375 g Reef/ 600 g System stuffed in my office

I was sitting here today with lease for the new space before me marking up the legalese and fretting about some hard decisions I'll have to make regarding my tank(s).

I am, at this point, very sceptical that I can get the tank into my office in one piece.

I've been looking back at my August 2006 start up of my 120, and I don't want to repeat that hasty move again. I spent over a year correcting the issues and redoing the set up. And, I am very, very pleased with my 120 today, in fact, except for the never completed canopy, it looks awesome right now, but to go through that again in a large system is not appealing to me in the least. Not to mention, I do not want to put my critters through the stress either.

I am leaning toward, setting up temporay fish and coral holding tanks, completing my planned repairs to the 375 tank and stand, and , moving it over to the new building. Then, after the dust of the move settles, I can take my time and assess ways to move it into my office. I do not want to keep this beautiful tank in an entrance way and I've ruled that out.

If I just can't get it in, I can always sell the 375 and get a 4 or 6' x 36" deep tank that will easily fit in the office. As cool as that would be, that would be a bummer, as I really want to run this 8' tank!

On a down note, a little over a week ago, my convict just stopped coming out. I finally found him dead behind the rocks in the fuge. I really have no idea what happened, he was to the point where he'd eat buritos right out of my hand and then the next day, gone! He was getting pretty fat too!
 
Ed

He was through QT and living in my fuge to fatten him up so a little over two months. I am thinking an internal parasite maybe?
 
I'm thinking ya needed to crush up some Gas X to feed him after he chowed down on those buritos......Sorry to hear about your loss.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15020854#post15020854 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bax
Ed

He was through QT and living in my fuge to fatten him up so a little over two months. I am thinking an internal parasite maybe?
Click to expand...


Possible or simply a cyanide victim?? :eek1:


Over her the convict I see are usually from the Phillipines and skinny somehow. A couple of friends tried but no matter what they do, they never seem to last over 2 months??
 
As much as I like them, I may not try another.


We'll see, despite being terribly shy this last one developed a great personality and I think, over time, would have made a great fish in the reef. The tenneti, on the other hand is doing just great!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15020944#post15020944 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jhardain
I'm thinking ya needed to crush up some Gas X to feed him after he chowed down on those buritos......Sorry to hear about your loss.
Click to expand...

I'll add that to my QT regimen! :lol:
 
Here's one of two cracked cross braces I need to fix. They cracked after the PO laid the lit MHs on then. He fixed em then did it again, ... that's reefing I suppose? Then there's some sub bracing that needs to be replaced, so I 've got work to do.

brokenbrace.jpg


This is one of the seems the PO re did, I think there was a miss measurment as there's a 1/2" gap filled with silicone, it will be replaced.

badsilicone.jpg


Here's the tank with the brace removed, not as hard as I thought it would be. One more to remove.
removedbrace.jpg


I'll have to get 1/2" glass cut for the braces, I have 3/8" glass for the sub braces. I'd like to get then set in place to cure before the move.
 
The move is underway!We are moving all of the shop stuff & equipment first. This weekend I'll be setting up some holding tanks and moving the live rock bin over.

Monday we move the offices and then it's on to all my fish gear!

I'll probably move the livestock on Tuesday and then tear down the 120. That'll be a hard day even with the new possibilities ahead. I have really enjoyed this tank even with all of the low points over these three years it has been up.

Once everyone is settled into holding systems, we get the new place cleaned up and all the gear stowed away, and the dust has settled from the move, I'll focus on trying to move the 375 into the office space. I still think it a 50/50 chance that I won't get it in there. I'll post some pics to explain my dilemma better. Both the 8' length and the 30 x 30 dims are giving me nightmares! And, the stand is a tighter fit yet! At least I can partially disassemble that!
 
Come on Bax I know you can make it fit. There is just to many possibilities with your 375. I cant wait to see what you cna do with that size tank. Good Luck..
 
Thanks Sandy & Eric

I sure am going to give it a good shot to get this beast in play.

I am way behind schedule tank wise already. I took a mean spill Friday night in my shop while in a hurry to move stuff and cracked a my ribs on a drill rig. FYI, when driller meets drill rig in a collision of any kind, the rig always wins. It hurts to breath.

We moved a ton of stuff yesterday and the last load was the 100 g frag tank, a 90 g that will be a fuge and the 100 g sump. these tanks will hold fish and corals while I wrestle with the 375 issue. I'd hoped to have them running by now, but I'd also planned to be making water nonstop from Friday night on, I only started today, in light of that whole difficult breathing thing, so I need another 75 g before I can move water around and get them up and running.

I am also eager to move the 150 rock tub over so I can tie it into to these and begin seeding the LR. It's been curing for months now and looks great! But, I have not done a WC on the tub in awhile and the PO4 is through the roof! So, I'll have to move it and do a bunch of WCs before tieing it to the 100/90 set up.

My thought at the moment, is that the tub will become a huge LR cryptic fuge in the final set up. Tieing these all together in what will be their final positions and running it all for while will allow me to age everything and deal with all the background & start up issues before I even start the display. In the long run, I think it's a good way to go.

I've been packing all morning, I need a bag of ice for the ribs and a cold one!
 
Thanks for the kind thoughts everyone.

I am doing everything I can to take it easy, but there is much to do and if I don't keep everyone focused things seem to run a drift quickly.

I had really thought when I picked up the 375 that I'd have the luxury of setting up several holding tanks at my old shop, transferring live stock to those over time and being very methodical with the whole upgrade.

.... But of course, this is reality, this office move is here, and I am now doing my best to make a set up for holding that will become permanent fixtures in the final system to the extent I can.

I am fortunate, in that all the critters really look good and are in the best of health to withstand what will be a pretty traumatic event. I am most concerned for my SPS moving into what will be a very green system, no matter how much aged system water and LR I am able to bring over in good clean shape.

I've pretty much decided the the holding systems will get all the rock from my fuge which is very clean and well established. The rock from my display will go into the tub for temporary isolation with the cured rock. That way I can clean up the PO4 and seed the LR at the same time. When things look better there I can tie it into the holding tanks. Fortunately, among all my "extra" equipment are a couple of good skimmers.

After taking a bunch of measurements and scratching my head a lot, I've decided to use the 75 as the fuge and forego the 90, it'll just give me a couple of inches extra in the equipment space and , I already have stand for the 75 so I wont have to whip one up in my "spare" time (big plus!) and my Ca RX, Kalk mixer and CO2 can all fit under it in floor space I was already using for these components. The 100 g frag will sit where the the 90 was going to and that'll get the frag tank out of my office, which is OK. I may still set the 90 up as a really temporay holding tank if I need the room.

My wife is after me to abandone the office reef and set up a 120 at the house. As much as I would love a kick'n 120 in my family room, this is my best chance at a large system that I've been iching for. So I am leaning toward scratch that itch first and setting up a 120 at home later .... but that's just me! :D
 
WOW, that is a tough decision. I hate to ask, but are you able "or" willing to have a tank at home and the office????
I hope you wife doesn't hate me for that question :lol:
 
Sandy

She really wants me to do just one tank. But I have to admit, I've had a reef in my office for nearly five years now, I had one at home, and a small one at that for less then two, It is GREAT not having to really sweat a little water on the floor here and there as I did at home. Or if it used and maybe a little bruised equipment. Or noise from equipment. Or a little heat and humidity on bad days. Or .... what ever?

It's not a big decision, I am setting one up at the office first one way or the other as I am just not ready for the caliber of tank I want for my home. If I set one up at home, it'll be more of a fish tank for my clowns & nem and clams with lower light corals under T-5 so I can shoot for chillerless with a simple sump, BIG skimming and balling method of Alk & Ca maintenance. Maybe even open top! I am not comfortable with any of that in the big system for SPS.

.... and I NEED a BIG system FULL of SPS! :D
 
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