My wife and I shut down our 75 gallon Oceanic reef aquarium roughly nine years ago, after having it up and running for a period of about five or six years.
In 2007 we purchased our first home (in France) and the following year our son was born. At the time, we both had very demanding but transient jobs in academia. In 2010 we accepted permanent jobs in South Africa, but kept the house in France when we moved down to the Southern Hemisphere. Our aquarium was broken down and moved into the garage for storage while we rented out our house in France. The live rock and some sand were also placed in the garage, sealed up with saltwater in a series of five gallon buckets.
Fast-forward nearly a decade and our son is now 11 years old. Our job situation improved, and we moved from South Africa to the UK (purchasing a second home there). We still have our house in France, but will now move the 75 gallon aquarium to the house in the UK and get it back up and running.
After having been out of the hobby for nine years, I've come to learn a few things:
o Oceanic, who built our tank, are out of business(?)
o AquaC Skimmers also seem to be out of business(?)
o A H Supply, who always sold us our lighting, also appear to be out of business
Finally, after nine years in the garage in France, I wonder what our live rock looks like... I've not opened the buckets yet! I'm sure the coraline is gone... but perhaps some bacteria is still alive.
In 2007 we purchased our first home (in France) and the following year our son was born. At the time, we both had very demanding but transient jobs in academia. In 2010 we accepted permanent jobs in South Africa, but kept the house in France when we moved down to the Southern Hemisphere. Our aquarium was broken down and moved into the garage for storage while we rented out our house in France. The live rock and some sand were also placed in the garage, sealed up with saltwater in a series of five gallon buckets.
Fast-forward nearly a decade and our son is now 11 years old. Our job situation improved, and we moved from South Africa to the UK (purchasing a second home there). We still have our house in France, but will now move the 75 gallon aquarium to the house in the UK and get it back up and running.
After having been out of the hobby for nine years, I've come to learn a few things:
o Oceanic, who built our tank, are out of business(?)
o AquaC Skimmers also seem to be out of business(?)
o A H Supply, who always sold us our lighting, also appear to be out of business
Finally, after nine years in the garage in France, I wonder what our live rock looks like... I've not opened the buckets yet! I'm sure the coraline is gone... but perhaps some bacteria is still alive.
