Nautical Nathaniel's IM Nuvo 20

[nautical_nathaniel]

Quick Update:

Just got back from a short vacation and the tank did great without any human interaction for 5 days. Pretty much all of my corals look like they grew significantly while I was gone, even though it may have only been like a millimeter or so . The only bad thing that happened was that my Randall's Goby's dorsal/signal fin was torn, so I'm kind of curious about what happened there. Maybe someone got hangry and there was a little aggression, my longnose hawkfish has been acting a bit bolder recently...

Moving forward, I will probably be moving the tank next week to my temporary post-apartment living arrangements (aka mom and dad's house ) which is only 50 miles or so away. That is where it will stay until I have a job secured in South Florida and can move down there. Honestly not looking forward to it one bit, but it will be good practice before attempting the much larger 600 miles journey to South Florida I'll be sure to take pictures and share them with everyone after I have it settled in

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Quick Update:

My reef aquarium and all the things that go with it have been moved to my parents house until I can secure a new job in South Florida. The move itself went remarkably well, no casualties of any sort and my aquarium is actually looking pretty good now, much better than I expected things to go. My parents are having a great time looking at it every day and watching all of my critters interact in the tank.

I will say that this was good practice for the bigger move to South Florida that I will hopefully make in the next few months or so. I'm glad I only have 20 gallons to deal with, otherwise I'm sure it would be a more tedious undertaking.

I've actually been so busy moving myself and my girlfriend out of our apartment that I haven't been able to take any pictures of the tank. I hope to change that in the coming days as I get adjusted to living with family again and learning to cope with my nearly 100 mile daily commute

As always, thanks for stopping by and supporting my build thread!

 

[JBKReef]

What process did you use for the move? Just buckets and aerators?

I see a move coming up in the next 18 months or so and I fret it like non-other.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

What process did you use for the move? Just buckets and aerators?

I see a move coming up in the next 18 months or so and I fret it like non-other.

Step 1: Breath
Step 2: Plan everything out and try to move the entire aquarium and supplies collection by itself if possible.
Step 3: Try your best to have someone to help you out with the move. Having an extra set of hands is so helpful and will help reduce stress.

I take my entire aquascape along with any attached CUC critters out of the tank and put it in a cooler with just enough water to cover everything by at least an inch. The cooler is a bit bigger than the tank itself, so maybe a 30 gallon or so. There's not an air pump on it but I could easily run an airline into it and also open the lid every hour or so to "refresh" the atmosphere inside.

The fish, flame shrimp, pistol shrimp, and serpent star all went in a bucket together with a "bait bucket lid" on top with a battery operated pump. Everything went in the cab of my truck with the thermostat at 76 and we booked it to our destination.

I left about 1-2 gallons of water in the tank to keep the sand wet (not enough to splash if we hit a bump or something but just enough to keep the sand fluidized.

All my wet equipment went in a bucket with a lid on it and the cords for everything else were stuffed in the stand. Any dry goods/loose items went in boxes or crates.

Everything except the stand and some backup water containers were stored in the cab of my truck with the thermostat at 76 and we booked it to our destination.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Nice dude. I just bought a house and had to move mine as well. Only a 8 minute drive but still sucked! My anemone has been moving around ever since.

See you in Florida when you move!

 

[grassy_noel]

@nautical_nathaniel , same here...and same tank! I just moved mine at the end of March, about 20 miles, to a new house.

@JBKReef , I'll second two important things:

1. Get a second set of hands. I had my dad help me, and even though he doesn't know anything about reef tanks he was able to help a ton!

2. Do it before or after the real move. If you want your spouse/significant other/parents/roommates to ever speak to you again, arrange to move your tank either the day before or the day after your move. I did the day before and it made everyone love me on the day of the move when I wasn't obsessing over my fish and corals.

...and add a third one:

3. Write everything down in a checklist. I've attached mine as a PDF for fun. I did basically everything on this list, roughly in this order. But I spent two months beforehand thinking and dreaming about every tiny detail.

With a bit of luck, I didn't lose anything in the move.

I did make a huge mistake after the move and over-fed my tank trying to 'jump start' the new substrate I replaced during the move, which has led to a frustrating Green Hair Algae issue. But the moral of the story is plan the move, do the move, then don't change anything for as long as you can possibly wait...a week, a month, more. Give your tank time to stabilize in its new location before you start messing with stuff again.

If you combine your move with a pretty big water change (and quarterly maintenance of all your pumps, etc.) you'll likely find that your parameters all end up pretty favorable after the move.

Best of luck!

 

[Justfebreezeit]

@nautical_nathaniel , same here...and same tank! I just moved mine at the end of March, about 20 miles, to a new house.

@Justfebreezeit , I'll second two important things:

1. Get a second set of hands. I had my dad help me, and even though he doesn't know anything about reef tanks he was able to help a ton!

2. Do it before or after the real move. If you want your spouse/significant other/parents/roommates to ever speak to you again, arrange to move your tank either the day before or the day after your move. I did the day before and it made everyone love me on the day of the move when I wasn't obsessing over my fish and corals.

...and add a third one:

3. Write everything down in a checklist. I've attached mine as a PDF for fun. I did basically everything on this list, roughly in this order. But I spent two months beforehand thinking and dreaming about every tiny detail.

With a bit of luck, I didn't lose anything in the move.

I did make a huge mistake after the move and over-fed my tank trying to 'jump start' the new substrate I replaced during the move, which has led to a frustrating Green Hair Algae issue. But the moral of the story is plan the move, do the move, then don't change anything for as long as you can possibly wait...a week, a month, more. Give your tank time to stabilize in its new location before you start messing with stuff again.

If you combine your move with a pretty big water change (and quarterly maintenance of all your pumps, etc.) you'll likely find that your parameters all end up pretty favorable after the move.

Best of luck!

i fed super light because i switched to bare bottom during the move and was worried about my nutrients spiking

 

[grassy_noel]

@nautical_nathaniel , same here...and same tank! I just moved mine at the end of March, about 20 miles, to a new house.

@Justfebreezeit , I'll second two important things:

1. Get a second set of hands. I had my dad help me, and even though he doesn't know anything about reef tanks he was able to help a ton!

2. Do it before or after the real move. If you want your spouse/significant other/parents/roommates to ever speak to you again, arrange to move your tank either the day before or the day after your move. I did the day before and it made everyone love me on the day of the move when I wasn't obsessing over my fish and corals.

...and add a third one:

3. Write everything down in a checklist. I've attached mine as a PDF for fun. I did basically everything on this list, roughly in this order. But I spent two months beforehand thinking and dreaming about every tiny detail.

With a bit of luck, I didn't lose anything in the move.

I did make a huge mistake after the move and over-fed my tank trying to 'jump start' the new substrate I replaced during the move, which has led to a frustrating Green Hair Algae issue. But the moral of the story is plan the move, do the move, then don't change anything for as long as you can possibly wait...a week, a month, more. Give your tank time to stabilize in its new location before you start messing with stuff again.

If you combine your move with a pretty big water change (and quarterly maintenance of all your pumps, etc.) you'll likely find that your parameters all end up pretty favorable after the move.

Best of luck!

Oops, meant to point this at @JBKReef , too, who said he had a move coming up. My bad.

Smart @Justfebreezeit . I wish I had could go back in time...

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Well, my beloved pink-streaked wrasse, Lord Sauron, passed away this morning. I came home yesterday and found him hanging out in the corner of the tank and not moving much. His tail was completely white from the edge of the fin all the way to end of his dorsal fin and anal fin. Thinking it was some sort of bacterial infection, I immediately prepared some kanaplex and focus treated LRS reef frenzy and got him to eat a few chunks. Just got a text from my mother though, and he was lifeless behind the rockwork this morning.

I'll do a water change as soon as I get home, hopefully none of the other fish get an infection as well. I'll feed them the rest of the treated food and feed them exclusively LRS treated with selcon for the next week or so to boost their immune system.

 

[JBKReef]

Well, my beloved pink-streaked wrasse, Lord Sauron, passed away this morning. I came home yesterday and found him hanging out in the corner of the tank and not moving much. His tail was completely white from the edge of the fin all the way to end of his dorsal fin and anal fin. Thinking it was some sort of bacterial infection, I immediately prepared some kanaplex and focus treated LRS reef frenzy and got him to eat a few chunks. Just got a text from my mother though, and he was lifeless behind the rockwork this morning.

I'll do a water change as soon as I get home, hopefully none of the other fish get an infection as well. I'll feed them the rest of the treated food and feed them exclusively LRS treated with selcon for the next week or so to boost their immune system.

Sorry for your loss. Do you run carbon on the tank? Maybe throw some in to soak up anything else in the water.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Sorry for your loss. Do you run carbon on the tank? Maybe throw some in to soak up anything else in the water.

Thanks, he was a good little wrasse, he definitely won't be my last.

I'll be picking up some chemipure blue nano today on the way home. Should be able to soak up any rogue kanaplex in the water before it starts messing with my corals but I used a 5:1 ratio of Focus:Kanaplex so there shouldn't be any in the water.

 

[grassy_noel]

Well, my beloved pink-streaked wrasse, Lord Sauron, passed away this morning. I came home yesterday and found him hanging out in the corner of the tank and not moving much. His tail was completely white from the edge of the fin all the way to end of his dorsal fin and anal fin. Thinking it was some sort of bacterial infection, I immediately prepared some kanaplex and focus treated LRS reef frenzy and got him to eat a few chunks. Just got a text from my mother though, and he was lifeless behind the rockwork this morning.

I'll do a water change as soon as I get home, hopefully none of the other fish get an infection as well. I'll feed them the rest of the treated food and feed them exclusively LRS treated with selcon for the next week or so to boost their immune system.

Sorry to hear that. I loved seeing what he was up to on your instagram! May he rest...

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Sorry to hear that. I loved seeing what he was up to on your instagram! May he rest...

Thank you, he was one of the easier fish of mine to take pictures of, seemed to enjoy the camera or his reflection in the lens

 

[Justfebreezeit]

dang that sucks. He was awesome. Moving is so tough

 

[NY_Caveman]

Well, my beloved pink-streaked wrasse, Lord Sauron, passed away this morning. I came home yesterday and found him hanging out in the corner of the tank and not moving much. His tail was completely white from the edge of the fin all the way to end of his dorsal fin and anal fin. Thinking it was some sort of bacterial infection, I immediately prepared some kanaplex and focus treated LRS reef frenzy and got him to eat a few chunks. Just got a text from my mother though, and he was lifeless behind the rockwork this morning.

I'll do a water change as soon as I get home, hopefully none of the other fish get an infection as well. I'll feed them the rest of the treated food and feed them exclusively LRS treated with selcon for the next week or so to boost their immune system.

Sad news. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Sipec]

Sorry ya lost him hopefully everything else will be okay

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

THE TIME HAS COME

I have finally secured a new job in the West Palm Beach area, so I will be moving myself and my tank (as well as the other essentials like clothes, my toothbrush, and fishing poles) within the next two weeks!

As of right now the tank is in good shape, all the corals are happy and healthy. The one thing I am worried about with this move, however, is that it is the big one. It will probably take me at least 9 hours to get down there. Factor in tear-down, packing, unpacking, and re-setup, my tank will probably be torn apart for around 11 hours

Being that it is also summer time in Florida, I will also need to weatherproof everything that is going on the back of my truck, which will probably be my stand, equipment packed in bins, and two or three jugs of spare saltwater.

In the next few days, I will researching long moves extensively, I may pack fish and corals as if I was shipping them, to save on any potential issues with air pumps and temperature fluxes, but we'll see...

 

[JBKReef]

Congratz on the new move! Here's my suggestion...

Have a 120 gallon set up and waiting to deposit the contents of your 20 into. Should be easy to add them if the system is up and running for a couple days prior.

In all seriousness though, do you have an old QT tank or something that you could have up and running prior to the move. Find a petco with their Dollar/Gallon going. Grab a 20 long and get that cycled for the move. Straight in while you reestablish your Nuvo.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Congratz on the new move! Here's my suggestion...

Have a 120 gallon set up and waiting to deposit the contents of your 20 into. Should be easy to add them if the system is up and running for a couple days prior.

In all seriousness though, do you have an old QT tank or something that you could have up and running prior to the move. Find a petco with their Dollar/Gallon going. Grab a 20 long and get that cycled for the move. Straight in while you reestablish your Nuvo.

Unfortunately i don't think that is going to be an option. I will have plenty of help to put things back together though. Eventually I will be upgrading to a ~75 but it won't be a standard 75 (probably custom built).

I usually put my entire aquascape in a 40 qt quality cooler and that has done very well for me the last two times I have moved. I just fill the tank halfway when I get to the new place with fresh saltwater, then place the aquascape back in, and then fill the tank up the rest of the way. I keep the sand wet with a little bit of water left in the bottom of the tank, since it is just a 20 gallon, it barely adds any weight to the tank itself.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Awesome dude congrats.

Let me know if you need any help or have any questions about the area!