New Reefer.... Sort of!

[plopezmd]

Huge change of plans!

I found an amazing, complete 75 gallon setup that a guy is selling for 600 bucks because he was pushed in to early retirement and he wants to travel with his wife.

So, guess I'm jumping into this with both feet.

He is willing to help me move it and we are going to conserve 50 gallons of his water, transport the fish in buckets, and then setup both the RO system and tank when we get back to my house.

Big concerns and questions I have:

• Do I need to keep the live rock wet?
• After we get to my house and I put a heater and air stone in the bucket with the fish... how long can they stay there?
• after I get the RO running and working I'll have to wait for it to produce at least 50 gallons, and then I assume mix with salt (tank plus 33 gallon sump), so the fish should just stay in the 5 gallon buckets during that time??
• What else am I missing or not thinking of?

Thank you so much in advance for your help

Hello and welcome to R2R!

I would suggest the following for when you move/establish the tank and inhabitants:

1. It is highly advisable to keep the live rock wet to prevent die-off from transport. This is assuming that there are no undesirable pests within the rock (aiptasia, bubble and/or excessive hair algae, etc.) If you can, place the rock (without the sand) in buckets with the tank water while transporting.

2. The fish will be fine for a few days as long as they have some water flow and oxygenation. I have not used air stones when transporting or keeping fish in buckets for 3-4 days while moving and then setting up a tank. The important thing to do is feed minimally during this time, and change 1g of water daily from the buckets until you place them in the tank again.

3. You will need more than 50g gallons of RO/DI water for the moving project. This is because you will want to transfer as little water as possible from the old tank setup, and you will also need to do WC while your fish are in buckets. SW aquarium transfers are a bit different than FW. You want to begin with freshly made water for your tank, so as to have baseline of water parameters without contaminants. Be ready to expect the possibility of a small tank cycle after the transfer is complete.

4. Regarding the sand, if you plan on using the sand from the old location in the new location, then take it out of the tank and completely rinse it in clean water to remove any detritus and/or trapped matter. The sand can also transfer unwanted pests, if not cleaned.

5. Clean the tank and all of the equipment (pumps, skimmer, filters, etc.) with some distilled white vinegar diluted in water prior to setting up the tank in the new location. This will also minimize the transfer of unwanted pests and contaminants. Make sure to use clean water (some of the RO/DI water) for this, as tap water can very likely make things worse from the gate, depending on where you live and the quality of it. Also, your skimmer may take a couple of days to settle in after being cleaned. You do not have to wait for the skimmer to settle before placing the fish in the tank.

6. I will let others chime in on the transfer of corals, as I am still learning about them.

If you have any more questions, let us know!

 

[fishface NJ]

Cool that you found a complete system Good luck! Post as you put it together.

 

[Seanybaggs123]

Cool that you found a complete system Good luck! Post as you put it together.

I definitely will! Should have it close to up and running Sunday. Definitely by Monday.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Huge change of plans!

I found an amazing, complete 75 gallon setup that a guy is selling for 600 bucks because he was pushed in to early retirement and he wants to travel with his wife.

So, guess I'm jumping into this with both feet.

He is willing to help me move it and we are going to conserve 50 gallons of his water, transport the fish in buckets, and then setup both the RO system and tank when we get back to my house.

Big concerns and questions I have:

• Do I need to keep the live rock wet?
• After we get to my house and I put a heater and air stone in the bucket with the fish... how long can they stay there?
• after I get the RO running and working I'll have to wait for it to produce at least 50 gallons, and then I assume mix with salt (tank plus 33 gallon sump), so the fish should just stay in the 5 gallon buckets during that time??
• What else am I missing or not thinking of?

Thank you so much in advance for your help

Big concerns and questions I have:

• Do I need to keep the live rock wet? Yes. This is where tubs or buckets are of value
• After we get to my house and I put a heater and air stone in the bucket with the fish... how long can they stay there? As long as temp is good and they have oxygen- 12-24 hours before need to monitor water
• after I get the RO running and working I'll have to wait for it to produce at least 50 gallons, and then I assume mix with salt (tank plus 33 gallon sump), so the fish should just stay in the 5 gallon buckets during that time?? Yes. Produce water first then mix and test salinity to desired specific gravity
• What else am I missing or not thinking of? Established water is good but use half of it and the rest New. , , and the fact you have help goes a long way from original owner who likely knows the setup well. Try to set back up within 4 hours to keep bacteria in sand bed alive. Use liquid bacteria such as Dr.Tims or Bacter 7, even Fritz turbo zyme to keep the culture healthy. Add ChemiPure Blue also to sump

 

[Seanybaggs123]

Big concerns and questions I have:

• Do I need to keep the live rock wet? Yes. This is where tubs or buckets are of value
• After we get to my house and I put a heater and air stone in the bucket with the fish... how long can they stay there? As long as temp is good and they have oxygen- 12-24 hours before need to monitor water
• after I get the RO running and working I'll have to wait for it to produce at least 50 gallons, and then I assume mix with salt (tank plus 33 gallon sump), so the fish should just stay in the 5 gallon buckets during that time?? Yes. Produce water first then mix and test salinity to desired specific gravity
• What else am I missing or not thinking of? Established water is good but use half of it and the rest New. , , and the fact you have help goes a long way from original owner who likely knows the setup well. Try to set back up within 4 hours to keep bacteria in sand bed alive. Use liquid bacteria such as Dr.Tims or Bacter 7, even Fritz turbo zyme to keep the culture healthy. Add ChemiPure Blue also to sump

Thank you!

I'm thinking about selling the Angel and the Purple Tang to the LFS that day. I think a 75 is too small for a tang (though I'm not sure). I'm more interested in the reef side of things and don't want the angel to eat it. Also, they probably have a better shot that way...

Should I just buy saltwater at the LFS to make up for what I don't have in case the RODI system takes longer than I expect?

That would leave me with just an ocellaris clown, 2 bicolor chromis, and a tiger pistol shrimp to manage during setup....

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you!

I'm thinking about selling the Angel and the Purple Tang to the LFS that day. I think a 75 is too small for a tang (though I'm not sure). I'm more interested in the reef side of things and don't want the angel to eat it. Also, they probably have a better shot that way...

Should I just buy saltwater at the LFS to make up for what I don't have in case the RODI system takes longer than I expect?

That would leave me with just an ocellaris clown, 2 bicolor chromis, and a tiger pistol shrimp to manage during setup....

It would be expensive but you can. What type of angel??
Im in WI. I would take the tang, no doubt

 

[Seanybaggs123]

It would be expensive but you can. What type of angel??
Im in WI. I would take the tang, no doubt

Are you busy Sunday? Feel like driving to Cleveland? Haha semi serious, but I feel like keeping the tang is the equivalent of keeping an oscar in a 55 gallon tank until he gets too big. I'm not okay with it and I don't want to get attached. I'm not 100% sure on the angel

 

[vetteguy53081]

Im on call this coming weekend as I do so 2X per month. I have a 2 hr window, Ohio for me is only 5 hours.

 

[Seanybaggs123]

Im on call this coming weekend as I do so 2X per month. I have a 2 hr window, Ohio for me is only 5 hours.

I mean I'll hold her for you if you're serious, pm me with what details you have in mind and an offer

 

[Seanybaggs123]

So,

I have decided to just make an entire weekend out of this and go get the RODI system and 55 gallon holding tank Friday, in hopes of having enough saltwater mixed and stored, between buckets and the holding tank, to fill the tank (75 gallon tank/33gallon sump) after setting it up Sunday morning.

My only questions are:

• My Basement stays around 65 degrees. Should I run the tank longer than 6 hours before acclimating the fish or use a thermometer instead of relying on a set amount of time?
• Can I mix a 55 gallon batch of saltwater and transfer it to 5 gallon buckets for storage on Saturday for use Sunday?

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

I would get the cheap heaters at walmart to put in with the fish in the buckets. Salinity changes with temperature. I would also go ahead and heat your RODI/saltwater to help the process go a little faster. You can store the water in 5 gallon buckets.

 

[Seanybaggs123]

I would get the cheap heaters at walmart to put in with the fish in the buckets. Salinity changes with temperature. I would also go ahead and heat your RODI/saltwater to help the process go a little faster. You can store the water in 5 gallon buckets.

Thank you!

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

Welcome

 

[Seanybaggs123]

Welcome

Thank you!

 

[Seanybaggs123]

Welp... For better or worse... I'm officially salty!

I sold the 135 posted earlier in this thread because I found a full setup for 600 bucks...
After a long day of anxiety moving someone else's reef tank (and listening to gobbs of inaccurate advice, up to and including "we should feed the fish for the trip to calm them down"). I have her setup.

The tank came with a purple tang, reef safe angel (forget the name), 2 dottybacks (one royal, one orchid), a bangai cardinal, an oscellaris clown, one turbo snail, and one cleaner shrimp.

I decided a lot of these fish were too big for a 75, and that the wall of live rock he had never gave access to clean the sand bed or the back wall. Nitrates tested at 90.

So, in order to allow myself time to get things tuned and make water for changes.... I traded them in for store credit and agreed with the salesperson on a mated pair of oscellaris clowns, a lawn mower blenny, and a frogspawn frag.

I also removed some of the live rock so that it could actually be scaped (before and after pictured).

I set up a 4 stage RO system in the basement (roughed in, waiting on float valves and an auto shut off)

The plan for this week is to get the skimmer doing it's thing, and to do at least 2 large water changes in an attempt to get nutrients down and get the fish on Sunday.

Any advice on mounting a mushroom coral that has no frag would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Murica]

Welcome!!

 

[Rick Mathew]

Hey All,

I have decided to go off the deep end and switch from freshwater to saltwater.
I am in the process of selling my FW planted tanks and their stock.

I bought a 135 gallon tank with a hood and stand last night, and plan to drill holes for an eclipse-L overflow as soon as I have the overflow.
From there, I'm considering the following equipment:
AquaC EV 180 Skimmer
DIY Sump
Chaeto for the fuge
Braided line plumbing (maybe hard, not sure)
Hydor Koralia circ pumps
aquaculture dry rock
Live sand
Maybe a UV sterilizer
BRS 5 stage RODI

And lighting is currently making my head spin. Have considered everything from Mars Aqua 165W black boxes to 4 Kessil A360W Tuna Blues haha (feel free to chime in).


Needless to say this will be a sloowwww and carefully planned build that will work towards having a successful reef with LPS and softies and moderate stocking.

I mainly joined this forum to scope out used equipment as it gets posted, but will have curiosities I'm sure!

Thanks for having me!

Welcome to the R2R Family…Great to have you

…Explore…Learn…Share

 

[Seanybaggs123]

Can anyone tell me what kind of skimmer is pictured in my setup?

 

[Seanybaggs123]

So a little bit of an update. A LOT has happened since I started this journey. I lost a clown, that I shouldn't have bought in the first place, had sky high nitrates because I let the seller transport the rock dry against my better judgement, discovered vermitid snails, fell in love with my refugium, and now have near perfect water parameters.

Inhabitants include:
1 Lawnmower Blenny
1 Amphiprion Ocellaris
1 tuxedo urchin
1 skunk cleaner shrimp
1 Emerald Crab
Various snails.

Also last weekend I picked up 10 frags for 100 dollars!
They Included:
3 Palythoas of which I don't know the designer name
Rastafarian zoa's
some bright pink/dark purple zoa variation
dragons eye zoas
another zoa I don't know the name of
Neon green sinularia
Red Montipora
Hollywood Stunner Chalice.

Pics attached!

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Looks like things are going well! Welcome!