Buying established tank setup and moving thread

[monster 911]

Getting a thread started about the upcoming move next weekend. So far I getting my supplies ready to go. I have purchased so far a reef test kit, RO/DI filter, new lights (2 10k daylight and 2 50/50 ), 5 gallon buckets, and 33 gallon trash can ( already have 20 gallons water made up), PVC pipe and shutoff valves, CFL bulb (6500k) for the refugium, big bucket of salt. Ill be adding more pics during the move. In the trash can i have a 300 watt heater, tubing from air pump, and a power head. The RO/DI unit will do 100 GPD. I have it running through 5 of the 6 stages. No need to run it throught the other stage which is for drinking water. The plan for the move is to keep as much of the water as we can. Im going to try and blow off as much of the cyano as possible and when draining the tank filter it through a pillow case or something else to try and catch as much as possilbe. Due to the tank going in the basement we will be scooping all the sand out into 5 gallon bucks with lids with some water in them. The coral and fish will be going into seperate buckets. Ill probably be lining each trash can and bucket with trash bags also.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Sounds like a plan.
You need to put that power strip on the wall instead of laying on the floor. Id also switch that outlet to a gFCI outlet. Might save your life one day.
I would also try to make up as much newly mixed saltwater as possible. Use a TDS meter to measure how clean your water is coming from your RO unit. Take that measurement every single month and keep those filters changed!! Thats a problem i recently ran into.
So far i like your passion. Keep it up.

 

[monster 911]

It was on a GFCI and I mounted it on the wall tonight. When I get home in the morning I will be making up a batch of salt water. I didnt realize that the test kit did not come with a pH test in it. So I will be headed to the fish store to pick one up.

 

[snakeblitz33]

pH is less important to me than alkalinity, honestly. Unless you are running a piece of equipment that has a bad habit of lowering pH. Like calcium reactors or biopellets or aquipure filters.
What kind of equipment you using again? Whats your bioload looking like?

 

[monster 911]

Bio load is low on the tank. One clown and 2 engineer gobies with some coral. Filtration is just the live rock. It has a sump with a protein skimmer and that's it. Nothing else in the sump. Basically the sump is just for the protein skimmer.

 

[monster 911]

These are the tank parameters that the owner sent me. I don't know what he all test for since he has kinda let the tank go. So I'm kinda in the dark with everything else.
Salinity 1.0235
Temp. 80.5 ºF
pH. 8.3

 

[snakeblitz33]

No heater? Nothing wrong with a simple tank design. Are you going for simple as well?
May i suggest not reusing his old sand and replacing it with new sand,... Or simply washing out your old sand in a pilloe case before using?

 

[monster 911]

Here are the pics I posted on another thread when I first went and looked at the tank. It does have a heater in the sump I forgot to add that part. I was planning on washing the sand out in a pillow case.

 

[flower]

Just a question...You said you got a new RO/DI unit. That looks like a regular RO unit to me. I personally prefer an RO unit to an RO/DI, since it's dangerous for humans to drink RO/DI. With a regular RO unit you and the fish have nice pure water to use. If it is an RO/DI be sure to ONLY use it for the fish tank.

 

[monster 911]

heres a link to where I bought it. The sixth stage in the DI. No I do not drink the water it is for the reef only.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/REEF-AQUARIUM-REVERSE-OSMOSIS-WATER-SYSTEM-100GPD-RO-DI-/230437814152?pt=Small_Kitchen_Appliances_US&hash=item35a729ff88

 

[snakeblitz33]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/396017/buying-established-tank-setup-and-moving-thread#post_3527687
Just a question...You said you got a new RO/DI unit. That looks like a regular RO unit to me. I personally prefer an RO unit to an RO/DI, since it's dangerous for humans to drink RO/DI. With a regular RO unit you and the fish have nice pure water to use. If it is an RO/DI be sure to ONLY use it for the fish tank.

I like that you're taking it step by step. Lets me know you care about doing things right.

 

[monster 911]

Got a few of the fittings finished up today. Stopped by the LFS to get a pH test kit and found a glass cleaner. While I was there I borrow 3 styrofoam boxes from them. Which each of them have 2 compartments.

 

[monster 911]

well here we go on the move. For the most part everything went according to plan besides it taking almost 12 hours. So far everything lived through the move. The corals started opening up this morning and look good. Now since I am working the next four days I will be heading back to the LFS to grab some suppliments for the coral.

Here we are scraping the sides of the tank getting rid of all the unsightly growth. Some coralline algae and some cyano.

another close of of it.

Some of the buckets and trash cans we were using.

I managed to get 6 transport boxes from my local fish store to borrow.

Some of the live rock with sponges attached to them I wanted to make sure we did not mess them up or dry them out.

A few of the sponges.

The two convict gobies. Awesome little buggers.

Put the bigger pieces of live rock in the trash cans for easier storage.

Soon after we got out most of the water.

We moved most of the sand to each corner to corner to get as mush water out as possible.
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This was a back saver. We filled up each 32 gallon trash can up all most half way up then loaded it in the golf cart with the buckets then filled the trash can up once we got it into the caks of the truck.

Got everything in the basement.

Put a bunch of the live rock on the bottom of them tank then put the sand around them. I want to make everything as stable as I could get them.

I ended up parking my truck next the the egress windows for the basement and took a garden hose and syphoned the water out of the trash cans.

This was from this morning after 12 hours of the tank running.

 

[monster 911]

I am planning on moving some of the baffles in the sump to try to get the protein skimmer in one end of it. The skimmer and return pump will not fit into the last chamber. Im wanting to make the middle chamber a refugium with some macro algae and copepods.