Sad day is drawing near.....

novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
I've tried to put it off. I've buried my head in the sand, stuck my fingers in my ears whenever it was mentioned, and even tapped my heels together while whispering "I'll keep my aquarium, I'll keep my aquarium..." but the day of the move is coming close....and I have to break down my 110g tank.
We're moving to an apartment after the first of the year, and there's really no way I can bring my baby with me. Since I have to go out of town for 10 days during the Thanksgiving holiday, I decided it's best just to bite the bullet and break it down this coming weekend....one less thing to worry about while we're gone on vacation.
Not much I can do about it at this point, other than moan and groan. There may be a slight chance I can sneak this in if we settle on a ground floor apartment, but I can't justify keeping it running on the off chance that we might get lucky. I'm going to sell off the livestock and get some store credit that I can use towards the seahorse tank, and I'll probably keep the live rock in a tub with a powerhead for a few months until we see what the future holds. If we DO get lucky...I'll have most of the stuff to restart it. If we're not so lucky...well, maybe I can sell the LR for cheap.
It's been a good run. I'm glad I can keep the tank for some future use, and equally glad I can keep my seahorse tank running. I know I'm still going to be a bit touchy this weekend, however, when I finally turn off the return pump for the very last time.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Oh man.....I am soooo sorry to hear this......I don't know what else to say.....we are here though for you.....
 
scott t

scott t

Active Member
That will be a sad day indeed. I am sorry to hear this. I wish you the best of luck and hope that you will be able at some point to set up your tank again.
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Thanks. Yes I know I can at least keep my 37 gallon seahorse/coral tank. That one is a lot of fun, don't get me wrong....but the big baby was SO much fun to play with. It will be quite a change to come home and not have that window into the sea to sit back and relax next to. I'll just have to make sure the 37g tank is situated right next to my living room chair or something.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
Awwww that really sucks. When we broke down the seahorse tank in August and left it on the curb.... I felt really sad.
 
slice

slice

Active Member
First thing I read this morning after logging on. This does not make my day.
Sorry to hear about the breakdown/loss of this tank, but just think what your eventual next one will be like!
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by novahobbies http:///forum/thread/381749/sad-day-is-drawing-near#post_3327088
I've tried to put it off. I've buried my head in the sand, stuck my fingers in my ears whenever it was mentioned, and even tapped my heels together while whispering "I'll keep my aquarium, I'll keep my aquarium..." but the day of the move is coming close....and I have to break down my 110g tank.
We're moving to an apartment after the first of the year, and there's really no way I can bring my baby with me. Since I have to go out of town for 10 days during the Thanksgiving holiday, I decided it's best just to bite the bullet and break it down this coming weekend....one less thing to worry about while we're gone on vacation.
Not much I can do about it at this point, other than moan and groan. There may be a slight chance I can sneak this in if we settle on a ground floor apartment, but I can't justify keeping it running on the off chance that we might get lucky. I'm going to sell off the livestock and get some store credit that I can use towards the seahorse tank, and I'll probably keep the live rock in a tub with a powerhead for a few months until we see what the future holds. If we DO get lucky...I'll have most of the stuff to restart it. If we're not so lucky...well, maybe I can sell the LR for cheap.
It's been a good run. I'm glad I can keep the tank for some future use, and equally glad I can keep my seahorse tank running. I know I'm still going to be a bit touchy this weekend, however, when I finally turn off the return pump for the very last time.
I would insist on that ground floor some way some how...I'm so sorry I know I would be so upset.
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Aww, I like the big bear hug!
Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way: maybe this is an excuse to do a HUGE, MAJOR overhaul of the tank. Scrape off all the corraline and encrusted algae growth from the back (ok, and sides, and a little along the front bottom...) of the tank.
...And I'm not gonna be sorry to see that b**ch of a maroon clownfish go, either.

Cranberry, I don't know how you just left a tank on the side of the road. That must have been hard!! I don't think I could physically do that.....in fact, I've PICKED UP tanks from the side of the road!!
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Well, I decided to get started tonight, since my LFS manager mentioned that he was going to be low on livestock this weekend..... delayed shipment due to volcano ash. So I gritted my teeth, set up my holding stations, and started pulling rockwork apart.
Boy, this is a pain in the butt to do!!
4 hours later, and I've got most of the rock in one tub with a powerhead blowing into the middle, a tank with the koran angel and GS Maroon clown, another with the Coral beauty, Ocellaris clown, and foxface (the peaceful fish), and a third with the McCoscker's flasher and both of the mandarins. Most of those are going back to the store tomorrow morning. The tank is drained, and all the snails and hermits have been fished out of their hidey-holes. Tomorrow will be scoop-the-sand day, and probably scrape-the-glass day too.
It's not all bad. If we DO find a ground floor deal, we're going to put the tank up in the living room in lieu of a TV. So like I mentioned earlier, I'll be keeping the rock in a tub until we know for sure yea or nay. Maybe this way I'll finally be able to kill off the last of that stubborn red turf algae!!
 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
Well I hope you guys find a ground floor. As always you seem to have the right attitude towards it looking for the best. We know it sucks for you and thats about all we can do is say we are sorry your going through this. Keep us updated on how its all going.
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gill again68 http:///forum/thread/381749/sad-day-is-drawing-near#post_3328528
Well I hope you guys find a ground floor. As always you seem to have the right attitude towards it looking for the best. We know it sucks for you and thats about all we can do is say we are sorry your going through this. Keep us updated on how its all going.
LOL Thanks! Like I said, it's not the end of the world - just nice to have a place like this to come and vent at when we need it!! I'm actually really glad I did this. For the past couple months I've been letting things slide in that tank - slowed up on water changes a little, didn't mess with thesand bed so much - and when I went to do the final breakdown I can see the results of some of that laziness. The sandbed in the back corners and around the rock live frame tubes was compacted pretty hard. I could tell that there were some areas that were starting to produce sulfur products, just from the smell of the "clean" sand before it started drying. Not a good thing, and definitely indicative of my laziness. It's easy to say, "Oh, I did this because I knew it was being broken down anyway...." but is that really fair to the fish that have to live in there? Nope.
The fish store people of mine are pretty good - they gave me store credit (of course), for 50% of the sale value on the fish. The family had a last minute change of heart for a few of the fish in the tank, so my 29g sump is going to be re-converted to a full aquarium, and the ocellaris clown, coral beauty, and the female mandarin will be living in there. The male Mandarin and the McCoscker's have always been slated to bunk with the seahorse in the 37 g. tank...... I worked too hard to find a McCoscker's to just give him up! And yes, before anyone asks: both Mandarins have been weaned on to frozen mysis. Through no effort on my part, I might add.....just time and luck. I'm going to load up on the rockwork in the 29g tank to make sure the CB has plenty of places to hide as well.
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by OceanKid http:///forum/thread/381749/sad-day-is-drawing-near#post_3329142
Is there no other way for you to rearrange your tank in your new apartment? :(
The Deed is Done. And I'm actually glad. To answer your question: yes -- if we get a place where I can safely keep the tank (I'm quite sure I'm going to have to smuggle it in no matter what!), then I am certainly going to set it up again.
In the meantime, the rock can sit in a nice, dark tub with a powerhead to keep some movement in there. Perfect for me, because I never did FULLY get rid of that turf algae. If this doesn't kill it off, nothing short of boiling it will. I'll change out some of the water in the rock tub every couple o' weeks to make sure it's not getting stagnant as well. Shouldn't have much worry about evaporation with a lid on the tub. I know the coralline will die back, but I gotta take the bad with the good. Also, the tank is now practically SPARKLING. It was a chore, but the glass and silicone is back to like-new status. The overflow has a lot of growth on it still...but I never liked the big black bar of a new overflow anyway. I'll probably make something with fiberglass and foam to cover that area for the next time around. Since we'll probably be waiting a few months minimum before we set up, I may have some time to squirrel money away and re-think my lighting options.
And finally, this was the PERFECT excuse to sell the PITA gold stripe maroon clown and the Koran angel. Those two fish were absolute devils, but the rest of the family loved them....never mind that they picked at the peaceful fish, constantly blew sand everywhere (I'm looking at YOU, Clown!) and chewed to pieces any new coral that went into that tank. Ah, well....people get funny about their pets. Why, if someone tried to take my McCoscker's flasher wrasse, I'd poke 'em right in the eye.

So, yeah. It'll go up again in the new place if I can swing it. I figure it will be down for a year at most. That means I have a year to start planning a new stocklist!
 
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