Basic 40g Breeder Build

naterealbig · Feb 1, 2019

Rcpilot said:
Thanks so much.

Our options include:
Huntsville, AL
Alexandria, VA (DC corridor)
Palmdale, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Colorado Springs, CO
Grand Forks, ND

Still no idea yet. It takes her employer forever to make a decision. I'm sure there's a lot in the background that I don't know about. When we left Colorado and moved to Florida, it was literally an 11th hour decision, and then we had 10 days to get here.... only 1,987 miles away. It will probably be more of the same this time. They'll decide where they want her, and the moving trucks will show up in a day or two.

We've got to do it different this time. Uncle Sam removed the moving expenses deduction in 2018, so the money we spent to move to Florida isn't going to be tax deductable. It used to be. Imagaine our shock when we discovered that roughly $2,100 worth of travel, hotel rooms, insurance and other moving expense wasn't deductable this year. It was last year, so we planned our trip around deducting the expenses. Got screwed out of that deduction. Funny thing though, the $30k her company paid for the professional movers .... well Uncle Same says that's income for us, so thats part of our tax bill this year. We'll probably get another "relocation package" and of course none of our actual expenses will be tax deductable... and the relocation package will cost us again next year. I hate the government.

Wow, all of this sounds very frustrating!. You are a great person to support your wife the way you are doing now, and it looks like there are some good place you guys could end up....

I hope everything works out and your move goes smoothly - where and when ever they decide you are going

Rcpilot · Mar 5, 2019

Little update - for my own giggles. I want to look back on this in a year or two and remember how stressed and frustrated I was at this time in my life -- and hopefully thanking God above - that I'm in a better place at that point.

I'm packing it up and getting ready to move it 2,000 miles.

I jumped back into the hobby in 2018 and started with a 180g. I couldn't find a spot to put it without a major home renovation and a lot of plumbing, so we scaled back to a 40g breeder. Sold the 180g before I ever put water in it. Lost $800 selling a new tank for 1/2 the purchase price. Oh well. Nothing you can do about it. I just got all the equipment and started building the 40g breeder when I lost my job on January 14th, 2019.

My wife and I moved to Florida in March/April 2018 and closed on our first house together on May 7th, 2018. We've spent a year painting the inside and changing out all the lighting fixtures, fixing pool equipment so it functions properly (darn nice pool BTW), and just maintaining the home so it would be easy to sell. My wife jokes that we moved into a bag of Skittles candy. One yellow room, 2 snot green rooms, a pink bathroom, a powder blue bedroom, camel hair bathroom, and faded blue jeans shag carpet. We've painted all the ceilings flat white again. All the walls are an off-white (light cream) color now. Replaced the carpet with a light tan that matches everything well. The ceiling fixtures looked like 13 different trips to Home Depot.

We replaced every light fixture in the house - focusing on making sure we bought the same style and design for all the fixtures in the common areas. The entry chandelier, kitchen chandelier, living room ceiling fan, laundry room, breakfast bar pendants and dining room fixture are all the same manufacturer and style. The house looks like "normal" people live in it now.

I interviewed for a job and accepted an offer back in Colorado Springs. It's a huge pay bump (34%) and a big increase in responsibility. I'm headed back on March 25th to get started. My wife and I will have to split up for a little bit, but she's not far behind me. We're already working with a realtor in Colorado to find us another home. We're putting this Florida house on the market on March 15th. It should sell in a day or two. Hopefully it sells in HOURS. When we bought it, we were the 2nd couple to view it and we made an offer 6hrs after it went on the market. Fingers crossed for a similar event when we sell.

The equipment is easy to pack. I kept all the original boxes. The tanks -- not so much. Not sure what to do with those. I've got this sitting in my office and no idea how to pack or move it.

I'm thinking about putting the tanks in my wifes Honda Pilot. That vehicle will be on a car hauler trailer with all 4 wheels off the ground, since it's an AWD vehicle. The stands can go in side the u-haul and I can pack aquarium related boxes under the stands. The stands are typically built to handle quite a load, so I have no issues stacking household boxes on top of them for the trip. I think I can get all 4 of the major tanks into the Pilot with the seats laid flat and some padding here and there to prevent glass/glass contact on the trip.

If I HAVE too, I'll take my bulkheads and plumbing parts and leave the 20H, 40g breeder and the 55g tanks behind. They're cheap enough and easy to get. The 20XXH that is to be my display refugium is expensive to replace and I've done a lot of work to it. Kinda want to keep that one. We shall see how it all loads into the Pilot.

Rcpilot · Mar 5, 2019

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Johniejumbo · Mar 5, 2019

Well! I certainly hope things will level out in a good way for y’all. Please be sure to take care of yourself. You won’t do anyone any good if you keel over. I don’t envy your situation. Thats between a rock and a hard place if I’ve ever seen it. Just keep doing what you can and do your best to do what you feel is right. God bless and good luck!

Rcpilot · Mar 29, 2019

Sold the house in 9 days!! We got a full price offer from buyers with money and excellent credit. We're under contract. Close 5/30. Inspections were yesterday. No news is good news regarding inspections... and we haven't heard a peep.

We're mostly packed, except for the kitchen and a master bathroom. Furniture is easy because theres no packing.

We'll be leaving Florida around the 12th or 13th of April. We both have to start our new jobs on 4/22

I can't wait to get out of Florida and go back home. It's been a year from hell.

Johniejumbo · Mar 29, 2019

Congratulations!

kcpike11 · May 3, 2019

Good luck in CSprings! Lived there for three years while stationed at Ft Carson, and it has been by far the best place the Army has sent me. Only one or two reef shops from what I remember, may have to make trips to Denver for goodies.

Rcpilot · May 5, 2019

kcpike11 said:
Good luck in CSprings! Lived there for three years while stationed at Ft Carson, and it has been by far the best place the Army has sent me. Only one or two reef shops from what I remember, may have to make trips to Denver for goodies.

Thank you! Murphy was on the trip... All the tanks and sumps and redugiums made it, except my 40g breeder. I had a ton of work into building the overflows and drilling holes in it. At least they're cheap at Petco.