Hi there..im a newbie in this hobby..Me and my wife are trying to have a saltwater aquarium..We found one in Craiglist and it looks like it is a established system already(Live rock, Sand, Corals and fish)..My question is how do we transport the aquarium? Do we need to empty it? If yes how do we take care of the fish and corals? How about the salt water? Do I need to to put a new one and wait for it become establish again? Sorry for the questions..I just dont know what to do...
Need Help with Transporting Established System
- Thread starter Ejfadrigo
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Duke4Life
Just a crazy eel guy, LMAS
Yes you will need to empty and I would advise on buying new sand instead of using the old (less issues). Depending on distance and time, I would use 5 gallon buckets with an air stone and pump for each for the livestock. I just moved and used brand new water, if you have a way 2 transport some you could. As long as the rock is cured keep it in water for as long as possible, can wet paper towels and cover.
Welcome to the site!
Thank you guys... the travel time are around 1 hr...how about curing the water? what is the best way to check the quality after replacing it with the new water? how long can i place it back the livestock? Any idea where can i find the buckets with an air stone and pump? you mean on each live stock or each species? how about the coral?
Spec:
90 Bowfront Oceanic Glas w/Reef Ready Overflow System
Black Stand
LED lights
2 Powerheads
Live Rock and Corals and Anemones
Yellow Tang
Clownfish
Hawkfish
Coral Beauty Angelfish
Azure Damselfish
Yellowtail Damselfish
All for 1k...
90 Bowfront Oceanic Glas w/Reef Ready Overflow System
Black Stand
LED lights
2 Powerheads
Live Rock and Corals and Anemones
Yellow Tang
Clownfish
Hawkfish
Coral Beauty Angelfish
Azure Damselfish
Yellowtail Damselfish
All for 1k...
mcarroll
10K Club member
Agreed with the minor tweak that I would consider the live rock like any other livestock and dedicate buckets with water for all the rock.
If you can afford space-wise/have enough buckets, I'd take 100% of your old water too.
Maybe one other optional tweak....no need for airstones in any bucket that doesn't have a large animal in it...
Only an hour transit combined with all the sloshing should be fine for everyone. Do make accomodations for any large animals though. They may respire their water out of O2. (Ammonia actually can be a concern for larger animals too....use the biggest container with the most water that you can. Sometimes 5 gallons is not enough.)
One small or medium fish per bucket will not require an airstone, but use plenty of water!
Higher densities than one per bucket are not a good idea IMO, but if you must then definitely use airstones.
Better to have more buckets with fewer animals and NO AIRSTONES than the reverse if you don't have a bunch of airstones and pumps around....hard to go wrong with one animal per bucket.
xREEFINaintEZx
Active Member
heres a few tips. This is what I rescued back a few months ago and what we learned. I would keep and reuse all of their salt water. Mine was neglected and kinda nasty but reused and nothing died. I went thru approx 15-5 gallon buckets with lids(my drive was 25 min). 1 Fish bucket, 3-5 buckets for live rock or a trash can 1/3 full (the water WILL sway), be careful with corals they sting... one per water bucket? but then you need to think about air and temp.Another thing to think about is if the tank is old I highly advise transporting it in the up right position. With a uhual you will not have the option to drop the tailgate and have the bulk heads hang freely over the edge. Sand is up to you buy new, rinse and reuse, or you guessed it, leave it in tank and fill her back up at home. How ever many hours you have set aside for this project add another 4. Battery airstones on amazon might help. Have some extra salt and rodi water made up a day or 2 before the move. Let everything and yourself settle on day 2 Get your parameters, day 3 go to town but never do to much or change to many attributes in one day. ALWAYS go slo.
xREEFINaintEZx
Active Member
hahaa nice timing I agree...by accident I had 2 fish in my live rock buckets for over an hour with no air or temp.
mcarroll
10K Club member
Forgot to mention, in case it's not obvious, to use buckets with tight fitting lids – do not skimp on this. You want to take as much water with you as possible, and that means FULL BUCKETS THAT WILL BE SLOSHING.
Duke4Life
Just a crazy eel guy, LMAS
Have any idea of what type of lights, return pump are? Does it include a skimmer? Any corals? How much rock?
KSReefing
Well-Known Member
Yeah I would need to know what kind of equipment it came with, along with corals and live rock. If they aren't decent corals, leds, powerheads, and pumps I would think the guy/gal is asking too much for the set up.
I'd find out the equipment and post it here before shelling out 1k.
Personally I wouldn't buy a system someone has already built because I believe it takes away from the hobby (building YOUR aquarium) and you're gonna be on a time limit to put it back together so you can't clean it all. Reason I say that is because you mentioned starting your own.
Let us know what else you find about this set up!
I'd find out the equipment and post it here before shelling out 1k.
Personally I wouldn't buy a system someone has already built because I believe it takes away from the hobby (building YOUR aquarium) and you're gonna be on a time limit to put it back together so you can't clean it all. Reason I say that is because you mentioned starting your own.
Let us know what else you find about this set up!
i guess i build my own..any idea where can i start buying stuff for my SW? maybe 45g tank? im planning to buy the coralife biocube 32g..is it ok? but i heard there is an issuse with the skimmer placement...
KSReefing
Well-Known Member
Are you wanting an all in one or building one with a sump? I have a IM nuvo 30L that I really like. I also am building a 40 B with a 20 L sump. Petco I believe has their $1 a gallon sale right now. I bought a overflow kit from glass holes that I like. The 40B would be good and cheap solution right now with their sale if you can build a stand.
The possibilities are endless. You can build a sweet setup in the 30-50 range with top notch equipment for less than a $1k
The possibilities are endless. You can build a sweet setup in the 30-50 range with top notch equipment for less than a $1k
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