^CelticReefer^
New member
It took 4 people and about 15 hours to get the tank and corals to the new house. It was only a 17 mile trek- thank god.
(10:00am)I used my 55gal breeder frag tank to hold my favorite corals.(LPS and Rics) and all my fish. It was filled about 80% with water from my diplay and 20% fresh made SW. Then I took a shallow(6in) 4x2 plasic tote and filled it with tank water and some powerheads and put the rest of the corals in that. It was packed! Using my syphon I put 10gal of water in each of the 4- 15gal totes I purchased for the move. All my Live Rock was divided up among the 4 totes. Then I scooped out my CC substrate- which was one of the worst smells I have ever experienced. I have about 4inches of CC across the whole tank if it was evened out. I threw out 25% and used 10gal buckets (3 of them) to transport the CC I was keeping.
(2:00pm)The first trip (I was using my fathers new Saturn Vue and my car) We took the 90gal tank, Stand, Hood, and 2 totes of water/LR, and all the buckets of CC. Got to the house, set up and leveled the tank/stand. Then using a large plastic strainer from my work we hosed the old CC subsrate a gallon at a time till the water was pouring out clear. At first the water was coming out BLACK!! It took a few minutes till it was clear. It is unbelievable how much crap etc gets trapped in your subsrate. I vacuumed my CC once sometimes twice a month and it was still sooooooooo dirty.:eek2: Then all the old CC went back in, along with some new CC - about the same amount as I threw out.
(4:00pm)The second trip we took the rest of the totes filled with LR and water and filled the 3 10gal buckets used to move the CC with water out of the 50gal breeder. Got back to the house and put all the clean water from my display back into my display plus about 20gal of fresh made SW. Then we cleaned all my LR. I had 3 totes out on the porch filled with warm fresh water. Every ounce of LR got dunked/shaken repeat-------- and scrubbed before the process began. I had to refill all those tubs about 6 times. All the water was turning black after a few rocks went through. I would like to note that over the years when re- stacking LR I have always removed some and shaken it in a bucket. And I also blow detrius off my LR at least once a month with one of my powerheads. So it's not as if my LR has sat stagnent in my tank for the last 6 years. I just can't get over dirty everything was. Anyways after all the LR was clean it all got crammed into one tote and the 3 10gal buckets with some fresh SW and we went back to get the corals and fish with the other 3 empty totes.
The third trip wasn't fun. Got back to my apartment around 6:30 pm. All the fish were fine, along with all my softies. My clowns had laid eggs 2 days before the move and were happily tending to them in the 50gal. It did take a few hours before they noticed their eggs were in there with them. All my acan echinatas were expelling their insides. Not through their mouths either it was like it was coming out everywhere but their mouths. So I started freakin- I packaged up all my Acans, mycediums, blastos, SPS, echinophyllias,echinoporas and frags of all the above mentioned and sent my wife over to the new house to get them back into the display. She did 17miles in 11 minutes!The rest of us packed the rest of my corals and fish into the remaining totes, took the powerheads etc and made the last trip. We left the Apt a little after 8:00 pm.
So at a little after 8:30 I started stacking my LR after I put the fish and remaining water back into the display. I had totes and buckets and throw rugs all over the livingroom and kitchen. I just had new carpeting installed 3 days before this:rollface: I was stacking rock till around 11pm. Then I didn't finish placing my corals till about 2:30am. I got some underwater epoxy and permenantly placed almost everything. Then I get a call from my wife that my lawnmower blennie is in a 1/2 inch of water in the 50gal at the apt. Which has been without heat or filtration since 6 o'clock. Then I drove all the way back to Alden and got him and put him back in the display. I didn't have the heart to kill him. Have had him for years.
The final result: My tank has NEVER looked better!!!!!
Things I would of done different-
1- I would of spent the 50 bucks and rented a small uhaul. It would of been one trip and I could of ran an extension cord out from the garage to the truck to power heaters/pumps etc. And if water would of spilled it wouldn't of mattered.
2- I would of started at 7am instead of 10am. Finishing before midnight would of made a HUGE difference. I moved all my stuff the next day- got 3 hours of sleep and that move took 9 guys, a 26 foot truck and 10 hours. Then it was back to work the next morning.
3- I would of organized my energy better. I spent the 2 weeks prior to moving gutting a kitchen and bathroom. Getting all new carpets, all new electric- the tank now runs off a dedicated GFI. Painting the entire interior of the house. And installing all new gas lines and plumbing. While still working 50 hours plus a week. I am finally feeling back to normal 2 weeks later, my lower back however is another story.
Overall I am extatic about how the tank looks. It is now easily viewable from the right side, as you can see in the pictures below. Which gives me another 18 inches to use as a diplay. When you walk out of my kitchen you see the right side face on. Which is full of rics/yumas and regular shrooms - Looks killer! The remaing small patches of hair algea are quickly dying off!
I am having a small outbreak of diatoms and cyano- for now it's very small. Figured it is due to the rinsing of the CC with cold FW and the 10+ Lbs of new CC I added. I have alot of flow so hopefully after a few waterchanges it goes away, if not I'm breaking out the chemi-clean. My skimmer pulled out about 6 cups of crap the first week and has since returned to normal. I am still running carbon and phosphate remover and will continue to do so for a while longer.
Most important thing- EVERYTHING SURVIVED!!! Every fish and coral. Every crab and star. Even the clown fish eggs made it and hatched a week +/- after the move.
This has to be the longest post I've ever wrote
Hopefully some of this will help someone who has to move their reef in the future.
Brian
(10:00am)I used my 55gal breeder frag tank to hold my favorite corals.(LPS and Rics) and all my fish. It was filled about 80% with water from my diplay and 20% fresh made SW. Then I took a shallow(6in) 4x2 plasic tote and filled it with tank water and some powerheads and put the rest of the corals in that. It was packed! Using my syphon I put 10gal of water in each of the 4- 15gal totes I purchased for the move. All my Live Rock was divided up among the 4 totes. Then I scooped out my CC substrate- which was one of the worst smells I have ever experienced. I have about 4inches of CC across the whole tank if it was evened out. I threw out 25% and used 10gal buckets (3 of them) to transport the CC I was keeping.
(2:00pm)The first trip (I was using my fathers new Saturn Vue and my car) We took the 90gal tank, Stand, Hood, and 2 totes of water/LR, and all the buckets of CC. Got to the house, set up and leveled the tank/stand. Then using a large plastic strainer from my work we hosed the old CC subsrate a gallon at a time till the water was pouring out clear. At first the water was coming out BLACK!! It took a few minutes till it was clear. It is unbelievable how much crap etc gets trapped in your subsrate. I vacuumed my CC once sometimes twice a month and it was still sooooooooo dirty.:eek2: Then all the old CC went back in, along with some new CC - about the same amount as I threw out.
(4:00pm)The second trip we took the rest of the totes filled with LR and water and filled the 3 10gal buckets used to move the CC with water out of the 50gal breeder. Got back to the house and put all the clean water from my display back into my display plus about 20gal of fresh made SW. Then we cleaned all my LR. I had 3 totes out on the porch filled with warm fresh water. Every ounce of LR got dunked/shaken repeat-------- and scrubbed before the process began. I had to refill all those tubs about 6 times. All the water was turning black after a few rocks went through. I would like to note that over the years when re- stacking LR I have always removed some and shaken it in a bucket. And I also blow detrius off my LR at least once a month with one of my powerheads. So it's not as if my LR has sat stagnent in my tank for the last 6 years. I just can't get over dirty everything was. Anyways after all the LR was clean it all got crammed into one tote and the 3 10gal buckets with some fresh SW and we went back to get the corals and fish with the other 3 empty totes.
The third trip wasn't fun. Got back to my apartment around 6:30 pm. All the fish were fine, along with all my softies. My clowns had laid eggs 2 days before the move and were happily tending to them in the 50gal. It did take a few hours before they noticed their eggs were in there with them. All my acan echinatas were expelling their insides. Not through their mouths either it was like it was coming out everywhere but their mouths. So I started freakin- I packaged up all my Acans, mycediums, blastos, SPS, echinophyllias,echinoporas and frags of all the above mentioned and sent my wife over to the new house to get them back into the display. She did 17miles in 11 minutes!The rest of us packed the rest of my corals and fish into the remaining totes, took the powerheads etc and made the last trip. We left the Apt a little after 8:00 pm.
So at a little after 8:30 I started stacking my LR after I put the fish and remaining water back into the display. I had totes and buckets and throw rugs all over the livingroom and kitchen. I just had new carpeting installed 3 days before this:rollface: I was stacking rock till around 11pm. Then I didn't finish placing my corals till about 2:30am. I got some underwater epoxy and permenantly placed almost everything. Then I get a call from my wife that my lawnmower blennie is in a 1/2 inch of water in the 50gal at the apt. Which has been without heat or filtration since 6 o'clock. Then I drove all the way back to Alden and got him and put him back in the display. I didn't have the heart to kill him. Have had him for years.
The final result: My tank has NEVER looked better!!!!!
Things I would of done different-
1- I would of spent the 50 bucks and rented a small uhaul. It would of been one trip and I could of ran an extension cord out from the garage to the truck to power heaters/pumps etc. And if water would of spilled it wouldn't of mattered.
2- I would of started at 7am instead of 10am. Finishing before midnight would of made a HUGE difference. I moved all my stuff the next day- got 3 hours of sleep and that move took 9 guys, a 26 foot truck and 10 hours. Then it was back to work the next morning.
3- I would of organized my energy better. I spent the 2 weeks prior to moving gutting a kitchen and bathroom. Getting all new carpets, all new electric- the tank now runs off a dedicated GFI. Painting the entire interior of the house. And installing all new gas lines and plumbing. While still working 50 hours plus a week. I am finally feeling back to normal 2 weeks later, my lower back however is another story.
Overall I am extatic about how the tank looks. It is now easily viewable from the right side, as you can see in the pictures below. Which gives me another 18 inches to use as a diplay. When you walk out of my kitchen you see the right side face on. Which is full of rics/yumas and regular shrooms - Looks killer! The remaing small patches of hair algea are quickly dying off!
I am having a small outbreak of diatoms and cyano- for now it's very small. Figured it is due to the rinsing of the CC with cold FW and the 10+ Lbs of new CC I added. I have alot of flow so hopefully after a few waterchanges it goes away, if not I'm breaking out the chemi-clean. My skimmer pulled out about 6 cups of crap the first week and has since returned to normal. I am still running carbon and phosphate remover and will continue to do so for a while longer.
Most important thing- EVERYTHING SURVIVED!!! Every fish and coral. Every crab and star. Even the clown fish eggs made it and hatched a week +/- after the move.
This has to be the longest post I've ever wrote
Hopefully some of this will help someone who has to move their reef in the future.
Brian
