Buying first saltwater aquarium

[K1ng]

Im diving into the saltwater side with a 220 gallon I found on my local classifieds after many years with freshwater. Ive never owned a saltwater tank before and would like some input on a few things. The main thing is moving the aquarium and all of its contents. The drive is only about 20 minutes which is not to bad. The equipment will be easy to transport and setup so that is not an issue. My main concern is the livestock in the system which includes:
- 300 lbs of live rock
- Pink tail trigger 5”
- Picasso trigger 4”
- Blue tang 5”
- Blue faced angel 4”
- Gold bar maroon clown
- 2 x rose bubble top anemone
- 6 headed frog spawn (broccoli sized)
- Small toad stool leather
- A few more soft corals and mushrooms
- I will be getting rid of the sand and adding all new sand to the system

What should I expect once I set the tank up at my house? Is it a plug and play where everything will be fine or are there extra steps that I need to follow.

Any help would be greatly appreciated thank you!

 

[K1ng]

 

[Reef-junky]

Looks like cyanobacteria in the tank. Tank may have other issues as well hard to say.

 

[Gonebad395]

Welcome to R2R

 

[K1ng]

Thanks for the welcoming and the identification!

It doesnt seem like to much of a hassle to get rid of the bacteria.

Would you recommend going bare bottom or new sand. I think I would like the go the BB route but was scared of the rock structures falling. Saw a great idea with someone using a pvc pipe structure as the backbone and zip tying the rock to it. Just nervous to break the tank.

 

[Matt Carden]

Good luck with the move Welcome to R2R!

Do you have a pickup or large SUV?
How bout friends to help you move everything? I've never done anything like this. I would say that anything new that you add during the resetup could cause a mini cycle( new sand). Maybe just rinse the sand.

That's all I'll say. Let someone with more experience chime in @reefsquad

 

[Salty Lemon]

First of all, welcome to R2R. You will love it here. This is a perfect place for people new to the hobby. :)

As far as your tank, did the sellers tell you why they were getting rid of it? There may be bigger issues. Last year I got a used 60 gal reef set up for basically free. It was great -- but he passed his problems on to me and I ended up cleaning out the tank and adding new rock and sand. By the time I finished replacing everything and purchasing worn out equipment, I could have bought a new tank. But that was my situation. Good luck with this. I have a tank about the size of yours and I'm having a lot of fun building it up -- I'm sure you will too.

Here are my questions for you. Is the current owner throwing an RODI unit in with this exchange? Do you have RODI water ready? 200 gallons is a lot of water to prepare. That much would be expensive to purchase at the fish store if you don't own an RODI unit. It took me two days to make enough RODI water to fill up my 200+ gal tank. Where and how will you be keeping the livestock as you set up the tank? Would a local fish store be willing to take them for store credit?

Bare bottom or sand is a personal choice. Bare bottom is easier to clean, but some fish like gobies or sea stars like to sift though the sand -- which makes it fun. It is up to you. I epoxied my big rock scapes with two-part epoxy to the bottom of the tank so that they don't budge. I have sand because I like the sand-sifting sea life.

Watch YouTube videos -- lots of them. Then re-watch them. BRS has many, many professional videos. You will learn a lot. It doesn't hurt to visit your local library to check out a book or two on the subject either. (I'm a librarian) I had reef tanks twenty years ago and I'm just getting back into the game. Much has changed and I'm still learning. That is about all I can say about your topic. I have never moved a tank that large with that much life in it. There are veterans who have been doing this for years who are more qualified with suggestions who should jump on this thread. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Huff747]

I did this once about a year and a half ago. I would try and find something, be it a stock tank, sturdy rubbermaids, a spare freshwater tank or something and set it up ASAP and try and get it ready to hold the livestock temporarily because however long you think it's going to take to move and set up the tank it's probably going to take longer. Are they going to have the tank taken down and drained or do you have to help with that too? I showed up thinking it would take a couple hours and I think it took 5 just to get it taken down. By the time we lowered the water level, caught the fish, pulled the rock out drained the rest, cleared out the sand, and got everything loaded. Luckily in my case I only had 2 clowns from that system and I put them in a temporary 10 gallon I had setup so I could take my time cleaning the tank up. Plus he had no unions on the plumbing so we had to cut it and I would have had to replumb nearly everything which would have taken even longer.

 

[K1ng]

The seller has had the aquarium for quite a few years, he was totally honest with me when I went and viewed the tank answering all my questions. His business has started picking up and he doesnt have time to properly care for the tank anymore. He also said that the system is very stable because he hasnt introduced anything into the tank in years. Besides the fact that he doesnt have the proper time to care for it he is also redoing his basement and thought it would be a good time to sell it.

I do have an RO/DI system so I can produce the water on my own but from what I have been reading on other moving forums is to save as much water as possible from the old system. So I hope to save 2/3 of the old water and have the other 1/3 prepared at my house.

He currently has egg crate and sand in the tank to protect the bottom. Ive decided just to go the safe route and do sand for peace of mind because I dont want to mess with everything and take to much time. Would rather just get it setup and not have to worry about falling rocks. Maybe Ill go to bare bottom later on because the fish he currently has are semi-aggressive so I cant keep invertebrates really with them. Ultimate goal is to have a tank filled with coral someday which does not go well with the triggers and angelfish.

I will be helping him tear down the tank to understand the system a little bit more and have a better idea of how to put it back together. My friend has a large truck with a 6' bed so the tank and what not will fit. We will end up having to do multiple trips but its not far so thats not a big deal(20 mins). That is a good point on the plumbing and wether I will have to cut it or not. Thankfully my friend with the truck happens to be a plumber so there will not be any issues there if need be. Im fully aware the process will be an entire day thing as this is a huge tank with lots of stuff going with it.

Saw your build thread Salty Lemon before you posted and it looks really good so far. Love the rock work. Thats a smart idea to have a quarantine setup to house the livestock for a bit while setting everything up Huff747. Thank you guys for all the feedback already!

 

[K1ng]

Here's a little more info regarding the equipment coming with the tank.
Double overflow
80 gal sump in cabinet with overflow tray to avoid a possible flood.
4 hydor pumps
Whisper 4000 return pump
Vertex IN 280 skimmer with pin wheel pump
250 watt Eheim submersible heater
Mag float algae scraper
Thermometer
Orbit light with 3x 150 w 14k metal halide (6 month old bulbs)
2 x 48” Reefbrite actinic fixtures.

 

[Reef-junky]

Just be aware you may be solving multiple problems with the tank.

Have Fun!

 

[reef lover]

Welcome to r2r!!

 

[K1ng]

Thank you for the welcoming!

Any other have advice or have anything to point out in the tank that they see?

Also what other kind of fish could I stock with the eventually large angel and triggers?

 

[Super Fly]

it would appear tank needs TLC to correct issues but if you are up to the challenge, best of luck! Here's what I'd do;

1. take lots of pix/video of tank/sump/pipe prior to taking it apart to help putting it back together.
2. ditch the old sand and use brand new sand while keeping 1-2 cups in a ziplock bag to help seed the new sand
3. give the rocks good rinse in new saltwater to clean and remove detritus, throw out this water afterwards.
4. prepare new saltwater to use once tank has been set back up and ditch most of the old tank water.