid and start putting in fish using clean water directly out of tank as you empty it!

Next, Using a few 18-20g tubs, set all your corals on the bottom to keep them from moving around. Put in water to just cover them, keeping weight down to be able to carry. Depending on how much rock and corals you have will dictate how many tubs you have.

Use 5g buckets again with lids and drain all water into them for transport to new location. You also will need to make up about 20g of Saltwater ready for water changes after a day or two after the move.

To save on weight, again using 5g buckets, scoop out the sand to make carrying the tank easier.

You should now have tubs with corals and LR in ready to go.

5g buckets with Saltwater and single bucket with fish ready.

Now all at once take them to the trucks and get to new locations ASAP and reverse order in new spot.

TIP: You will need to get a powerhead running ASAP at new location in bucket with fish and won't hurt for corals as well. Keep them as cool as possible at this point with high temperatures now. Cooling water won't hurt as much as high will! You probably won't need to worry about cool temperatures so a heater in the bucket won't be such an issue as time will be.

IT took 3 of us 3 hrs to tear down and setup Chris Physics tank this past weekend, so once you start taking items out of the tank, don't daddle!

 

PREP: Have all non-life supporting equipment and tank spot ready BEFORE you start the move to save time!

Good luck!

Howard

[kngfisher]

 

Another thing you want to make sure of is that he doesn't shut off the AC in the house when he is away or your tank will most likely overheat.

 

That just happened to me....well AC tripped a breaker and walked into a house and 55 gal tank at 96 degrees. Lost all but 3 fish....:-( and those might not make it past the weekend. The only good thing I can say is that my 55gal was a fish-only tank....I guess I know the reason for a chiller now.

[Guest alex wlazlak]

are there any cheaper float switches?

[Guest alex wlazlak]

what does it mean for sand to pass the vinigar test? i got a small cup of the sand, put white wine vinigar in it, and it didnt bubble. is that good?

[Guest alex wlazlak]

B-ump

[Guest alex wlazlak]

well me and my dad got everything out of the house and into the truck within 2 hours. the move itself went pretty smoothly, but when i put the sand in the tank, wow. words cannot explain how darn clowdy this thing got. ive got plenty of sand for a DSB now, but its was horrible/still is. after an hour or so of screwing around with stuff, we disided to go to superpetz and get some filters and polyester floss stuff. within an hour of running my powerfilters with the actual filters in them and the poly. stuff, the tank has about 4" of visibility in it so far...

so far didnt lose any corals, but my yellow tail damsel is MIA, which is actually a good thing, cause i hated that little basterd! ive got all my LR and corals, and fish in a 31g rubbermaid container and have a heater and PH in it with the light on top of it. the fish arent doing bad rite now and the corals are all mostly extended.

overall everything went pretty good.. the best part is, the basement is now my new fish room! again, does anyone have any input on the sand i used wheather its reef safe or not? we didnt rinse the sand off either so hence the huge sandstorm. i feel like in in iraq or somthing!

[flowerseller]

The vinegar test is where you put your sand in vinegar and it fizzes.

Maybe not quite fizzes but you see bubbles rising and they should for several days.

[Guest alex wlazlak]

and if you dont????

[Ne0eN]

so far didnt lose any corals, but my yellow tail damsel is MIA, which is actually a good thing, cause i hated that little basterd!

 

ROTFL... Alex... your attitude towards living creatures never seems to amaze me. Have you ever asked yourself why you're in this hobby in the first place? Just something to think about. Wouldn't it be smarter just to donate the little bugger to Pet/Co/Smart or something? Or find someone on WAMAS who collects Damsels. (i.e. Sachin)

 

As far as the sand, if it fizzes it's a good calcium-based (aragonite) sand, that will help with pH buffering. If it doesnt fizz, it's probably pure quartz, or silica-based which is pretty innert, and it's not gonna give you the desired DSB benefits. Still, not a huge deal. It would be a good idea to seed your 'new' sand with some 'old' sand from an established reef. The sand storm is normal. Normally lasts 3-4 days. You can crank up the skimmer to speed things up, and run a canister filter. Just be sure not to introduce fish until it clears. Otherwise they will get stressed and probably develop ick and die. Where did you find the sand anyway? Shouldn't hurt anything once it clears up. Do you have any books on Reef keeping? read, read, read... and stop wasting fish!

 

-Rob

[Guest alex wlazlak]

HEY! i dont waste fish! infact i heart fish . i always wanted to get rid of him, but id try and he'd go right into the LR and hide. i wanted to get him out of the tank when i was taking it down, but i lost him, i couldnt freakin find the darn fish! still no signs of him either. he was a little bugger though, always nibbling at my cleaner shrimp... i didnt really care cause it was a beginer fish that coasts all but 4 bucks... sorry for getting you rambled up. the cloudiness was gone around 12pm and im trying to get the salt right now.. it looks awsome and ill post pics ASAP once i get the rock in. BTW, for everyones info, if you do get a sandstorm, use some poly filter floss stuff, it works wonders!

[Guest alex wlazlak]

well i put in a few pieces of LR tonight and guess what..... i found the yellow tail damsel! ill have to see if my pops will take me to the fish store to get rid of it...

[Guest alex wlazlak]

alrighty. the tank is officaly up and running! everythings in it and ill try to get some pics up shortly. so far NOTHING has died, now thats a move you can be prowd of.