Newbie buying a complete 90 gallon setup - in over my head! Need help

[xdestry]

Hi guys, I have been looking into getting in the hobby recently and have come across an opportunity to get a complete 90 gallon system for a pretty good deal. Here's the specs

2 Apex Control Systems with wireless controller, 3 power bars, lab probes
JBJ Chiller x 2
Ecotech Vortex MP40's x2
Ecotech Radions G2 x2
Custom Sump
Bio-Pellet Reactor
Dosing Pumps x4
Media Reactor x1
Auto Top Off System Tunze
RO System
LOT'S of Extra Stuff

Purple Tang
Clownfish x2
Tail Spot Blenny
Royal Gramma

Bubble Coral
Zoa Garden
Torch Coral
Xenia
Clam
Plate Coral and much more...

All this for 3000 I think is a pretty good deal right? I have some questions about moving it however, i don't even know where to begin really.

First off do I need to keep the aquarium water? I don't know whether I will have enough room in the car for all 90 gallons, how much is the minimum amount I should be taking?

Second how am I supposed to move the liverock with all the corals attached? Do I need to cut the corals off or just take each live rock piece and put it in its own container? Also does the live rock and corals need to be submerged in water during the trip or not?

I only live an hour away from the pickup, is this time short enough to just put the fish in a container during the breakdown and transport (i would guess 3 hours around) or do I need a air pump for that amount of time?

I do not have a quarantine tank at home for the fish, I am afraid that moving everything will cause a huge ammonia spike, am I better off trying to ask a LFS to take care of the fish for a few days while the tank is set up and the parameters stable, or am I okay throwing everythign right back in?

I really want to give the sump and all the parts a good clean before I set it up again so I really don't know what I will do with the livestock and corals, what do you guys suggest? If possible I will ask my lfs maybe they have extra room I can leave the liverock , corals, and fish there for maybe a week or so. That I think would be the best case scenario, and give me time to learn how th etank works and get the parameters stable. I have never had a reef tank before so I think i will be really in over my head here, but this is such a good deal for a setup I don't really want to pass it up.

What are these white squigglies inside the sump?

Would you guys recommend against cleaning it? I know that might destroy all the good bacteria and stuff inside, but I really want it as clean as possible to start with.

Are there any other things I should watch out for? I think I will be picking up this tank next sunday or so so I have some time to read up about the dosing and all that. What are the most important things I need to know to get the tank running smoothly during the first few weeks?

I will keep this thread updated with any questions and problems I might run into, I would greatly appreciate any help you guys can provide. Thanks so much for reading!

 

[whosurcaddie]

Wow that's an amazing deal!!!!!! There's more than 3000 in just the lighting, power heads and apex.

You can keep a little of the water but you can start off with all new water you just have to be sure its temp matched and the cal alk and mag levels are in they're acceptable ranges I would try to match the existing water as closely as possible.

You can keep the corals attached I would use rubbermaid tubs for this and yes they should be submerged.

The fish will be fine for 3 hours.

There is a definite possibility for an ammonia spike but an established tank like this shouldn't have a problem. You could set up a quarantine in a Rubbermaid container for the fish if your worried about it. You can mount filter equipment heater any thing you need right on the side of the container. should be the rugged kind not the clear plastic ones.

I f you can find a fish store that will hold the stuff for you I think it would be a good idea while you get the parameters in check.

The white things in the sump are tube worms. They are filter feeders and they are beneficial to the tank. Really all the sump would need is a good vacuuming.

Congratulations on finding such a steal. Please keep us updated.

 

[Dapg8gt]

Don't clean it maybe replace the sand in the tank. I personally would try to keep the sump alive but remove any built up crap but try to save the micro life with wet paper towels ..

There's a few threads on rc with directions showing how to properly move a tank I'd look into that..

That's a decent deal on the tank for sure about what it's worth parted out by the looks of it . I'd make sure you keep the rock submerged the entire time to help with the cycle. Make sure before you move it you have more fresh mixed saltwater on hand then you think you will need already mixed for at least 24hours and heated to temp to make the swap easier . it's not going to be easy but you will be ahead of the game with a fully established tank.

 

[xdestry]

Wow that's an amazing deal!!!!!! There's more than 3000 in just the lighting, power heads and apex.

You can keep a little of the water but you can start off with all new water you just have to be sure its temp matched and the cal alk and mag levels are in they're acceptable ranges I would try to match the existing water as closely as possible.

You can keep the corals attached I would use rubbermaid tubs for this and yes they should be submerged.

The fish will be fine for 3 hours.

There is a definite possibility for an ammonia spike but an established tank like this shouldn't have a problem. You could set up a quarantine in a Rubbermaid container for the fish if your worried about it. You can mount filter equipment heater any thing you need right on the side of the container. should be the rugged kind not the clear plastic ones.

I f you can find a fish store that will hold the stuff for you I think it would be a good idea while you get the parameters in check.

The white things in the sump are tube worms. They are filter feeders and they are beneficial to the tank. Really all the sump would need is a good vacuuming.

Congratulations on finding such a steal. Please keep us updated.

thanks! I am exciting to finally be a tank owner hopefully the lfs will hold the stuff for me for a while so i can get the hang of all the equipment and how everything works. how does the bioload look so far, could i possibly add a few more fish in the future?

 

[ReefingWerewolf]

Simply beautiful setup. Nice find!

 

[ReefingWerewolf]

Im kina jealous, cant stop looking at those pick's, lol

 

[Nina51]

nice find! i would be leery of having an lfs hold fish. chances are their tanks all run on the same system and if there is any disease in that system, your fish will pick it up. if you have somebody knowledgeable who can help you, you should be able to add the fish back in fairly soon.

lots of nice pieces in the tank but i especially LOVE the monti!!

 

[xdestry]

nice find! i would be leery of having an lfs hold fish. chances are their tanks all run on the same system and if there is any disease in that system, your fish will pick it up. if you have somebody knowledgeable who can help you, you should be able to add the fish back in fairly soon.

lots of nice pieces in the tank but i especially LOVE the monti!!

unfortunately i don't know anybody else with a reef tank, i gues ill have to trust the lfs most likely. i dont know if i will be able to get the tank set up and cleaned in one day but maybe i will just buy a big rubbermaid tub and put a heater and pump in there. what else would i need to keep them in the tub for 2-3 days?

 

[JMorris271]

You could do a trade with the LFS. Let them have the tang in exchange for boarding. Your tank is a tad too small for it to prosper. Maybe on the line.
Bravo on your purchase.

 

[ReefingWerewolf]

I vote for getting a big tub filling it with current tank water dropping in a heater and a pump putting a radion above it and using it as a frag tank/temp fish tank while you setup and clean the equipment. Purple tang one o my favorites, dont risk him at lfs.

 

[garyinco]

Agreed on the not boarding the fish at a LFS. Just setup a QT and keep them at your place. Shouldn't be long at all before you can move them back into their real home. Just get some PVC fittings to put into the QT for more timid fish to hang out in. How long, in inches, is the tang?

 

[xdestry]

You could do a trade with the LFS. Let them have the tang in exchange for boarding. Your tank is a tad too small for it to prosper. Maybe on the line.
Bravo on your purchase.

I just talked to the LFS today and they say they will not take care of the fish as policy. Guess I will have to keep them in a rubbermaid container for a day or two.

I vote for getting a big tub filling it with current tank water dropping in a heater and a pump putting a radion above it and using it as a frag tank/temp fish tank while you setup and clean the equipment. Purple tang one o my favorites, dont risk him at lfs.

Yeah I think that's what I'll do. I have to buy a 15-20 gallon rubbermaid container to put the liverocks and corals in for the move so I guess I will use that as the tank.

Agreed on the not boarding the fish at a LFS. Just setup a QT and keep them at your place. Shouldn't be long at all before you can move them back into their real home. Just get some PVC fittings to put into the QT for more timid fish to hang out in. How long, in inches, is the tang?

Looks like the tang is popular! I have no idea I haven't seen the tank in person yet. You can see it in the picture of the tank in the middle ish with the yellow tail I think, looks to be about 3-4 inches long? I'm not sure what I will do with it yet but if the tank is too small for it I'll probably give it away eventually.

The fish I have been eyeing so far are the mandarin goby, ruby red dragonet, blue spotted jawfish, firefish, and some fairy wrasses. I know the goby needs a lot of pods as does the dragonet, I am thinking of eventually maybe attaching a 20 gallon tank on the side somewhere as a second sump/refugium and using that to raise pods since i'll have two copepod eaters. I know the jawfish is hard to raise too, why are all the pretty fish difficult to keep?! . Anyways thats all a bit in the future, still focusing on figuring out how i'm gonna move everything on sunday and setting it up first! Still a long time to go before I can get those fish.

 

[xdestry]

heres some more pictures of the tank the owner sent me

I have also identified a bangaii cardinal in another one of the pictures he texted me that he did not seem to list in the ad. I am afraid a 15-20 gallon rubbermaid will be too small for all the fish at this point with all the live rock inside there too. Thinking I will have to buy a bigger one just to keep them in now.


How do the corals look? I don't know what a single one of them is hahaha I don't even know how I will be able to take care of them once I have teh setup. I will post closer pictures to try and have them all identified and start from there I guess. Lots of work to be done in the coming weeks but I am definitely excited.


edit : holy crap the purple tang is expensive!

 

[Anemone12]

If I were you I would get rid of some of the sps coral on their as it can be... Difficult I guess you can say.
Also here are some tips

Sps : small polyp stony coral

Lps : large polyp sting coral

And theirs soft coral which is.. Soft lol.

But usually sps coral need lots of care and need just about perfect water conditions.

I can see form the pic that you have some Xenia, zoas, months, birdsnest, torch coral, brain coral, Duncan coral, different other sps corals. This is probably one of the best deals of all times that you will ever find.

Jaw fish can be hard to keep because I think they can be hard to get to eat but you should be fine as that's a very established tank. You will def. have to get a bigger plastic tote. They sell 30g ones at walmart for like 10$. Good luck and that's an awesome tank! And welcome into the awesome and EXPENSIVE world of reef keeping.

 

[garyinco]

Go for a plastic farm tank (tote) if you can. And get other totes too. Does the LFS do "maintenance"?

If so, see if you can hire them to help. Not so much for moving from point A to point B - but having help setting up at point B. All those corals have different needs in terms of light they need and can tolerate. Same with water flow.

I think you'd be penny-wise and pound foolish not to recruit some help. Being in the LA metro area there must be a lot of different reefing clubs that could offer suggestions. Us reef nerds get off on setting up systems!

 

[xdestry]

If I were you I would get rid of some of the sps coral on their as it can be... Difficult I guess you can say.
Also here are some tips

Sps : small polyp stony coral

Lps : large polyp sting coral

And theirs soft coral which is.. Soft lol.

But usually sps coral need lots of care and need just about perfect water conditions.

I can see form the pic that you have some Xenia, zoas, months, birdsnest, torch coral, brain coral, Duncan coral, different other sps corals. This is probably one of the best deals of all times that you will ever find.

Jaw fish can be hard to keep because I think they can be hard to get to eat but you should be fine as that's a very established tank. You will def. have to get a bigger plastic tote. They sell 30g ones at walmart for like 10$. Good luck and that's an awesome tank! And welcome into the awesome and EXPENSIVE world of reef keeping.

the owner agreed to give me a runthrough of the equipment and tank, ill be sure to ask him everything i need to keep the tank running so hopefully the corals will be okay. if it ends up being too much for me somehow i might sell off some of the harder to keep corals.

i have a question about moving the live rocks and corals. how do i keep the rocks and corals all right side up? i am aftaid they will tip over and some corals will be smushed when they are being transported. i know stuff like the zoanthids will be okay but thr bigger more flowy long tentacled corals i think might be a problem. i was thinking of bringing a 2x3 foot or so rubbermaid container and putting all the live rocks and corals in there for transport. would bringing smaller separate tupperware containers be a better idea?

are there any corals that cannot touch each other?

 

[xdestry]

Go for a plastic farm tank (tote) if you can. And get other totes too. Does the LFS do "maintenance"?

If so, see if you can hire them to help. Not so much for moving from point A to point B - but having help setting up at point B. All those corals have different needs in terms of light they need and can tolerate. Same with water flow.

I think you'd be penny-wise and pound foolish not to recruit some help. Being in the LA metro area there must be a lot of different reefing clubs that could offer suggestions. Us reef nerds get off on setting up systems!

i was thinking of something along that line to transport. i dont think the lfs does maintenance. i think finding an experienced reefer now would be a good idea. i really dont want anything to die off during or after setup due to me doing something wrong. can anybody reading this if you are in the la area suggest somewhere i can try and go for help? im going to go look on the socal forum here and see if i can find anything

 

[acabgd]

You should count with losing a few pieces, that's the way it usually goes. You drop something, misplace something or whatever, it's not a tragedy. Just make sure you plan, plan, plan well in advance. Get the water ready, plenty of buckets and towels. Most, if not all of the stuff should survive.

For help in LA, try The Aquarium store in Culver City, very friendly and good staff. http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-aquarium-culver-city-2

 

[Stolireef]

This looks like a good deal. That said, you are really jumping in the deep end of the pool with this setup. The equipment is topflight but not particularly simple to use. If you have some time before you have to make the purchase, I'd start doing a great deal of homework by reading ALL of the New to the Hobby Stickies. That will provide a good primer on reef keeping and will likely include some basics on your equipment. I'd also look at the Neptune (Apex) and Ecotech (Radions) forums here.

Finally, there are great local reef clubs in your neck of the woods. Look in their forums and you'll likely find a large group of locals that will offer advice and assistance to a local newbie.

 

[Stolireef]

See this forum on RC.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=50