Buying a used system

[junk]

I'm most likely going to be purchasing a used setup locally (1-2 hrs away). Any suggestions on best way to move it, besides carefully

. It's coming with live rock, live sand, and a few fish.
It would also be great sometime if someone would post up some things to watch out for when buying used. Just a thought.
Thanks,

 

[michaeltx]

when moving tanks lots of buckets and newspapers.
the rock with out corals just place in a bucket with dampened newspapers around them to keep them damp and they do alright.
sand is tricky IF you can I would leave the sand drain the water down to the sand line and then load the tank. unfortunatly with a big tank this is impossible. If you can only save the top 1-2 inches of sand disrupting anything past that will release everything it has trapped when you refill it.
save as much of the water as possible unless you have enough made up to refill it thats been airated and tested to go.
lastly go to a LFS and see if you can buy some bags from them for the fish and corals and ask if they have any styrofoam boxes their shipments come in that you can borrow for a day. it wil make it easier to move the fish and corals that way.
last be patient its going to take you awhile to get it all takin apart and reset up so plan on a late day.
as far as what to watch for look for anything out of the ordinary sick looking fish an unkept tank, ask if there meds used in the tank some meds will stay in the tank long after they were used and with some can leach back into the water and elements like copper meds inverts dont do so well and since there is LR in there is gauranteed that it will be conatminated if so it will be good as a FOWLR but not as a reef tank. there are some other things to look for but my mind is blank right now.
Mike

 

[charles_20]

Since you didn't say how big a one you bought. Depending on how large it is. Use a big level to make sure where you setup is perfectly level.
Also depending on size of tank, you might buy a 35 or 45 gal. rubbermaid trash can (the dark grey ones) from Lowes or Home deport. You could pre- make saltwater and when you get home you can put some of your live rock and your fish in the trash can. And then you want have to rush to setup your tank as much. You will probably want to heat & use a powerheard or something for water flow.
After that you can use the trash can for making saltwater and have it as an emergency or quarintine place.
Charles

 

[oreo12]

I used totes to put the water in. I put the fish in a cooler I put the rock in the totes with the water only fill the totes 1/2 way with water. You can use the totes later for water changes. I left the sand in the tank. I had a min cycle once I set it back up. I moved it 50 miles hope this helps good luck.