Need to experienced reefer to help set up this Sunday.

It will be a HUGE project, but you will enjoy the fruits of your labor if done slowly and right.

The key is provide as close as you can to stress free environment to fish and coral in containers. temp. shouldn't be a problem, but be ready to have to keep stuff in containers for longer than expected (heaters, pumps, etc).

The important thing is once you get hardware there, you don't rush through putting it up just for fish/corals sake. Check, double check, triple check building it. Start a check list now, go over it over and over. This will be a nice reference for you later, especially if you get stressed.

Last piece of advice for you; soak your breakfast in garlic, this will help enhance your general health for this stressful procedure. NO study can prove this, but believing in it alone will serve as a huge moral boost.
 
I really like reef rescue's idea of having another tank ready, just in case. Very generous of him. At first you don't need to be so careful to get rocks and corals and everything in the same spot. It can be more generally the same later.
I would have the other tank setup. Move coral and water to it asap. Get temp to normal with some flow. Then turn all attention to setting up new tank where you want and all. Put rock in the containers with some flow and keep temps in check if possible, at least room temp. The main goal is to not let them "die" and don't move them dry. After you can acclimate coral to new tank. As I said before, get new sand if you want sand. BB here.
I would have a lot more 5 gal buckets to move coral and rock, like 20 with lids. 10g buckets are a pita to move. One gallon of water wieghs eight pounds.
I might be able to help this Sunday not sure what's up yet though.
 
MxReEfEr92 said:
I would love to help you with questions you may have but I would rather answer a question you could understand rather than try teaching calculus to a pre algebra student.
Click to expand...
Cory bringing the calculus smack :lol:

You are getting great advice here. I would take your guesstimates on time and add some to it. I'd also make the effort to find out the size of bulkheads prior and if OSH or PTF carries the size you would need. Also easier to buy early and return them if you didn't use them.

If Greg is offering his help and anyone else I'd take it. The more help, wisdom and experience the better for you. Good luck with the move. The only foreseeable problem I see is that the tank you are buying is fully stocked with coral leaving very little space for you to add to it. You will want to buy coral very very soon so I look forward to your upcoming corals for sale thread or your upcoming build thread for your next new tank :)
 
Good luck! I agree, getting your hands wet is the best way to learn! Can't wait for the updates!
 
not to be a downer, but man... i expect none of the hardcorals to make it....

really should be taking it one step at a time...

just setting up the tank will take him a few days... yes days... everything that can go wrong will go wrong... most of the plumbing may need to be redone... the bulkheads, he should get new ones...

the corals are the ones to suffer... if another member here can house those corals for a month that would be great...
 
xdestry said:
Also thanks for bringing up the point about the leaking, I am going to ask the owner tomorrow the size for the plumbing and bulkheads, and make sure I either have the bulkheads I might need on hand or that osh or a store near me carries them so I can head over and buy them if I do find them leaking.
Click to expand...

you don't even know where to buy bulkheads from... scary...

the best place in pasadena is PTF. ask for steve... he should have everything you need. Any plumbing and parts, he should have other than PVC. He has the salt water as well in case of emergency.
 
I did the same thing Last January. The tank I got was a little bigger, it was 63 x 32 x 24. Took 6 of us to move it but that was the easy part. One thing that saved lots of time and work was a pump with a LONG hose and 2 55 gal drums and 2 trash cans. I also rented a U-haul truck with a ramp. I strapped the drums to the side of the truck and ran the pump from the tank to the truck and drained most of the water straight to the drums in the truck. Water is heavy and I don't think we could have lifted a full trash can up to the truck.
Moving dollies, these came in handy to save our backs from lifting everything. I would place a plastic tote on the moving dollies and place the base rock in it wet a rag to keep the rock wet and push it to the truck instead of carrying it. Then transfer the rock to the trash cans with some water inside the truck.
The tank I got also did not have any SPS and only had a few zoa's and LPS but it did have 15 fish or so and a green carpet nem. I did not finish in 1 day.
Overall it was hard work and a lot more than I thought but in the end it worked out and was well worth it.
Good luck and take pictures for reference and for you to have for good or bad memories.
 
You all set for the big day?
I was just looking at the other thread you started and saw that there's a bio-pellet reactor running. Once you unplug it and it sits for a while there could be a build up of dead bacteria in there so if it were me I'd start with all new pellets and maybe some bacteria additive to jumpstart it. Or at least rinse it well [flush it] with saltwater before putting it back online.
The list says two Apex controllers- why two? And speaking of the Apex- have you got the configuration back-up file from the current owner? I didn't read thru the whole thread so maybe you already know this but it's best to have the controller connected directly to your router to get things going. I leave mine hard-wired and it probably saves some headaches. The controller can be a tricky thing to master so that's worth studying [heavily] before hand.
Anyhow- give a holler if you want some more help- I may be out that way anyways.

ps- my bubble tip anemone split today :)
 
Just green- but thanks. I thought it was stressed because I changed lights a few weeks ago but it was just splitting. Happened real quick too.
 
i gave all the livestock to another reefer here for safe keeping! i think everything is still alive at the moment :)
 
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